The National Association of White Dove Release Professionals UK

1) A lot of companies started out from racing pigeons which is a fantastic foundation to build a Dove Release company when the business is set up professionally; These experienced, professional and legally operating people will have websites and can be easily found on the internet; but there are some that just want a bit of extra income on the side...you will almost guarantee these Doves will be cared for and in top athletic condition; but turning up with beautiful Doves in a pigeon/picnic basket,setting them free then off to go is not giving you a full service, or doing justice to this wonderful experience..... as when it is carried out professionally. People who operate illegally will often just ask for cash payments or  to make out personal cheques. Their prices are often cheap because they pay no tax or insurance, but the service they provide is also cheap, and even paying £50 for this type of Dove Release will not be value for money and will add nothing to your day.

 

2) There are other business people that think they can buy half a dozen Doves and make money from it. In most cases you will not be able to handle the Doves because they cannot handle the Doves themselves, and where a clumsy effort is made, you end up looking "awkward" in your wedding photos. The Doves are not registered, so if they do get lost they are unlikely to be returned home. Often we see that the lack of knowledge shows in the condition of the Doves i.e missing feathers and stained tails, breasts and flights. As the Doves are naturally pure brilliant white, these marks will show up on your wedding photos.

Where these people have websites, or advertise on free sites with a few images, you will often see images and text copied from other websites which also demonstrates a lack of creativity and imagination as well as being unprofessional....if they cant put together a few words and images in their own time, how are they going to coordinate a dove release under extreme pressure on your special day?

 

3) Then you have "other business" people. These will often have a business such as a florist, chair cover hire etc who will add Dove Release to their list of services; when in fact they do not keep Doves themselves but will book the services of someone who does and charge you a premium for doing so! They wont tell you the source of the supply so as you wont go there direct. That will leave you with no information about the Doves or how they are kept.

 

4) DIY (purchasing Doves and doing it yourselves)

Mostly people will go to garden centres or pet stores and buy a pair of Doves which will be fantail or garden doves. When you get them home, where will you keep them? Will they need to stay in the box until you are ready to transfer them into the pretty basket you have to take to your wedding or event? Then assuming you have managed to transfer them safely without any of them flying off whilst you are trying to handle them, you take them to your wedding and the photographer catches a lovely shot of them leaving the basket. When your photos are published you see brown tinged chests and brown/green staining on the tail feathers. This is common of Doves being kept enclosed as they lay in their own faeces. The green staining is indicative that the Doves are stressed; Lovely -  just what you want on your wedding photos! These stains will show up and ruin your photos.

Then when they are released where will they go? Back to the garden centre? Very unlikely. These Doves will settle either around your feet or on the nearest roof top where the poor thing will starve to death.

Even if you do manage to buy or borrow Rock Doves, the chances are you will have had to keep then in a box for longer that they should be, and unless you are used to handling Doves they could still fly off whilst you are trying to handle them. And staying in a box will again lead to staining on the Doves through being kept in cruel and cramped conditions.