IT'S NOT A MODERN WEDDING IF YOU DON'T HAVE BUTTERFLIES.Byline: Lois Smith Brady The New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times Since throwing rice or confetti has been deemed environmentally incorrect, wedding guests have been inventing more earth-friendly alternatives, from blowing soap bubbles to tossing rose petals, birdseed and breakfast cereal breakfast cereal, a food made from grain, commonly eaten in the morning. The oldest type of cereal, known as porridge or gruel, requires cooking in water or milk. The modern breakfast cereals, however, are entirely precooked and eaten in cold milk. . ``I knew someone who threw Rice Krispies Rice Krispies (known as Rice Bubbles in Australia) is a brand of breakfast cereal that has been produced by Kellogg's since 1928. They are made of rice grain which is cooked, dried and toasted. These kernels bubble and rise in a manner which forms very thin walls. ,'' said a wedding-cake designer, Gail Watson. ``It was really funny, because it went `crunch, crunch, crunch' when you walked down the steps.'' Now more and more brides and grooms are exiting the church amid a fluttery curtain of butterflies. It is such a colorful sight that Louis Sorkin, an entomologist at the American Museum of Natural History American Museum of Natural History, incorporated in New York City in 1869 to promote the study of natural science and related subjects. Buildings on its present site were opened in 1877. , compares it to tossing jewelry or Tiffany lamps into the air. A handful of companies across the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. are offering butterflies specifically for release at weddings between early April and October, when the weather is warm enough for them to flourish. Two years ago, Insect Lore in Shafter, Calif., began rearing painted lady butterflies for weddings; they cost $200 for the first 50 and $75 for each additional 50, and ordering them is like participating in a science experiment. In a carefully timed process, the butterflies arrive a few days before the wedding while still in chrysalis In Chrysalis is an EP by Delaware band boysetsfire, released in 1998. Track listing
Elizabeth McLaughlin, a bride in Washington, released butterflies at her wedding last fall, although most of her friends thought she was crazy to do so. She said: ``My bridesmaids kept asking, `What if everyone opens the boxes and they're not alive?' But there was no problem. ``They all flew right out and landed on the church and the bushes and my bouquet. It was like being engulfed in butterflies.'' (Insect Lore, which says it supplied butterflies to more than 600 weddings last year, insists that its painted ladies have hatched every time.) Swallowtail Butterfly swallowtail butterfly Any of more than 500 species (genus Papilio, family Papilionidae) of butterflies found worldwide except in the Arctic. Some have tail-like extensions of the hind wing. Farms in Carmichael, Calif., specializes in large bright orange monarchs, which cost $129 a dozen. Unlike Insect Lore, Swallowtail ships its butterflies fully developed, each in a separate little white box and all packed together in a cooled container to keep the butterflies calm for the journey. Monarchs become drowsy in chilly conditions. ``It's not harmful,'' Sorkin said. ``When you put a hood on a horse, it calms them down. With the butterflies, you're calming them down by cooling them.'' As soon as the monarchs warm up, they become the social butterflies they naturally are. ``We rear the monarch butterfly because it's very hardy and very people-friendly,'' said Jacob Groth, the owner of Swallowtail. ``They'll land on people's shoulders, on noses. And they are beautiful. I call them flying flowers.'' Most butterflies set free in midtown New York, Groth says, would find their way to Central Park and stay there for the rest of their lives, about two weeks. ``I'm sure there are plenty of habitats for them in the park,'' he said. ``And one of those butterflies can lay a good 200 or 300 eggs. So you've just added thousands of butterflies to New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. .'' |
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