Some customs cry out for further elaboration. After all, the hubcap began as a lug nut cover.

THE BUTTERFLY WEDDING

A new phenomenon is upon us . . . the butterfly wedding.

Butterfly breeders offer boxes of monarch butterflies to brides and mothers of brides. They arrive chilled and are warmed up for the big moment, then released in a golden cloud. It is very romantic and fairly expensive.

For those on a smaller budget, the moth wedding might be more appropriate.

This wedding takes place in the dark with the bride wearing a coal miner’s helmet. The reheated moths are released, and the bride switches on her headlamp. For an extra ten dollars, the helmet can be fitted with a bug zapper, so the light show can be augmented with sound effects.

As this wedding fad begins to spread, I can see entrepreneurs reaching out beyond the traditional butterfly-kissin’cake ceremony.

Imagine those sturdy folk all around the Great Lakes marrying off their daughters in a fish wedding.

It could take place in knee-deep water on the edge of a cranberry bog. Or in a hockey arena down on the ice: Choreographed just as the groom says, “I do,” the entire audience in the hockey rink grandstand would repeat, “Ya, he does,” and throw a six-pound mullet over the glass barrier.

The wedding party would be up to their halibut in seafood. The bride could toss a can of tuna to the expectant bridesmaids, and the best man would be clad in a rented tux and snorkel.

Not to be outdone, the Society for Fun with Fungus would offer toadstool weddings. The bride and groom could exchange ringworm, and truffles would be served at the reception. The wedding cake would have lichens on the north side.

It’s not that those weddings haven’t been done. I can remember reading about motorcycle weddings, skydiving weddings, scuba weddings, cowboy weddings, and spelunker weddings, for example. All flamboyant, planned by the couples primarily to get their picture in the paper.

But the butterfly wedding strikes me as a little less ostentatious. Beautiful but not garish.

Yet even the butterfly nuptials might be too showy for some. They could opt for a quieter theme, such as the elegant pollen wedding, the classic cheese wedding, or a subdued ceremony featuring dental floss.

Although there’s no guarantee, you can never tell about some of those wild dental hygienists.