Releasing doves for a wedding: why birds are released, what they symbolize, how to properly organize the release of white doves and a photo shoot with them

Symbols and signs

The tradition of releasing doves on a wedding day appeared in sunny Italy. Leaving her parents' house, the young bride gave freedom to a gentle white-winged bird, symbolizing love, tenderness and fidelity. This was a sign that the girl was now free from the care of her mother and father and was ready to start a new family. Idea! Instead of doves, butterflies or ordinary balloons are also released into the sky.
All guests of the holiday are waiting for the moment when the newlyweds release snow-white birds into the sky. This is not only a beautiful sight. A number of signs are associated with the ritual:

If the dove took off first and broke away from her partner, then it was assumed that the bride would be the main one in the house;
Another version of the superstition says that a more efficient dove is a sign that a girl will appear first in the family. But if the male gets ahead of his girlfriend , then the first-born will be a boy;
Pigeons scattered in different directions symbolize a troubled family life;
Birds flying quickly and high were considered a good sign and promised the young couple the fulfillment of a wish that the heroes of the occasion had made before the ceremony;
If a pair of birds flutters in the sky for a long time and inseparably , the newlyweds will have a happy life;
If a bird stains the newlywed's outfit , then there will be prosperity and wealth in the family.

To distinguish in height which of the doves belongs to the bride and which to the groom, red and blue ribbons are tied to the birds’ legs. Not everyone adheres to this tradition, fearing for the safety of pigeons. After all, ropes can get tangled in branches or wires.

List of signs

They began flying pigeons at weddings several hundred years ago in Italy. This meant that the girl left her parental home and entered into a relationship with a man where love, tenderness and fidelity reigned. The launching of doves symbolizes the daughter's freedom from the guardianship of her mother and father, and her readiness to create a new family.

In some countries, butterflies or balloons are released instead of doves. Not only the newlyweds, but also the invited guests are waiting for this moment, as it is an impressive sight.

The ritual is associated with several signs.

It is believed that if the dove flew out first and went far from her partner, then she will be the head of the family.
If the pigeons fly away from each other, it means that there will be misunderstandings and quarrels in the family.
Birds that fly high and fast are a good sign. This speaks of the fulfillment of the cherished desires of the young.
If a female and a male flutter in the sky inseparably, this means that the bride and groom will have a long and happy life.
When a bird stains a girl's outfit, it symbolizes wealth and prosperity in the new family.
If the female flew first, then perhaps the first of the children will be a girl. If the partner is ahead of the dove, then the first-born will be a boy.

But how can you tell which pigeon is male or female? A red or pink ribbon is placed on the foot of the bird that belongs to the girl. A blue or dark blue ribbon is attached to the male pigeon's foot. But, unfortunately, not all newlyweds adhere to this rule, considering this process dangerous for birds.

Launch: where and when?

The ceremony does not require a mandatory time and place. Usually the pigeons are released into the sky after the painting. After leaving the registry office, the ceremony symbolizes the birth of a new family and loyalty to each other.

It is not so important whether this happens immediately after leaving the registry office, during the traditional walk of the newlyweds or in the middle of the banquet. Sometimes, as a sign of farewell to single life, a ceremony with birds is organized before the painting - at a bachelor or bachelorette party.

The flight of birds looks most impressive in open areas, where trees and buildings do not interfere with enjoying the beautiful spectacle and observing the behavior of pigeons. Often the ceremony is held outside the city or in a park.

It is also important not to delay the ceremony, since no one will be able to observe and evaluate the flight of birds in the dark. Birds should be released during daylight hours.

The history of the wedding tradition of releasing doves

Most historical sources indicate that the custom of releasing birds into the sky on a wedding day came to us from sunny Italy, famous for its strict morals. Every young Italian woman gave the white-winged bird freedom on her wedding day. This became a symbol of the beginning of an independent life, free from parents.

A girl who enters adulthood and leaves her ancestral home is like a bird. Free from the care of her mother and father, she begins a new life in which she will have to take care of her new family. Immediately after marriage, a young woman begins to build a family nest and tries to surround her man with love and care. With the advent of children, her care extends not only to her husband, but also to her offspring.

How to hold and let go?

Pigeons are delicate and fragile birds. You need to be able to hold them correctly so as not to injure them. To do this, the wings of the birds are carefully pressed to the body, and the paws are fixed between the fingers. This way the birds will not break free ahead of time.

When the moment comes to release the pigeons into the sky, it is advised to slightly push the birds upward. You should not make sudden movements. It is important that the birds are released at the same time, so the bride and groom should agree in advance. You can, for example, launch birds on the count of three.

In order for the photographer to take several successful shots, you should not suddenly let go of the pigeons. At the same time, the bride and groom must have time to pose for the camera both with birds in their hands and against the backdrop of birds soaring in the sky.

Legends and symbolism

In ancient times, many peoples had their own symbolic meanings. Thus, among the Romans, pigeons carried the meaning of love and wisdom, among the Chinese - longevity and a happy old age, among the Slavs - peace, devotion and good luck. Also, a pair of doves is considered an international symbol of endless love and loyalty to your soulmate.

It is unclear when the tradition of releasing doves for weddings began, but most likely it partly came from the custom of releasing white doves as a sign of truce. It was a beautiful and solemn Roman tradition, which the Italians later adapted for their wedding day.

There, the doves released were a symbol of the bride leaving her parents' house and starting a new, independent life. However, it is known for certain that the same tradition was used in ancient times by the Slavs, but among them this custom was based on the ancient Slavic sign that a person who lets go of a bird will be lucky and happy.

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Peculiarities

Today, not only the bride, but also her betrothed takes part in the ceremony. The newlyweds release the doves into the sky together. There are two versions of the ritual. The first case involves two birds, which the bride and groom hold in their hands. The second option involves the participation of a flock of birds, which at a certain stage of the ceremony soar into the sky. It turns out to be a kind of “live fireworks”.

Birds, as mentioned earlier, are released before or after painting. In some cases the ceremony is performed twice. It all depends on the preferences of the couple.

At the appointed time, the birds are brought to the young in a beautiful wedding cage. It can be only two doves for the bride and groom or several birds at once. If desired, they are also presented to witnesses and guests of the holiday.

Before releasing the birds into the wild, it is important to arrange a short photo session. The ceremony footage looks spectacular and romantic in the photographs.

When the birds are in the sky, the guests and heroes of the occasion watch the flight and remember the signs associated with the ceremony.

Signs - releasing white doves at a wedding

Nowadays, all the original legends and symbolic meanings have merged together, and white doves for a wedding have become simply a beautiful and majestic sight. But despite this, in Russia their flight has acquired a significant number of a wide variety of signs.

For example, it is believed that by looking at pigeons one can determine that the first child in the family will be born. If the bird of the bride was the first to soar into the sky, then it is a girl, and if the bird of the groom is the first to fly, then it is a boy. If the pigeons take off at the same time, then there will be twins. In addition, a pair of doves flying together means a long and happy married life for the newlyweds.

Unfortunately, this tradition has both positive and negative sides, like any other ritual that takes place using animals and birds.

First, let's list the advantages.

pros

First of all, this custom is very beautiful and memorable. Although doves are released at almost every wedding now, it looks fascinating every time, regardless of the number of doves. There can be either a couple of them - only for the heroes of the occasion, or ten or twenty. Quantity does not play a role in this situation, only the surrounding atmosphere and the importance of the moment are significant.

The release of doves is a wonderful ancient tradition that has undergone many changes in its meaning and has come down to us, already enriched with its own history and legends. It is a kind of tape passing through space and time, remaining just as exciting and reverent.
White doves are a symbol of many wonderful and somewhat sublime things, such as eternal peace, kindness, wisdom, devotion and love. Knowing about such symbolism, we can safely say that such a gentle and bright ceremony will immediately acquire a special hidden meaning, which will make the wedding even more special.
If you look from a practical point of view, then the presence of such a ceremony will also guarantee spectacular and unique photographs from the celebration. Ask the photographer to work on possible angles in advance, practice holding birds correctly in your hands - and wonderful memories captured in the photo will be guaranteed. If you don’t have enough inspiration for the original photo, you can look through these pictures and maybe you’ll want to adopt and adapt some of the ideas.

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Minuses

Flying pigeons is not a cheap pleasure. The pigeons themselves most often cost between 700 and 1000 rubles per bird, but they also require special care. You will have to hire a professional to watch the birds until the ceremony so that they are not too scared, so that they do not get dirty, so that they do not accidentally damage themselves, and so that they are not too uncomfortable when being carried. This same person is obliged to help the newlyweds pick up the doves as carefully as possible, monitor the ceremony and make sure that the birds survive and return to the dovecote. Of course, many dovecotes skip the last point, but this is the next drawback.
Often, dovecotes, under the guise of selling birds for a wedding ceremony, simply get rid of pigeons for which there is no longer enough space. Either specially trained pigeons or carrier pigeons can find their way back home. The latter are not the most beautiful representatives of the species, so they are rarely chosen for ceremonies, and the birds are too difficult to train. The same pigeons that fall into the hands of newlyweds are almost always representatives of crested white fighting pigeons.

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These birds do not have a developed sense of direction, survival skills, or muscles for flight. They are bred only as an ornamental species, so when they are released into the wild at a wedding, they do not find their home and die on the streets, since they cannot feed themselves.

Therefore, you need to think several times before whether you need this ceremony at your wedding, and if you do, choose dovecotes carefully and make sure that they take care of their pets.

Where can I get it and how much do they cost?

Pigeons are unusual birds. They are used for wedding ceremonies not only because of their beauty and tenderness. Birds symbolize peace, love and fidelity.

Renting birds for a wedding ceremony is easy. You can contact bird breeders or special nurseries. Here, for a particularly elegant wedding, newlyweds can order pigeons with a pedigree.

Important! Renting birds from a nursery is a guarantee of safety, because birds are carriers of a number of diseases. You need to be sure that the pigeon infection will not be transmitted to the bride and groom.

Sometimes birds are offered for rent right outside the registry office. This service is convenient because you don’t even have to prepare for the ceremony in advance. However, when choosing pigeons from the registry office, you cannot be sure that they are properly prepared to participate in the celebration. The advantage of this service is its low cost.

Carrier pigeons are used for the ceremony. They are able to travel long distances and will always find their way home. By renting such birds, you don’t have to worry about their safety.

The cost of the service is affordable to everyone. A pair of birds will cost an average of 1000-1500 rubles. Thoroughbred individuals are somewhat more expensive - approximately 2000 rubles each.

Modern interpretation of tradition

The custom of releasing doves at weddings has remained virtually unchanged. However, now not only the bride, but also the groom takes part in a small ritual. White birds quickly rising into the air are one of the brightest and most exciting moments not only for the newlyweds, but also for their guests.

Thanks to this custom, newlyweds experience a lot of positive emotions. By releasing pigeons, newlyweds can make a wish that will undoubtedly come true. Wedding birds, having gained freedom, should bring happiness to the husband and wife in their new life together.

Photo session with white doves

A photo shoot is one of the most important elements of a wedding celebration. An experienced photographer will take photographs that will remind you of an important event many years later. He will not forget about several shots with pigeons.

Spectacular wedding shots are obtained with pigeons in a cage. But the birdhouse must be beautiful and match the event. The groom is asked to lift the cage and the bride to look at the birds.

Photos in which newlyweds carefully hold doves and look at each other or at the birds look especially tender. Surely guests will also want to take photos with the birds. It is important to capture the moment of flight. To do this, you will need professional equipment, which is in the specialist’s arsenal. It is extremely difficult to film all stages of the ceremony with a regular camera or smartphone camera.

The photo session must be held in an open area. The better the overview, the better the shots you will get.

What wedding doves predict omens?

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Olga Samoilova

Wedding doves

Wedding doves Signs

By releasing the doves, the newlyweds symbolically part with their former single life. On the threshold of a new family life, lovers are worried about many questions: how their relationship will develop in marriage, who will be born first - a boy or a girl... These beautiful birds will help you find the answer to this exciting topic. Wedding doves illuminate omens from the following perspective:

For the happiness of the young family

First, when releasing doves from your hands, you should make a wish and quietly inform the bird about it - it is believed that the dove will convey your request to the Creator, and your innermost wish will certainly come true.

Secondly, after releasing the birds, they watch how they fly. If, having quickly soared into the heights, they stay side by side, it means that the newlyweds will have a long and happy life. Moreover, the longer the birds fly as a pair, the longer the marital journey in love and harmony will be. This sign in no way promises an unsuccessful marriage if the pigeons fly unevenly or sit on a branch of a nearby tree. Rather, the reason for this behavior of the birds was their keeping in a tight closed box. So, look at where the pigeons are kept before you give them to you.

Finally, in flight, one of the pigeons always flies a little ahead. This property is used to predict the gender of a newlywed's first child. When the dove released from the hands of the groom is in the lead, wait for the boy. If the bride's bird flies first, a girl will be born. Well, if they fly together, well, count on twins... to distinguish the birds, ribbons are usually tied to their legs - blue and pink...

The dove is a symbol of peace and love.

The tradition of releasing doves into the sky on a wedding day came to us from Europe in the last nine years and has firmly taken root among lovers of all ages. Indeed, the action itself is very beautiful and symbolic.

The dove is an allegory of peace, harmony and love. Why? As biblical legends say, it was a dove with an olive branch in its beak that brought Noah the good news of the end of the Flood and God’s forgiveness of the human race. It is not for nothing that in Orthodox iconography the Holy Spirit is depicted in the form of a dove.

Dove - bird of peace

And in ancient Roman mythology there is a story that the doves of the goddess of love Venus made a nest on the helmet of the warlike Mars. And, in order not to disturb the birds, the god of war canceled the next planned bloodshed. When talking about lovers, we often use the phrase “coo like doves.” After all, these birds remain faithful to each other and are considered monogamous.

Lovebirds

Pigeon mail

The birds that are offered to newlyweds are not just decorative, but also specially trained. These amazing creatures are returned back to the owner. In ancient times, this feature of pigeons was used to deliver mail. When going on long journeys, valiant knights always took with them a cage of pigeons. And when it was necessary to deliver the news to the home, the letter was attached under the wing of the feathered pet, and the bird was released into the wild. The winged messenger returned home and brought the long-awaited message to his native land into the hands of his beloved.

It was also believed that releasing a bird from its cage would bring good luck. Of course, it would be possible to release budgies or canaries, but it would not look at all as bewitchingly beautiful as the flight of a dove, and it would lead to the death of the birds, since they would no longer be able to find their way back.

How to get a beautiful photo with wedding doves

The flight of pigeons is a mesmerizing spectacle, but at the same time, photographs taken at the moment of the launch of snow-white birds also look great. To make the photo shoot successful, you need to use a few tips:

— Doves can be released at any time during the wedding celebration. The main thing is to choose a beautiful and comfortable place for this. — The bride, before picking up the bird, is strongly recommended to wear gloves. A timid bird may scratch the skin painfully with its sharp claws. — To avoid accidentally injuring a fragile bird, do not squeeze it too tightly with your hands. - Don’t rush to release the birds right away - let them calm down a little in your hands. And at the same time, the photographer will have the opportunity to catch a good angle. — Warn the photographer about the moment when you are ready to launch. It is better if a storyboard is made so that later you can select the most optimal moments of shooting. - Don’t be afraid to hold a dove, and when you release it into the sky, smile - after all, wedding doves are signs of happiness, peace and well-being of your future family!

Photos with pigeons at a wedding

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Recommendations

Organizing a wedding ceremony with doves is very simple if you keep in mind some recommendations:

Before implementing the idea, it is important to find out whether the heroes of the occasion have an allergic reaction to feathers . Otherwise, the wedding banquet will be ruined;
To prevent pigeons from soiling their outfits with feces, which the bride and groom are often afraid of, the birds are not fed a day before the event ;
If one of the newlyweds has a dislike for birds or is afraid of them, then it is better to refuse such a ceremony. Pigeons can be replaced with butterflies or glowing lanterns ;
To be sure that birds will not become a source of infection, it is better to rent them from special nurseries;
White doves will look great at a wedding celebration. It is better to avoid variegated breeds ;
Photo sessions with birds are trusted only to experienced photographers with professional equipment;
Don't take the signs associated with the ceremony too seriously. Even if the birds fly away, the main thing in family life is to rely on yourself. Perhaps the birds simply did not like each other.

Idea! You can complement the launch of pigeons into the sky with balloons or the smoke of colored bombs. This action looks colorful and solemn.

Requirements for a dovecote

Most pigeon breeders build such a room themselves, trying to adhere to the minimum sanitary requirements for housing birds:

For safety reasons and to prevent small rodents and predators from entering the dovecote from the outside, the dovecote is sheathed with sheet iron or an outer box made of sheet iron 1.5-2 mm thick is welded. Such a box allows you to avoid the formation of cracks and drafts.
The dovecote can be made of a frame made of wooden beams with a cross-section of 50x100 or 50x150 mm, covered with sheets of flat slate. In this case, it may be necessary to foam the joints of the sheets and externally seal the joints with water-repellent compounds.
Any dovecote must have supply and exhaust ventilation. An increased concentration of ammonia released from the droppings will lead to the bird becoming sick with dropsy.
Keeping pigeons requires a temperature in the dovecote ranging from +10 °C to +25 °C, so the walls of the room must be insulated from the inside. It would be undesirable to insulate with mineral wool slabs, which will release phenol and tiny fibers into the air that enter the bird’s lungs. It is best to insulate a dovecote with ecowool, blowing it between the outer wall and the inner wall made of clapboard on a wooden sheathing.
Floors must be insulated and have a hard surface. This will allow for sanitation in case the bird becomes sick. For insulation, polystyrene concrete with a cement-sand screed on top is suitable.
Lighting. Pigeons develop normally when exposed to light for at least 12 hours, so lighting will be necessary in winter. It can be arranged using low-power LED lamps.
Heating. Insulated walls will help you avoid sudden changes in temperature, but will not save you from getting cold during the cold season. The dovecote requires heating that does not burn the oxygen in the room. These can be electric infrared lamps or panels.
Sections for hatching chicks. They are arranged in the form of racks, separated by partitions, along long side walls.
Keeping young animals. An adult bird can drive the young out of the most convenient places in the dovecote, so it is necessary to place one individual perch for each pigeon on the internal walls or racks.

Inventory

The following equipment is used in the dovecote:

Individual perches. Every young pigeon or adult pigeon needs a perch. It is made from two wooden planks 10 cm wide, knocked together into a house and nailed to a wall or frame post with the top up. The design of the perch allows them to be placed on top of each other to save space.
Feeder. Do not scatter food for feeding pigeons on the floor. The room should have a feeder with windows, the number of which is equal to or greater than the number of birds. The top of the feeder should be closed to prevent droppings from entering. The volume of the feeder must correspond to the feeding norm - 50 g of grain per head.
Nests for hatching chicks. They are made in the form of shelves with partitions along the walls or in the form of an open adjustable bookcase standing against the wall. In each resulting compartment, a box made of wooden planks without a bottom is placed to organize a nest.
Drinking bowl. It is better to use special plastic drinkers made from a container turned upside down and a round plate with a recess for water. The drinking bowl should be in a place inaccessible to contamination by droppings.
Bathhouse. The easiest way is to put a small plastic basin with a small amount of water, which needs to be changed daily.
Dishes for minerals. A metal or plastic bowl will do. You can use an additional feeder, pouring chalk, small stones, and crushed shell rock into it.

Security requirements

Important:

It is prohibited to place dovecotes near power lines.
A high pole for determining wind direction and a perch for resting after flights must be grounded.
If the outer surface of the dovecote is metal, it must be grounded.
Indoors, you cannot use powerful lamps for lighting and powerful heat sources with a small cross-section of the electrical supply cable.
All wall or ceiling infrared heaters must have a protective shield made of tin at the rear.
The wiring in the dovecote must be placed in a metal sleeve.