The early European Church looked upon the peacock as a religious symbol. Certain Indian groups in India still hold the peafowl as sacred and it is protected in its native habitat in India as their national bird. The feathers of the peacock are very vibrant and beautiful and are becoming more popular in wedding décor. Although, some cultures believe that the feathers of the peacock are evil eyes and bring bad luck if kept indoors; kept outdoors they bring good luck. So if you’re planning a wedding with peacock feathers you might want to consider having an outdoor wedding to make sure you get the good luck.
Here are some easy and inexpensive favors you can make yourself for your bridal party and all your guests.
The simplest thing you can do with peacock feathers is to use it as a decoration on your wedding favors. For instance if you are giving a bottle of wine or champagne out to each guest with your names and wedding date printed on the label, have the label include a picture of a peacock or single peacock feather, then use a silky ribbon to tie a real peacock feather around the bottle.
Another great gift is to make a pen out of the peacock feather for each guest to take with them, and in case they forgot to sign your wedding album they can now do so with their pen. Peacock feathers are hollow and to make them into a pen all you have to do is snip the tip wide enough for the pen to fit in. Brush some glue around the pen (don’t use a pen that you have to push the button to get it to work because the button will be up in the peacock feather, and don’t use an expensive pen because its going to get glued to the inside of the feather shaft). After you applied the glue, place it in the feather shaft and make sure it touches it. Let it dry and then hand out to your guests.
If you want a more “traditional” looking pen, you can make an old calligraphy pen out of a peacock feather as a favor for your guests. You will need a feather, an exacto knife, baby food jar, wine cork, glue, paint, and liquid ink.
With the exact-o knife cut off the back half of the tip of the feather only about a quarter of an inch up. This will give you a triangle tip that is common in calligraphy writing.
Next you will want to paint the baby food jar a color that coordinates with your wedding colors. Let that dry.
Fill the cleaned out baby food jar half way with liquid ink. Screw on the baby food jar lid.
Drill a hole just big enough to fit the feather into the cork. Glue the cork to the top of the baby food jar lid. Set the feather calligraphy pen in the hole in the cork and hand out as a favor to your guests and bridal party.
For the women at your wedding you can consider making them a simple fan out of peacock feathers, especially if you’re having an outdoor wedding in the summer months when it is going to be hot. Simply arrange the feathers in a fan shape, glue them to a piece of lace cut in a semi circle or a doily cut in half. Put the lace or doily on both sides of the feathers for added stability. If you give these out to your bridal party they can even use a couple bobby pins to secure them in their hair or around their bouquets so they are easily accessible even during the ceremony!
