Should you release butterflies at your wedding? There's no doubt that releasing butterflies at weddings and other events makes for a unique experience, and certainly provides opportunities for unique wedding photos and videos. But, in this time of increasing awareness of our actions on the environment, we need to ask ourselves if this is a good practice. Is it good for the butterfly? And, if you do decide to release the butterflies, what are the rules you should follow? We offer you this look at both sides of the butterfly release issue.

Why you don't want to Release Butterflies at your Wedding:

Here is what some organizations have said about butterfly releases:

Jeffrey Glassberg (president of NABA); Paul Opler (author of Peterson Field Guide to Eastern Butterflies); Robert M. Pyle (author of Audubon Society Field Guide to Butterflies); Robert Robbins (curator of Lepidoptera, Smithsonian Institution) and James Tuttle (president, (Lepidopterists' Society) as reported on the North American Butterfly Association (NABA) website, naba.org:

"Although this practice is understandable to naive newlyweds-to-be (what could be more beautiful than adding butterflies to the environment?) it is really a particularly long-lasting form of environmental pollution.

Butterflies raised by unregulated commercial interests may spread diseases and parasites to wild populations, with devastating results. Often, butterflies are released great distances from their points of origin, resulting in inappropriate genetic mixing of different populations when the same species is locally present. When it is not, a non-native species is being introduced in the area of release. At best, this confuses studies of butterfly distribution and migration; at worst, it may result in deleterious changes to the local ecology."

The National Wildlife Federation discourages releases of commercially-obtained butterflies because, among other things, "Releasing butterflies can result in the possible introduction of species into areas where they are not native, possible carrying and spreading diseases at the same time."

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife opposes butterfly releases because "it looks like a harmless, uplifting way to end a wedding ceremony, but the popular practice of releasing mail-ordered butterflies could leave a legacy of lasting damage..."

Why It's Okay to Release Butterflies at your Wedding:

Are there those who believe butterfly releases are okay? Sure. One such group is the International Butterfly Breeders Association. This from their website, www.butterflybreeders.com:

"Will laboratory or farm raised Monarchs be ‘mixed up’ and unable to find their way to overwintering sites?

Decades of research has proven that, in fact, captive raised Monarchs retain their instinct to migrate. The Monarch Watch organization based at the University of Kansas has distributed to schools (throughout states east of the Rockies) thousands of larvae in educational kits resulting in classroom rearing, tagging and releasing of thousands of Monarchs. Dozens of these butterflies have been recovered at the Monarch overwintering sights in Central Mexico."

And, from the same website, a quote from Dr. Orley Taylor, Monarch Watch Organization, University of Kansas Entomology Program:

"Butterfly releases are fairly well regulated and should be. At present, only 9 species can be released. In practice, only two species, the monarch (Danaus plexippus) and the painted lady (Vanessa cardui) are commonly released."..."Although it is likely that some diseased butterflies are released from time to time, the numbers are probably low. The diseases that occur in stocks are those commonly found in the wild and, in the wild, conditions seldom support dissemination of microbes such that they would decimate populations."

You are encouraged to visit both websites and make up your own mind about releasing butterflies at your wedding. Should you decide to investigate releasing butterflies at your wedding, you would probably be wise to release butterflies that are found locally. The International Butterfly Breeder's Association has much information on their website about which butterflies can be released where, as well as rules to follow when releasing butterflies at events. (Again, their website is www.butterflybreeders.com). The rules include releasing butterflies outside only during daylight hours, on a sunny or overcast day with a temperature above 60 F, which rules out many winter releases.

Interstate transport of butterflies is governed by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), which has ruled that only nine butterfly species may be transported across state lines for release, and then only to certain states. The nine butterfly species are: Gulf Fritillary, Monarch, Zebra Longwing, Giant Swallowtail, Mourning Cloak, Red Admiral, Eastern Black, Swallowtail (male), Eastern Black Swallowtail (female), Painted Lady and American Painted Lady. Monarchs, however, may not be transported across the Continental Divide.

Synonyms: Utterfly, ubtterfly, btterfly, btuterfly, buterfly, butterfly, buterfly, butetrfly, buttrfly, buttrefly, buttefly, buttefrly, butterly, butterlfy, butterfy, butterfyl and butterfl are typos for "butterfly." Elease, erlease, rlease, rleease, reease, reelase, relase, relaese, relese, relesae, releae, releaes and releas are typos for "release."