White Doves at Weddings - Bringing Back an Age Old Tradition
For thousands of years, white doves have been a traditional symbol in
wedding ceremonies.
To the ancient Egyptians, the dove represented quiet innocence.
The Chinese saw the dove as a symbol of peace and long life.
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To early Greeks and Romans, doves symbolised love, devotion, and
caring. The dove was the sacred animal of Aphrodite and Venus, the goddesses of love. In these ancient cultures, the groom would give a dove to the bride, symbolising his promise to help care for her and for the family. |
These days, Doves are regularly released at weddings as a blessing for
the bride and groom. Doves pair up for life, so they are a true representation
of love and the eternal commitment that a couple have made.
This tradition has become hugely popular at weddings in the United States
and the UK in recent years. It is also quickly gaining popularity in Australia.
There are many bird fanciers that have put their expertise to providing
doves for release at events in Australia. You can find dove providers
in most states of Australia including Heavenly Doves in Sydney,
which has been operating since 1998.
It is easy to have a spectacular white dove release at your own wedding
that is just as enchanting as it would have been for people that participated
in the weddings of ancient times (probably much more!).
White dove releasing is an art-form. There is much more to it than meets
the eye. In order to explain this, I am going to reveal a secret to you.
(SHHH! Don't tell anyone!)
The White Doves that go to weddings are actually white racing pigeons.
Doves and Pigeons are a bit like cousins in the animal world. They are
not exactly the same, but they are very similar. Only a bird expert would
be able to spot the difference at a wedding. It is important that only
pigeons are released at weddings. The reason for this is that the pigeons
have a homing instinct, the ability to fly back to their home after they
are released. Whereas real doves would just fly up into a tree. You can't
get them back so
they'd have to fend for themselves. How very cruel!
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That is where the "art-form" I was talking about comes into it. Professional Dove Releasers start by selectively breeding the most beautiful white pigeons, with the pigeons that have the strongest homing instinct. This happens long before they attend your wedding, taking everyone's breath away. There is a lot of effort involved to get the birds with just the right mix of beauty and brains! |
These birds then go through an intense training period for the first year
of their life -just like athletes preparing for the Olympics. After this
we are confident that they will be able to fly home from anywhere within
a 80km radius. In my case, birds from the Heavenly Doves loft must be
able to fly home from anywhere in Sydney. (Racing pigeons can fly back
to their home loft from hundreds or thousands of kms away). Using racing
pigeons is the only humane way to release "doves" because the
birds will always go home to be well cared for with plenty of food, water
and security after the ceremony is over.
We also choose the birds with a good nature and get them used to being
handled by people (especially nervous newlyweds) so that you can be confident
that the doves will be relaxed at your ceremony - No pecking birds!
The
other aspect of the "art-form" is the way that the doves are
presented and released at your wedding. It is essential to have an experienced
dove release attendant at the wedding. Firstly because we have a whole
assortment of ornamental cages and baskets that you can choose to have
your doves displayed in, plus you have the choice of releasing the doves
from your hands or directly from their cage or basket. Secondly, an important
part of a good dove release is the placement of the doves and the timing.
By this I mean performing the dove release at the best location and during
the part of the ceremony that makes it a memorable experience for the
bride, groom and guests. We make it a high priority to ensure good photos
and video footage too. Professional Dove releasers have to go to many
weddings to learn good placement and timing.
You may have seen an email going around recently. It is a picture of a
pair of newlyweds releasing their doves by hand. The groom is in a pin-striped
coat and the bride is wearing a strapless white satin dress. The couple
are enthusiastically tossing their doves into the air. But it's not only
the doves that find their freedom.
The brides breasts managed to escape from her dress when she threw her
dove into the air. Their photographer managed to capture the event perfectly!
I am telling you this story because it is another reason to hire professional
dove releasers.
I know it feels great to hurl the doves into the air at the end of your
wedding ceremony. But we have always recommended to our clients that you
only have to open your hands to let the doves free (even if the bride
is wearing a cast-iron bra and a dress with straps of steel so there is
no danger of exposing herself).
The reasons we tell people NOT to throw the doves are, firstly, the doves
need no encouragement to fly away. They love to fly and can't wait to
get out of your hands.
But more importantly, when you see the photos of the dove release in months
to come, you will probably think that you look ridiculous with your hands
up in the air doing the "hallelujah" pose. These are all the
aspects that professional dove releasers consider when taking doves to
your wedding.
Another thing, if you are considering incorporating a white dove release
into your ceremony, don't (I repeat DON'T) let one of the groom's know-it-all
mates organise it for you! These are the kinds of blokes who would try
to get the best deal with everything by taking short-cuts....do you know
anyone like that? The problem is that they know nothing at all about birds.
I occasionally get calls from guys like this who want to "buy some
birds on the cheep" (pun intended). I always tell them that we never
let our birds go to an event without a dove release attendant. If these
guys ever do manage to get hold of some cheap white birds, I certainly
wouldn't want to go anywhere near them - you never know what sort of diseases
they might have. Plus, you would be lucky if they don't go splat on the
ground when they are released because they don't have the fitness to fly
very far.
Professional Dove Releasers always have clean, healthy, fit birds. They
are bathed regularly and because we know a sick bird when we see one,
we are always checking our pigeons for lice, worms and other bird diseases.
By hiring a professional white dove releaser, it's the only guarantee
that the doves at your ceremony will be perfect.
At the Heavenly Doves website http://www.heavenlywhitedoves.net there
is much more information about how doves are released at weddings. We
also have a directory of professional dove releasers from around Australia
and the world. Plus don't miss our free monthly e-zine called "Putting
the Art in your Party" (written by some of our really intelligent
birds) where we reveal lots of tips for having a fabulous White Dove Release
plus many other inexpensive ways to host a special and memorable event.
Subscribers get VIP access to lots of great offers.
White Dove releasing is a gorgeous and elegant expression of peace and
love. So follow in the footsteps of brides and grooms from ancient times
and experience it for yourself. Contact your local professional white
dove provider.
By Tamara Baker,
Heavenly Doves...for eternal love
White Doves for special events
Sydney, Australia
http://www.heavenlywhitedoves.net
info@heavenlywhitedoves.net
