A single butterfly can cost up to £5 with favourite varieties include the monarch and tiger-spot。

　　Despite the financial crisis Chinese butterfly farmers said that business had even picked up during the financial crisis。

　　"It's never been so good," said Liu, a director of the Love Butterflies Co in Beijing, "In fact from the end of last year and beginning of this year it's been booming。

　　"Even in recession people need to 'keep face' so they spend on their weddings."

　　Mr Liu added that the growing craze for butterfly weddings also reflected a 'more romantic' younger Chinese generation who had grown up in a more colourful and unrestrained world than their parents。

　　"This is the 'new era' generation of China, today's young people understand romance and they are willing to spend money on romance," he added。

　　Ensuring that the big moment causes a flutter among the guests requires careful stage management。

　　The butterflies are cultivated in farms, often in China's warm southern provinces of Sichuan and Yunnan, and then flown in thermally-controlled boxes to wealthy cities like Shanghai and Beijing while still in the chrysalis stage of development。

　　They are kept in the hands of professionals for three or four days to ensure that the chrysalises hatch properly and the butterflies are in prime condition for the wedding day。

　　"It requires a highly precise time arrangement," said Wang Yong of the Tiantian Wedding Ceremony Company in Tianjin city southeast of Beijing, "Or else, the butterflies would either still be a chrysalis or they would be dead."

　　According to the wedding brochures advertising such services, butterflies have only one partner for life and are emblems of love and loyalty. Their emergence from the cocoon symbolises the transforming powers of love。

　　To avoid the embarrassment of having to scoop lethargic butterflies out of their box – a not uncommon event on colder days – the bride and groom are advised to dress colourfully and dab themselves with flower nectar which excites the insects。

　　According to Liu the average couple might spend about £100 for a few dozen butterflies, but others much greater sums to ensure they had 'lucky' numbers of butterflies such as 88 or 199 which, when spoken in Chinese, sound like "rich, rich" or "Want to last long"。

　　在婚礼结束时放飞蝴蝶，让新人林浴在翩翩起舞的彩蝶中，这种很漫的婚礼形式就是蝴蝶婚礼。现在，很多有钱的中国人茌结婚时愿意花1000英镑办一场蝴蝶婚礼。

　　尽管处于金融危机中，但养殖蝴蝶的中国农户说，他们的生意在金融危机期间甚至比以前更好。

　　经济合作与发展组织曾警告，随着全球经济出现衰退，中国、德国和俄罗斯等国的经济发展也将受到影响。业内人士刘先生说：“我们的生意从来没有这么火过。实际上，从去年年底、今年年初开始，生意又火了起来。”

　　刘先生说：“即使出现了经济衰退，人们还是要‘面子’的，所以，他们舍得在婚礼上花钱。”刘先生还说，人们对蝴蝶婚礼越来越狂热还反映出，中国的年轻—代“更加浪漫”，与他们的父母相比，这代人成长的环境更加丰富多彩，所受限制也更少。

　　他还说：“今天的年轻人懂得浪漫，愿意为浪漫花钱。”

　　在大喜的日子，要想确保宾朋能看到蝴蝶起舞，就需要仔细把握蝴蝶的生长阶段。

　　这种蝴蝶通常先在四川、云南等温暖的南方省份的乡间养殖，然后装在温度适宜的盒子里运到上海、北京等大城市，这时的蝴蝶是蝶蛹。

　　蝶蛹需交由专人看管三四天，以确保正常孵化，因为这些蝴蝶也是婚礼当日不可或缺的角色。

　　天津市一家婚庆公司的王咏(音)说：“我们需要准确掌控时间。否财，蝴蝶要么还在蛹中，要么就会死掉。”

　　根据一份相关婚庆广告宣传册说，蝴蝶一生只有一个伴侣，代表忠贞不渝。同时，蝴蝶破茧而出，还代表经过长期酝酿后爱情成果诞生。

　　据刘先生说，—般情况下，新人会花大约100英镑购买几十只蝴蝶，但有人会买更多的蝴蝶，譬如88只、199只，因为这些数字比较“吉利”。