tacky fish?

Jessieleigh316

I was thinking about using purple betta fish in small bowls with blossoms floating on top of the water. The room will be very dimly lit with a purple glow. Is this pretty or just tacky? The betta fish centerpieces I have seen so far are in daylight-lit rooms and large bowls with plants growing out of them and I don't like it.

twilight.rose

Please don't do this. Fish are not decor. What happens when they die in the middle of your reception, etc, etc.? Not only is this tacky, it's cruel to the fish.

Would you use puppies or kittens as centerpieces? It's basically the same principle. Come up with another option. It would be lovely, for example, to just use centerpieces with floating blossoms and no fish.

JadziaDax

Don't do this. It's tacky and gross. Fish are not centerpieces.
They can die and if by some miracle they don't, what will you do with them at the end of the night? Just don't do it.

kristinanddan

Forget tacky, it's cruel. Fish aren't decorations, and there are a million and one things that can go wrong with this - what will you do with them after? What if they die before the reception is over? Fish poop isn't something anyone wants to see while eating.

jagore08

I agree with everyone else.  Please don't use any fish.  Having just the floating flower will look pretty all on its own.

Jessieleigh316

I was going to give them to the children and a couple of friends after the wedding as gifts for being involved (yes, I have cleared that with them already) once the reception was over. I actually work with animals and have to deal with animal cruelty quite often, so there wasn't going to be any cruelty involved, the blossoms would have been non-toxic and they would have been transported to bigger bowls at the end of the night. Also, the room would have been so dimly lit that even if there was time for waste to build up inside the bowls, nobody would have been able to see it, as just the silhouette of the fish would have been visible anyway.

Jessieleigh316

But thanks for the advice.

mbcdefg

Yes, it's tacky.

I don't want to watch a fish take a crap while I'm eating dinner (especially if I picked the fish entree).

MyNameIsNot

Cruelty to animals is always tacky.

ExpatPumpkin

Sorry, but aside from the points other posters have made, I think it's just gross.  At least some of your guests will feel the same way.

feistydiver

I do not think it is tacky at all, nor cruel as long as you have a plan to care for the fish.  I think it is funny how people on here keep saying how cruel it is when they sit in pet stores and die all the time.  I have seen these centerpieces at weddings and as long as you care for them, they will survive.  It is people that are ignorant on how to care for the fish, that end up killing them.  Just make sure you ask advice on how to prep the water and what is not toxic for the fish, and have a plan on who will care for the fish afterwards...I see nothing wrong with it.  If the people on here are so concerned about fish in a wedding centerpiece, maybe they should be picketing and protesting infront of all of the pet stores.  Or, I wonder how many of these people have killed spiders or mosquitoes? 

kristinanddan

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_reception-ideas_tacky-fish?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:5Discussion:62d64d8b-856e-4a33-8d05-1cf3600356b9Post:3e1a0940-d51e-4326-b45e-58fed937d3f8">Re: tacky fish?</a>:
[QUOTE]I do not think it is tacky at all, nor cruel as long as you have a plan to care for the fish.  I think it is funny how people on here keep saying how cruel it is when they sit in pet stores and die all the time.  I have seen these centerpieces at weddings and as long as you care for them, they will survive.  It is people that are ignorant on how to care for the fish, that end up killing them.  Just make sure you ask advice on how to prep the water and what is not toxic for the fish, and have a plan on who will care for the fish afterwards...I see nothing wrong with it.  If the people on here are so concerned about fish in a wedding centerpiece, maybe they should be picketing and protesting infront of all of the pet stores. 
Posted by feistydiver[/QUOTE]

Please see the post above your own for why it is cruel.

I know next to nothing about how fish are treated in pet stores, but I guarantee they aren't subjected to loud music, pulsing lights, and drunk people trying to eat them.

andy71781

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_reception-ideas_tacky-fish?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:5Discussion:62d64d8b-856e-4a33-8d05-1cf3600356b9Post:3e1a0940-d51e-4326-b45e-58fed937d3f8">Re: tacky fish?</a>:
[QUOTE]I do not think it is tacky at all, nor cruel as long as you have a plan to care for the fish.  I think it is funny how people on here keep saying how cruel it is when they sit in pet stores and die all the time.  I have seen these centerpieces at weddings and as long as you care for them, they will survive.  It is people that are ignorant on how to care for the fish, that end up killing them.  Just make sure you ask advice on how to prep the water and what is not toxic for the fish, and have a plan on who will care for the fish afterwards...I see nothing wrong with it.  If the people on here are so concerned about fish in a wedding centerpiece, maybe they should be picketing and protesting infront of all of the pet stores.  Or, I wonder how many of these people have killed spiders or mosquitoes? 
Posted by feistydiver[/QUOTE]
Did you read any of the previous posts?  There are lots of good reasons why this is a bad idea. 
Also...I don't necessarily think that "pet stores" are the standard for animal rights and welfare.  Pet stores are pretty mean to the animals that they sell.

Victoriatx

I wouldnt do it, you dont want any children or guest or drunk person harming the fish.

vsgal

You should skip the fish and put some puppies on the tables tied down with purple bows

duckie1905

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_reception-ideas_tacky-fish?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:5Discussion:62d64d8b-856e-4a33-8d05-1cf3600356b9Post:acd8203b-da0e-45f1-aa62-e6e5fc9da82c">Re: tacky fish?</a>:
[QUOTE]I was going to give them to the children and a couple of friends after the wedding as gifts for being involved (yes, I have cleared that with them already) once the reception was over. <strong>I actually work with animals and have to deal with animal cruelty quite often, so there wasn't going to be any cruelty involved,</strong> the blossoms would have been non-toxic and they would have been transported to bigger bowls at the end of the night. Also, the room would have been so dimly lit that even if there was time for waste to build up inside the bowls, nobody would have been able to see it, as just the silhouette of the fish would have been visible anyway.
Posted by Jessieleigh316[/QUOTE]

I find it hard to believe that you have any active role in preventing cruelty to animals yet you still thing that what you are suggesting is humane.

My husband and I care for both marine and tropical fish.  I thing what you are suggesting is appaling and, frankly, I think you should be ashamed of yourself and ashamed to call yourself an animal lover.

mandylovesandy

I was at a wedding last summer where they used fish as centerpieces, and the vibrations from the loud music killed them halfway through the reception. Kids were screaming/crying/pointing at these floating fish...it was a disaster.

ciaraman

I would leave a wedding that used fish as centerpieces.  Regardless of whose wedding or how close we were.  The idea is that offensive to me. It's completely cruel.

ootmother2

DEAD


I haven't seen a good "Fish as centerpieces" in ages!!!

Brooklclark

I hope that everyone who has posted against having fish as a centerpiece is also serving a vegetarian menu, otherwise your all hypocrites. Is having flowers as a centerpiece bad for the environment?  I would say it is in bad taste it you are also serving fish for your meal. It's your wedding if you like it then it's up to you. just have a plan

lisalou402

Brook...i agree.  I find this whole post interesting.  This whole "appalling" idea???

Anyone serving chicken? Ever read Fast Food Nation? Or see anything on how chickens are farmed?  Having steak? Ever go to a slaughterhouse?

vsgal

Brook and Lisa and OP,

This is not a political or animal rights issue.  Putting this issue on the same level as the meat that we eat is not relevant.  People eat meat.  That is why God gave us incisors. 

The overall objection to this post is because it is not right to use animals as a prop for your party.  In most cases, the animals are not cared for and they are discarded after use.  Fish, butterflies, and doves are often neglected and harmed so that a bride, who has been swayed by the wedding industry, can have her perfect pretty princess day.  This is not fair or right to the animals.  You would never tie a puppy to your table as a centerpiece or strap kittens to your pews or have hamsters thrown at you as you leave the wedding venue.  So why would you put fish on your tables with no intentions of caring for them properly?  We are not going to tell the OP that her idea is good.  It is not going to happen.  It is cruel.  It is tacky.  It is vulgar. 

As animal lovers and human beings, you should know this.  Yes, she can put the fish in the purple water if she wishes.  No one can stop her.  But I have a feeling that people will not say "OMG! What amazing centerpieces.  I must take a picture of these beta fish and show my daughter for her wedding!"  People will side-eye and judge you on your lack of taste.  Unfortunately, once people get a bad taste in thier mouths at a wedding, they will start to notice all the other crappy things that are going on.  The next thing you know, people are not talking about how great your wedding was because they would prefer to forget it.  Remember, if strangers on a message board are talking like this, imagine what your friends and family will think.

lisalou402

yeah, but you know what, sometimes the Knot is different than the community that the person is in.  We know this.  Take the dollar dance...disputed long and far on these boards.  My take? Tacky.  For someone who's been to lots weddings wher there was a dollar dance? Not tacky.  The big difference here, and I see that, is that she asked for an opinion.  So OP asked for it....I'm just giving her the other side.  Sometimes it's good for a poster to hear an opinion that ISNT the norm of the board.  This is what's good about online communities, you get all different perspective.

And I do disagree...some people do beleive that even though we have incisors that animal cruelty extends to eating meat and fish. 

I hope she gives the fish to the kids at the party! 

mgietler76

From someone who was at two seperate weddign where goldfish were used as centerpeices and BOTH times I have witnessed drunk people actually eat the fish. It was distrubing to say the least and bridemaids were actually running around and dumping the fish in the nearby pond. I left the wedding as soon as I saw this, Iwould never in a million years think that people would eat a live goldfish, but please take this into consideration. Even if you don't think it will happen to you, better safe than sorry.

lisalou402

mgietler..you are right.  I am not taking into account the sheer stupidity of drunken people.

Weddings aren't an episode of Fear factor!!! Or a hazing rite!!

sslovinsky

It's your wedding, do what you want!  I've owned Betta fish for years and they are very hardy little guys! I'm in a climate where we go from 40 to -40 degrees and have never had a problem with temperature changes!  I would recommend staying away from using the mirrors on the table though, they would flair up and stress out too much.

Though if you are going to use them make sure they're in a larger container...the ones they keep them in in the pet stores are pretty horrible. That and make sure you have homes for them! My fiance and I are using fish as well...but we're getting betta starter kits to give out to whomever is taking the fish (and the people already know they're taking them home).

Have fun and Enjoy your day!

[Deleted User]

My Aunt was just telling me she went to a wedding last night where all the centerpieces had fish and them and by the end of the reception all the fish were dead... (not sure if they didnt treat the water correctly or what) but either way....having a bunch of dead fish on tables at your wedding is depressing and gross....not worth it.

Lucky648327

They're just fish. Especially if you buy the feeder goldfish. They're not meant to be cared for they are meant to be eaten. I think the idea could be cute and I don't see it being an issue of using "animals as props." Why do you think offices and waiting rooms have fish tanks? Its a decoration. People buy fish becasue they are pretty to look at. It's your wedding, if you like it do it.