Peacock Feather Fans, the ultimate bouquet alternative

All birds shed their feathers naturally, at least once a year, every year. So I'm pretty sure that no peacocks were harmed to get the feathers! They were probably just collected as they were dropped… If you had a bunch of peacocks, you wouldn't want to kill them since they will grow new feathers each year!

Emily is right, peacocks aren't harmed for their feathers. At least everything I read about when I used them in my own wedding (after facing the wrath of someone who thought I was endorsing murder or something) said that they are actually treated quite well to get the best feathers possible. So, vegetarians can rest easy, none of the birdies get killed.

Still haven't found any information about the quality of life they have on the farms in general though, but I'm sure if that's a concern there are farms one can look at in their own state, and there's definitely sources for organic farms on the internet.

My boss has a peacock farm — they tend to shed a good number of feathers on their own.
I think this is an interesting idea, but remember to check with your wedding party that no one has allergies to bird dander or dust!

Peacocks can remain unharmed by the loss of their tail feathers. My grandmother has a HUGE collection of feathers that some neighborhood-roaming peacocks simply shed in her back yard. (I'm going to try to convince her to at least let me use them for centerpieces.)
That may not be the case for purchasing large quantities of feathers, but if it's only tail feathers, maybe the birds weren't harmed. Just do some research… Good luck.

Be cautious about this. Export of peacock feathers from India, where peacocks are native, is banned under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species: "The peacock sheds its feathers, but the peacock does not shed its feathers enough for a trade to continue. There is no doubt that the peacock is trapped, killed and then its feathers are plucked out and sent to the shops and trading centres. If it becomes difficult, then mass poisoning takes place."

http://www.indiatravelogue.com/envi/envi51.html

Since they're indigenous to India, locals might well be eager to scratch out a living by tapping into wild populations and not sustainably harvesting feathers from their private stock. I expect U.S. farms don't have that problem, but then you need to be certain of your source.

Everything's a tradeoff, but I'm not convinced that using fake, plastic peacock feathers isn't less damaging than the real thing. Probably better all around to opt for local, responsibly grown, in-season flowers, even if they aren't offbeat and "exotic."

Pretty wild. I love peacock feathers. Is it too late now to change my theme for these lol?

I really really REALLY want to have peacock feathers in my wedding, but my mom and a few other family members are terribly allergic to feathers of any kind, even the fake ones. Do any of you know if anyone makes fake, hypoallergenic decorative peacock feathers?