Live Butterfly Release - According to an American Indian Legend - if anyone desires a wish to come true they must first capture a butterfly and whisper that wish to it. Since a butterfly can make no sound, the butterfly cannot reveal the wish to anyone but the Great Spirit who hears and sees all. In gratitude for giving the beautiful butterfly its freedom, the Great Spirit always grants the wish. So, according to legend, by making a wish and giving the butterfly its freedom, the wish will be taken to the heavens and be granted.

Wedding Butterflies - Experience the wonder and amazement of a live butterfly release at weddings or special events. If you shop around, you will notice generally two different types of butterflies available: the Monarch and the Painted Lady. The Monarch is the largest and most vibrantly colored butterfly available, with a wingspan twice as big as the "Painted Lady." Because of this, we devote all of our efforts to producing only the highest quality Monarch butterflies for release at any type of event, especially weddings.

Buyers Beware! - In our 17 years offering live butterflies for release at weddings, we have seen our competition come and go. Unfortunately, the consumer is the one who suffers the most when these companies go out of business. We are the Original Butterfly Company and promise to be there when you need us. We are confident that you will not find a company that will equal our commitment to quality and customer satisfaction, so we encourage you to shop around before placing your order with us. Please be sure to see our list of important questions to ask the butterfly release company before making your purchase.

Competitive Pricing - We will remain vigilant in our efforts to keep our prices as low as possible without allowing any compromises to our high quality standards. Yes, there are a few companies that are 'cheaper' than us. However, it doesn't take much research to realize that reduction in quality is not worth the slight bit of savings - especially for an event as important as a wedding! However, we will make every effort to match our competitors prices when available. Please EMAIL us if you find prices lower than ours for the same level of quality products. Please see our price list for more information and prices aobut our live butterfly release products for weddings and other special occasions.

Conditions For a Successful Wedding Butterfly Release - For a successful butterfly release, the temperature needs to be at least 55 deg. F and prior to the sunset. If you are uncertain about the possible weather for your area on your event date, we advise checking the historical weather records for your area. Please note that the butterflies will need to be released no later than 15 minutes after sunset. For sunset times in your area on your specific event date, please click HERE for more information.

Important questions to ask when shopping for butterflies to release:

• How long have you been in business and how much experience do you have with monarch butterflies? Swallowtail Farms, Inc. is an award winning company that has been around for many years and will continue to be there when you need us. Our success as a business depends on your satisfaction as a customer. We are a reliable and professional firm with several farms across the country. We have developed mulitiple cutting-edge commercial breeding techniques, including our Flight Proven™ Technology, to ensure that you receive the highest quality butterflies available. Our rearing methods and resulting butterflies have also been certified by a well-respected insect pathologist to be of high standards and disease free. When you place an order with us for live butterflies, our many years of experience and dedication to high standards are your insurance for receiving lively, healthy, and beautiful monarch butterflies for release at your special event.

• Will we receive adult butterflies or chrysalides? All butterfly are hatched and fully grown as adult butterflies. It takes work to hatch a butterfly, and hatching chrysalides in boxes results in a messy pupal shell and body fluid which your guests will see. About 10% fail to emerge when chrysalides are shipped in boxes instead of butterflies. With our Flight Proven™ Technology, we can ensure a casualty rate far less than 1%.

• Do you ship Monarch butterflies, Painted Ladies, or a "mixed species bouquet?" Monarch butterflies ONLY! Painted Ladies are ¼ the size of Monarchs and a "mixed bouquet" is fancy language for the butterfly company's lack of ability or inexperience to commit to a specific type of butterfly, especially the much superior Monarch butterfly.

• Does each butterfly come packaged in an individual release box? Correct answer: "YES, each butterfly is placed in a BOX." A paper envelope has a course texture and will likely rub the scales off of the wings of the butterfly. Our relase boxes are stylish and elegant, yet designed to keep the wings of the butterfly safe. Some companies ship the butterfly chrysalis in bulk and then you have to hatch them and package them into their individual release boxes. We package them ahead of time for you so that this is one less thing you need to worry about. For a mass releases, butterflies are shipped in special glassine transfer envelopes which are designed for the protection of the butterfly during shipping. (Glassine envelopes work well for shipping & transferring, but are not proper to be used for release.)

• Do you ship the butterflies overnight express in insulated containers? An insulated container with freeze packs is the only safe way to ship live butterflies. Standard containers are not enough to protect butterflies from heat. It takes only 1-2 hours in a hot delivery van without proper packaging to kill most butterflies.

Flight Proven™ Technology -

This is a feeding and exercise system developed specifically to give the butterflies their maximum life potential while still keeping them as fresh as possible. Each butterfly is fed, exercised, and hand inspected to ensure quality and liveliness prior to packaging. This allows us to keep an extremely low casualty rate - less than 1%.

This system was created out of 17 years of experience growing and breeding monarch butterflies. When you place an order with us for live butterflies, our many years of experience and dedication to high standards are your insurance for receiving lively, healthy, and beautiful monarch butterflies for release at your special event.