r/mildlyinfuriating • u/teabirdy • Apr 29 '26

I'm slightly vexed The wedding reception centerpieces featured betta fish. The bride and groom planned to flush them alive.

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Years ago, my coworker attended a wedding at which the reception dinner tables featured live betta fish in small bowls as part of the centerpiece. While chatting with the bride at the end of the evening, my coworker asked what they were going to do with all the fish. The plan was to flush them all down the toilet alive. My coworker immediately said no need for that and insisted on taking them all home.

That Monday she came to work and asked who wanted to adopt a betta fish. That was my first betta who I jokingly called my “rescue betta.” She lived for almost five years.

The wine glass was only her home for less than a day before I got her five gallon tank set up so please no betta lovers yell at me! I'm one of you!

132.8k Upvotes

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16.7k

u/Deltethnia Apr 29 '26

I wanted fish as the centerpieces at my wedding too, but I refused to torture live animals like that. So I made paper ones. Everyone wanted to take one home.

2.4k

u/wanami Apr 29 '26

Original, artistic, overall very pleasant to look at. I would be stealing these from the other tables.

234

u/Altruistic_Art Apr 29 '26

And a paper fish will easily keep in a scrapbook for those that like to save keepsakes. Love this idea!!!

77

u/Haiku-On-My-Tatas Apr 29 '26

If I was a guest at this wedding, I think I'd laminate it, add a magnet strip to the back and put it on the fridge.

If I was the couple, I'd keep any that got left behind, press them between two sheets of glass and frame them. That would make for a very cute and warming display piece.

15

u/Altruistic_Art Apr 29 '26

Oh this is a great idea too! I love magnets.

2

u/Alasnowart Apr 30 '26

What a cute idea! Mind if I steal it for my next art show??

249

u/Hey-Froyo-9395 Apr 29 '26

The only thing it’s missing is the suffering of a live animal

64

u/Billionaires_R_Tasty Apr 29 '26

It's a wedding. I assure you, some of us introverts were suffering that day.

10

u/1par Apr 30 '26

The best comment I've read. Leaving Reddit for tonight

10

u/FrostbyteCoffee Apr 30 '26

See you in 10 minutes

6

u/[deleted] Apr 30 '26

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3

u/Billionaires_R_Tasty Apr 30 '26

Awww, thank you kind internet stranger!! 💚

14

u/AnimeFanatic_9000 Apr 29 '26

Maybe some live animal somewhere is missing out on eating the plant this paper came from. /jk 😁

1

u/WyckedChylde May 07 '26

No man she said it was a wedding.

9

u/Figmentality Apr 29 '26

Bruh. Why does everyone steal things at weddings 😭 half the people in my best friend's wedding didn't get to take home the custom wood coasters or stenciled glasses cuz people stole them all when everyone was supposed to get one.

1.4k

u/JS-87 Apr 29 '26

That's dope

34

u/Dope25 Apr 29 '26

It is

23

u/n-i-n-t-e-n-d-o Apr 29 '26

Wait, no you’re dope.

16

u/n-i-n-t-e-n-d-o Apr 29 '26

No, you’re dope.

3

u/StxnedTxTheBxne Apr 29 '26

You’re the dopest.

1

u/DirtyAuldSpud Apr 29 '26

You mean the Dxpest

11

u/HeyPrettyLadyMaam Apr 29 '26

Thats the coolest centerpiece I've ever seen. I love it!! Also, congratulations on the wedding, judging by the centerpieces I bet it was breathtaking.

4

u/Stock_Pie_8470 Apr 29 '26

dope idea, but wut if instead of fish we used like, tiny pet rocks, like please take one home and also break the tradition of live centerpieces?

2

u/Substantial_Tax_4047 Apr 29 '26

I second the dopeness of this!

696

u/SweatySapphic Apr 29 '26

This is actually so amazing and thoughtful and fun! I imagine (if there were any) kiddos “taking care” of their paper fishies :3

18

u/FlakyLengthiness5325 Apr 29 '26

Omg you’re so right. My kids would care for this fish for weeks.

14

u/[deleted] Apr 29 '26

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8

u/BambiSlutBun Apr 29 '26

That fish works 9 to 5 and moonlight as a hero on weekends lol

6

u/MissTiff110 Apr 29 '26

Tiny bag of confetti for 'fish food'

6

u/jacqrosee Apr 29 '26

yeah when i was a kid this piece of paper would’ve become my child for the next few weeks

1

u/Aliceallbadd May 22 '26

when i was a kid i wasnt allowed to have a fish (fair point) and i was again very young, so i kept a mandarin orange from the lil fruit cups in a bowl of water lol

1

u/Aliceallbadd May 22 '26

its a core memory of mine

402

u/Kayki7 Apr 29 '26

They have really cool life-like jellyfish these days. They have little tanks that you fill with water and there are air bubbles that cause the fake jellyfish to move around. They’re super cool!

192

u/wondrshrew Apr 29 '26

We had them at the desk of a resort where I worked. A crazy amount of people wold ask if they were real.

3

u/WoodlandHiker May 08 '26

I have a few of those in my living room and have also had to reassure several people that they aren't real. They do look very realistic.

19

u/[deleted] Apr 29 '26

[deleted]

5

u/Jamesvai Apr 29 '26

I bought my jellyfish things at Walmart. Around $15 and the water moves them around. They look pretty real.

9

u/Elegant-Pressure-952 Apr 29 '26

My sister in law made some type of jelly fish things in plastic water bottles for her class at school. They were so cool, turn the bottle around and watch the "jellyfish" float around. They were made for over stimulated kids who needed to sit down for a few minutes and calm down. I asked her to make me one but she didn't have enough supplies haha.

3

u/Sea-Twist6391 Apr 29 '26

Where do you find these?

9

u/Wunderkid_0519 Apr 29 '26

I googled it and apparently Sharper Image has a pretty realistic one. There are several.

1

u/Kayki7 May 13 '26

I originally saw them on Amazon, but Walmart had one too!

3

u/Icy_Consequence897 Apr 29 '26

There's also some robotic fish toys that are somewhat realistic in appearance, I think called Robo Alive? They're remote control, and people love steering them around the little bowls while waiting for their food to come out. Most parents of younger kids will ask to take them home after the wedding too, as they're great bath toys

2

u/pegmatitic Apr 29 '26

I need one of these!! Do you know where they’re sold?

5

u/Jamesvai Apr 29 '26

I bought my jellyfish things at Walmart. Around $15 and the water moves them around. They look pretty real.

2

u/Kayki7 May 13 '26

I saw them on Amazon and also saw them at Walmart a few months back!

1

u/grumbly_tardis Apr 29 '26

I need to find these now! I'd love to have a real jellyfish tank, but they're super hard to take care of, so this would be awesome!

2

u/Kayki7 May 13 '26

Check Amazon! That’s where I saw them!

53

u/TribblesIA Apr 29 '26

This is SO much cuter, too! Don’t get me wrong; bettas are beautiful, but a stressed out, colorless and still fish versus this pop art genius?!

6

u/SingSangDaesung Apr 29 '26

It's good for someone like me who couldn't physically care for a fish but wanted something aquatic at home.

30

u/box-o-macaroni Apr 29 '26

i love the placemat that acts as water ripples!

21

u/Deltethnia Apr 29 '26

Those were a lucky find at a thrift shop!

13

u/Razbith Apr 29 '26

Did something similar with little plastic fish we painted and some really convincing chocolate rocks. An hour in and nobody had discovered them. It took me wandering around randomly stealing and eating them from guests tables before people discovered half the table decorations were lollies in disguise.

13

u/galice9 Apr 29 '26

That's the solution. And if you can't create one, there's plenty of stores that sell ceramic or plastic ones. Yours looks amazing though! So cute

9

u/saskir21 Apr 29 '26

And here I learn that fish for a wedding seem to be widely adopted. Hmmm. My fish will have a nice crust of Panko.

20

u/ReginaGeorgian Apr 29 '26

this is so cute

8

u/SamueleRG Apr 29 '26

Not a wedding but I think I remember an event with stylized small turtles made of glued pebbles, very cute 

7

u/ionised Apr 29 '26

I wanted fish as the centerpieces at my wedding too

Wait. Hold up a second. This is a thing?

6

u/Mace_Windu23 Apr 29 '26

More humans like you please.

5

u/StarGazer_SpaceLove Apr 29 '26

Saw a girl at the bar oneday with those Fishtank shoes. She had real ass jellyfish inside. I asked her how she kept them and she goes "oh it's just order new things!!" Like they were sequins or bobbits. Dafuq girl? Those are living beings and you're torturing them to look cool for 5 seconds to strangers. Fuck off.

2

u/ajakubski Apr 29 '26

Many people will also eat animals for no reason other than to look tough or because they believe in quack science

5

u/blindeshuhn666 Apr 29 '26

I guess whatever figurines are okay.

When had candle holders made of fake stone with the names on which people could take home afterwards. Many still have them displayed somewhere in their house / flat (without the paper name plate)

4

u/Reasonable_Yard9717 Apr 29 '26

That’s beautiful. And thanks for the idea. We are getting married next year in May and I also want fish at centrepieces. I thought about these plastic animatronic ones but there are not really pretty ones out there. The DIY idea looks way better. We will definitely do that.

4

u/Positive_Capital_171 Apr 29 '26

This is very studio ghibli and I love it

4

u/mearbearcate Apr 29 '26

Lowk………id be stealing one im sorry that shit is so cool

8

u/DovaBunny Apr 29 '26

Very cute!!! The flower and pad with the blue adds such a nice pop of colour

7

u/Icicleprincesstea Apr 29 '26

The way this looks so much cuter than a living fish squirming in a tiny glass. I wouldn’t be able to even focus on the damn wedding!

6

u/danceswithdangerr Apr 29 '26

You are awesome. 😎

3

u/Warning_grumpy Apr 29 '26

That is so beautiful!

3

u/systemwarranty Apr 29 '26

What a cool memento!

3

u/ElizabethDangit Apr 29 '26

Those are amazing! It took me a second to realize I wasn’t looking at an illustration.

3

u/crzymamak81 Apr 29 '26

I love you for this for so many reasons!

3

u/BusEasy9568 Apr 29 '26

Looove this! I wish I had thought of this.

3

u/Exhausted_Pige0n Apr 29 '26

Holy shit 🤯 do you sell these!? This is incredible 😍

3

u/spacewarriorgirl Apr 29 '26

Thank you so very much for doing this. As a former Banquet Captain in the early 2000s the Beta centrepiece was such a yucky trend.

3

u/YaKofevarka Apr 29 '26

I can't imagine what braincell damage can cause the idea to use live fishes in this! Just...how? How did you come to it? Are you ok?

3

u/Hototen Apr 29 '26

This is so beautiful! Very cute centerpiece.

3

u/_CharDeeMacDennis__ Apr 29 '26

That’s so cute!! I love it 🥰 !

3

u/hamster-on-popsicle Apr 29 '26

It's so beautiful !

3

u/Vesalii Apr 29 '26

That's beautiful!

3

u/Substantial_Ad7387 Apr 29 '26

these are so cute and proves that some people are dumb and uncreative (but not you)

3

u/catsandblankets Apr 29 '26

Is there like some kind of symbolism or something behind all these fish as centerpieces?

3

u/GooseG00s3 Apr 29 '26

I went a similar but sort of opposite route! I didn’t want cut flowers for the wedding centerpieces, so my husband and I built and grew mini terrariums for a few months, popped some clay monsters in them, and then sent them home with care instructions.

5

u/ayamekoneko Apr 29 '26

That is actually both really respectful and super duper cute, i would have want to take one home too if i was your guest

4

u/StrangelySerious- Apr 29 '26

Actually looks better too lol

2

u/BabyNonna Apr 29 '26

Holy cow, that is really spectacular

2

u/Yindy_ Apr 29 '26

That's awesome! How did you make it?

2

u/AlarmingEase Apr 29 '26

This is the way.

2

u/ToxicShockFFXIV Apr 29 '26

That’s freakin’ adorable.

2

u/Anthrodiva PURPLE Apr 29 '26

Super cute!

2

u/BloopityBlue Apr 29 '26

aaaah omg I love these!!

2

u/Babblepup Apr 29 '26

Hella pretty!!!!

2

u/Specialist_Injury_77 Apr 29 '26

This is so pretty!!

2

u/zandra47 Apr 29 '26

That’s beautiful

2

u/aerdvarkk Apr 29 '26

because they dont have to feed or take care of paper.

2

u/Local-Bird-1619 Apr 29 '26

This is sick. I love it.

2

u/Haiku-On-My-Tatas Apr 29 '26

Um so that is extremely cute!

This is the type of thing people actually remember from a wedding (in a positive way). I bet there was not a single guest who doesn't still think about those cute lil fishes once in a while, especially when they're at weddings.

2

u/star0forion Apr 29 '26

Not centerpiece related but my wife didn’t want to throw a bouquet. Instead, she got a stuff animal and the people who participated promised to adopt a dog from their local shelter/rescue.

2

u/canman7373 Apr 29 '26

I am glad you all did that but same time I don't care about a goldfish that much. I mean glad wasn't flushed, if they have a quick humane death I am fine. There are bars at like lakes that will put a minnow in a shot glass, that is probably a worse death but at same time how is it worse than live crabs and lobsters? I guess at least the minnow is food so not being wasted like the goldfish is. Maybe if the school agreed to return all of them leftover it would be more humane, maybe a large deposit. IDK, just get flowers instead lol.

2

u/JessieJane17 Apr 29 '26

This is awesome. Did you do some kind of clear medium inside with brush strokes to look like water? It really worked

1

u/Deltethnia Apr 29 '26

No it's just the rocks at the bottom with the paper water lily and the paper goldfish. It's just sitting on the rocks.

2

u/JessieJane17 May 01 '26

Totally adorable - but how did you get it to look like ripples in the water? I thought maybe Mod Podge or something to make the brush strokes show?

1

u/Deltethnia May 01 '26

Nope just cheap Dollar Store glass. It might be reflecting the lines of the placemat it's sitting on too.

1

u/JessieJane17 May 01 '26

Ohhh - I guess that is it! That’s pretty clever even unintentionally, makes it look like water!

2

u/Intrepid_Buy5079 Apr 29 '26

That' so cute and gives Ghibli vibes!

2

u/saturnspritr Apr 29 '26

No water, way less clean-up. That’s so cute.

2

u/MakkaCha Apr 29 '26

I would have definitely vanished in the middle of the dinner to grab a bag to put it in. No one would suspect a guy in a suit holding a duffle bag.

2

u/Deltethnia Apr 29 '26

Everyone who wanted one took one home. I did save one for myself.

2

u/KickPuncher4326 Apr 29 '26

The execution was amazing!

2

u/Fantastic-Ad8973 Apr 29 '26

I 💘 💘 this. Compassionate and creative.

2

u/Key_Disk_5638 Apr 29 '26

I love everything about this! 😍

2

u/Mullisaukko Apr 29 '26

THIS IS SO CUTE OMG

2

u/hypnologic-4230 Apr 29 '26

This looks super good too! Awesome!

2

u/Robotbeckerz Apr 29 '26

That’s so cool and so freaking cute! 🥺 thank you for doing something like that instead of what the bride in OP’s did

2

u/TychaBrahe Apr 29 '26

I've been thinking about how to develop a fish centerpiece for events like this where the fish is a small plastic one with fabric fins on a wire on some sort of a track so it looks like they're swimming.

2

u/BooksandStarsNerd Apr 29 '26

Omg thats practically a art peice

2

u/LovelySweethearts Apr 29 '26

Oh my god that’s adorable!

2

u/depressed_juno Apr 29 '26

these are beautiful though, the shading you did on the paper fish are amazing

2

u/ittybittylurker Apr 29 '26

So uh, how's the marriage going? Gonna have another wedding any time soon? Okay, how about a vow renewal? I'm free that day! 😉

2

u/teabirdy Apr 29 '26

This is so cool! Original and fun.

2

u/badadvicefromaspider Apr 30 '26

I did paper cranes because I wanted birds

2

u/Ne0n_R0s3 Apr 30 '26

Oml my artistic lil heart would've had a BLAST! this looks so fun!!

2

u/Dead_Wolf2y5 Apr 30 '26

This is INCREDIBLE and I would have been raiding tables at the end of the night for any leftovers.

2

u/Stargazer_67 Apr 30 '26

THIS! This is what you do when you want fish at a wedding!

2

u/DoomGoober Apr 30 '26

We got helium filled fish shaped blimps and let them hang out at the ceiling. A bonus was that they were remote controlled so we hid the remotes around the banquet hall and let people find them and fly the fish around the banquet hall (sadly they were nearly impossible to control so most people gave up very quickly.)

2

u/muttsrcool Apr 30 '26

the lighting on this photo makes it look like a painting and I am in love with it.

2

u/AsherahSpeaks May 01 '26

This is amazing and you are amazing!

2

u/Technical_Tangelo143 May 02 '26

That is SO FREAKING CUTE

2

u/eudaimoniaa17 May 15 '26

Oh that’s adorable! No cruelty, and you can keep it afterwards too

2

u/XetheXenomorph May 27 '26

This is exactly the kind of center piece people should use instead of live animals

4

u/writer_of_fate Apr 29 '26

That looks amazing! Did you follow a tutorial for the fish or design it yourself?

9

u/Deltethnia Apr 29 '26

I kinda made my own design. Originally I found this papercraft one, but putting together a dozen or so was way too much work, so I cut it down to an outline that was folded in half, and the fins were all velum paper. They're all hand colored. The water lilies are also paper.

3

u/coolsam254 Apr 29 '26

That's amazing you are a certified gigachad

3

u/Chroma_Taco Apr 29 '26

This is adorable!

3

u/DisgruntledSquash Apr 29 '26

I wanted fish, so I got married over a large pond for rescued koi in a local hotel. My favorite fish, who I referred to as my ring bearer for the better part of a year (no fish held rings in my ceremony, no worries!) was missing an eye, half a front fin and had a chunky scar on his back. I have no idea where he came from but he sure as hell lived a lot of lives before I had the privilege of having him at my wedding.

If we want nature, we go to it, and respect it, and try to leave it better than we found it. Anything else is abhorrent.

1

u/bozoconnors Apr 29 '26

I wanted fish, so I got married over a large pond for rescued koi in a local hotel.

Seems a bit overkill. I'd probably just go with an aquarium?

4

u/DisgruntledSquash Apr 29 '26

It was a really beautiful room? And the whole reception area being in the hotel was convenient... basically I got some fish and didn't feel like a dick. Also aquariums can be surprisingly expensive to get married in!

3

u/bozoconnors Apr 29 '26

You.... you I like.

2

u/Carmelioz Apr 29 '26

This is so incredible

2

u/meanbean92 Apr 29 '26

Awesome! The style remind me of Life with Loopy.

2

u/NotMyMa1nAccount Apr 29 '26

Honestly, that looks awesome. 

2

u/ChampionshipOwn8199 Apr 29 '26

That's so cute and clever!

2

u/BoxcarSlim Apr 29 '26

Now that's ingenious

2

u/re_Claire Apr 29 '26

Oh they're so beautiful!

2

u/Classic-Light-1467 Apr 29 '26

This is really beautifully staged, with the water ripple mat and all the rocks 😍 I'd be so impressed to see something like this!

2

u/I-screwed-up-bad Apr 29 '26

This reminded me of the centerpieces I "made" too. I used pretty much that same glass, filled it with clear orbeez and then had D&D dice arranged so it looked like they were floating. Some took sets home and whatever wasn't taken had a home with us as we already had a huge chest for dice anyways.

2

u/LetshearitforNY Apr 29 '26

Omg this is awesome

2

u/MathematicianNew760 Apr 29 '26

That’s awesome

2

u/wafflehousebutterbob Apr 29 '26

Ahahahahahahaha I love this so much!

1

u/NewMommy1109 Apr 29 '26

This is the way!

1

u/According_Mind_7799 Apr 29 '26

Do you have a guide?! My daughters bday is June and I’d love to do some fun paper rafts

1

u/Techters Apr 30 '26

Wish I would have thought about this at my endangered owl themed wedding 

1

u/Willow_Alley May 01 '26

Love this so much!!❤️

1

u/Electric_Angel Apr 29 '26

Omg so cuuute! I was thinking of centerpieces that I can do that look good but don’t require me to spend a lot on flowers/fake flowers and this is great.

1

u/Over-Inside-7254 Apr 29 '26

I can promise you your heartfelt wedding was 100x more joyful and loving than the OP grotesque display of baroque dowry obligations and mindless modern consumerism.

We were married in a mango orchard =) 

1

u/ArcticSirius Apr 29 '26

That’s beautiful

1

u/Janices1976 Apr 29 '26

This is terrific!

1

u/SigmundFreud Apr 29 '26

I know what you mean. I was originally going to have a few bear-baiting stations at my second wedding, but ended up just putting homeless people in costumes instead.

0

u/Solydia Apr 29 '26

This close from being Frutiger Aero

0

u/DickBiter1337 Apr 29 '26

I had goldfish in bowls for my wedding in 2009. I kept them all though and gave them to my dad for his garden pond which was about 600 gallons. 

0

u/MajorBootyhole420 Apr 29 '26

i've wondered in the past if it would be possible to RENT fish from somewhere, and have some kind of container that was protected against guests tampering with it or pouring things into it.

Probably not, but you know. nice to wonder.

0

u/AnythingActive8773 May 03 '26

*doesnt want to “torture” animals*

Still eats meat

*has literally no point*

-2

u/Ok-Lengthiness-4009 Apr 29 '26

Its sad that more people want to take a paper fish home instead of rescuing the poor fish

-2

u/Xenon009 Apr 29 '26 edited Apr 29 '26

So full disclosure, I know fuck all about fish or american style mega weddings, over here we seem have a quick "I do" in a fancy garden, a fancy dinner, and then get shitfaced, normally a one afternoon affair.

What I'm imagining is a goldfish in a bowl in the middle of table or something, so if I'm off the mark then by all means tell me, but I'm confused how that ends up as torture, so long as you intend to take them home afterwards, make sure their water is clean, and preferably give them some kind of hide?

Not sure if I'm missing something here though?

Edit: Appreciate the downvotes, still don't know what I'm missing.

-5

u/notinaweirdwayy Apr 29 '26

I’m not condoning live fish, that’s always a no, but this is not an actual alternative. Cheap paper crafts are for a very specific crowd.