At a recent wedding in the UK, guests gasped when it came time for the couple to exchange rings.
A large white barn owl suddenly swooped down and soared down the aisle with a small pouch attached to one leg.
The owl, named Juno, landed on the gloved hand of the best man, who gently untied the pouch and took out a wedding ring before the owl flew back to its owner.
A growing wedding trend is for couples to enjoy the presence of animals at their weddings. Dogs and cats have long filled in the honors for couples who don't have or want someone to fill that role. Weddings are increasingly incorporating other animals, such as alpacas, goats, and even penguins.
Groom Derek Darby said guests probably took more photos of Juno the owl than he and his bride at their January 27 wedding in Chester, England.
Bird trainer Ryan Stocks said owl ring bearers, which have become popular at British weddings since the Harry Potter books and movies became a hit, are also used to deliver unaddressed mail. It is said to be named after Harry's snowy owl, Hedwig.
Juno is one of Stocks' two ring-bearing owls. Mr Stocks rescues injured birds of prey and his Owl Adventures company is one of more than 20 companies licensed to use barn owls in the UK for weddings and educational purposes. It is.
Hitched said the average cost of a wedding in the UK is about $26,000. A study by The Knot found that the cost of the average wedding in the United States has soared to about $35,000.
The cost of delivering the owl ring (approximately $400 to $600 in the UK) was worth it to Darby and his bride, Dawn Braithwaite.
“We were looking for something different to help add an extra element of wow, so having an owl ring bearer made sense,” Darby said.
Most ceremonies went smoothly, but in 2013 an owl fell asleep in the rafters of the chapel and missed the big moment, and in 2018 another bird of prey flew towards the best man. and slammed it on the floor. Owls are dangerous when defending their nests, but they rarely attack humans. Keepers wear thick leather gloves to protect their skin from the raptors' sharp, curved claws.
Juno and another barn owl, Dusty, are scheduled for around 100 weddings in the UK this year, with Mr Stocks taking one to Greece for a wedding in Santorini in 2025. He said it was planned.
He learned how to train owls and other birds of prey while working at the Lightwater Valley Bird of Prey Center in North Yorkshire. In 2006, when his then-boss decided he should teach some barn owls to deliver wedding rings, Stocks was all for it.
In 2011, he turned his work with Birds of Prey into a full-time career. He estimates that trained owls have appeared at more than 500 of his weddings.
“Owls are fascinating and majestic birds, but many people have never seen one up close,” he says. “I love teaching people about them.”
In the United States, owls and other birds of prey are used in bird conservation education programs and are also trained to help control rodents. A famous peregrine falcon works as an artist in Vermont.
Some accredited bird centers, such as the Ohio School of Falconry and California's Raptor Events, use owls as ring bearers at weddings, but the tradition is far more popular in the United Kingdom.
The Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 made it illegal to capture, possess, or sell birds of prey or other wild birds in the United States without federal permission.
“There are more regulations in the United States than there are in the United Kingdom, where there is a long tradition of falconry dating back to the Middle Ages, where birds were used for hunting,” Stocks said.
He said falconry clubs were common in the UK and barn owls could be kept by licensed handlers. However, birds must be obtained from a certified breeder and cannot be taken from the wild.
“We are regularly inspected by local authorities, but there is more of a tradition of handling owls here,” Stocks said. “I've loved owls ever since I saw them for the first time when I was little.
Stocks owns 12 birds of prey – one eagle, three hawks, one peregrine falcon and seven owls – and uses them for flying shows and presentations at schools and senior living facilities. Two of his barn owls have been trained to deliver wedding rings.
“They're perfect for a wedding role,” he said. “It's graceful in flight, not too big, and white in color.”
He trained Juno and Dusty to travel back and forth to Handler's Grove when they were young. At weddings, clips are attached to the legs to hold small pouches.
At weddings, the owl would pop out of the box, look for the leather gloves held up by the attendants, and immediately fly to them with the ring.
“We have a practice session first and the birds are GPS tagged just in case,” Stocks said. “But neither of us ever freaked out and took off on our own.”
“One of the big benefits is that the wedding aisle is a straight flight to them,” he added.
The moment Faye Stickland saw Juno online, she sent an owl a ribbon for her and her fiancé's hand-tying ceremony (where couples tie ribbons on each other's wrists instead of exchanging rings). He said there was no question that he wanted it.
She said Juno added an authentic touch of grace to her barn wedding to longtime partner Richard Stickland last November.
“It was like being part of a real-life fairy tale,” she said. “There were some tense moments when my father-in-law told me. [the best man] I had a hard time untying the bag from the owl's foot, but my husband quickly stepped in to help. ”
Stocks said her favorite part of every wedding is seeing the guests' reactions when Juno and Dusty soar.
“It's a great moment,” he said.
As for his own plans, he said that although he and girlfriend Dee Hall are engaged, he has no plans to involve an owl in their upcoming ceremony. After all, part of the appeal is the element of surprise.
“I think that's too much to expect,” he said.
