Sheena McCorquodale hands the bride and groom each a white dove. They complete their vows and then raise the iconic birds into the air and watch them take-off, skyward.
The families of the newly-wed couple take their decorated baskets filled with birds and do the same.
“What I really enjoy about them is they are a blank canvass,” said McCorquodale, owner of Silver Wings, a Qualicum Bay company that does ceremonial dove releases.
“You can project whatever symbolizim or whatever kind of meaning you want on to them.”
Besides weddings, McCorquodale does memorials and many types of celebrations, including one that was a conclusion of a messy divorce.
The doves have been released from as far south as Nanaimo and north to Courtenay.
The birds have even crossed back over the mountains from Cathedral Grove, but they always fly back home, and quickly, said McCorquodale.
“If I released them in Parksville, jumped in the car and put the pedal straight to the floor, I wouldn’t be able to beat them home,” she said.
When she first started the company four years ago, she trained the birds, taking them a couple of miles from home and releasing them, gradually getting father and farther away. Today she hardly has to train new ones at all, she said, because the older ones do it for her.
She said science hasn’t shown how exactly the birds do it, but she’s positive the other birds on her property couldn’t do the same.
“I have one chicken who would come back from a couple of yards away,” she laughed. “But definitely not 50 miles away. No way.”
Before her boyfriend’s son took a liking to the birds, she wasn’t so sure she would love them, she said.
“I wanted ducks, chickens, pheasants and quails,” she said, “But now these guys are by far my favourite.”
McCorquodale said all the birds have their own little personalities and are interesting to watch.
Although she started with only six, today McCorquodale has around 50 doves. They are not caged in the day but are free to fly around, and then are tucked away at night, she explained.
“It kind of puts the idea of a bird cage on its head,” she said. “you let the birds go and they come back willingly.”
McCorquodale has a number of cages and baskets to hold the doves at ceremonies, before they are released. This includes a natural bamboo cage, an elaborate heart-shaped cage and big clam shells.
Prices for a ceremonial dove release range depending on distance but are generally between $150 and $175.
For something that can be quite central to a ceremony, some would call that chicken scratch.
For more information on Silver Wings visit www.silverwings.ca or call Sheena at 250-757-9991.
reporter@pqbnews.com