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Flower Girl or Flower Dog? |
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June 10th, 2009 by BridalBuds
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Many aspects of our first wedding are not what you would call traditional or even typical. Our wedding party has 1 more groomsman than we have bridesmaids and we will not be having any flower girls or any ring bearers.
Because there will be no children as part of our wedding party, many people have jokingly asked if I will have my dog Bella bring the rings down the aisle for us?
Bella with her blanket
Although I love my sweet dog immensely, I couldn’t picture including her in our ceremony.
Our ceremony is followed by a cocktail hour then the reception directly afterwards, so essentially someone would have to go out of their way to drive her home once the ceremony finished – which I would hate to impose on someone (our wedding is downtown and I live 35 mins North of the city).
Despite being well behaved, her nature is to be very curious and full of energy (she’s only 3) and I would find that very distracting during the wedding ceremony.
Many people do include their dogs as part of their wedding ceremonies. They are part of the family and some people feel that their attendance is equally important.
I’ve even seen some extremely cute couture bridal outfits and accessories for dogs and I may give in to buying something sweet for her to wear for the few pictures I take with her at home, but that will most likely be the extent of her involvement in the day.
My next step will now be to find her somewhere comfortable and safe to stay as it would be too long a day for her to be alone, and most friends and family will be at my wedding so I can’t have them keep an eye on her.
What are your experiences with dogs and weddings? Have you been able to successfully blend the two? And if not, what did you do to make sure your dog was happy (and occupied) on the day of?
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Categories: Archived, Etiquette + Advice, Wedding Planning |
4 Comments |
June 10th, 2009 at 3:25 pm
If you wonderful companion is as well behaved as you say and her only fault is being curious and energetic, then by all means have her as a guest at your wedding. I have officiated over weddings where the dog has been the ring bearer and has even given the bride away. As at most receptions, there will be a kid or two that will just love to have the company of the pooch and, you will find, even volunteer to take care of her during the reception. If her picture is anything like she is, you should not have any worried.
June 10th, 2009 at 6:34 pm
I don’t know where you live, but I know that my parents sent our dog to the doggy spa near our house. She got pampered the day of and had a sleep over in the posh “puppy hotel” with other lucky little pups. And, it wasn’t even that expensive. Under $100 including a hair cut and nail trimming!
June 10th, 2009 at 10:40 pm
We will not have any flower girls or ring bearers but we are including the Dude’s family dog. She is a 12-year-old golden retriever and these days she can only handle a couple of tosses of the tennis ball and her retrieving is done for the day. She she won’t be trouble at all. She is very calm. Sooooo, because we have a location where pets are welcomed and we will be the only ones at the Inn from Friday to Sunday, she can hang out with us too! The Dude’s sister is extremely excited (she LOVES their family dog) and I’ve ordered a matching yard of fabric so his sister can make a blue bandana that will match the bridesmaids dress color that their dog can wear around her neck.
I’ll be sure to post a blog about the whole canine experience… shoulde be interesting!
June 11th, 2009 at 12:41 pm
Thank you all for your great responses!
Its great to see and hear that many people are involving their family pets in their wedding ceremony.
One detail I didn’t mention was that our ceremony and reception will be adults only, so unfortunately there will be no kids to take care of Bella for the evening…but that would have been a great solution otherwise!
I am definitely going to look into a Doggy Spa. If I am going to have a weekend of getting my nails, hair and makeup done, I can surely pamper my dog. The wedding day will be very disruptive for her with all the people coming in and out, so I am sure this would be a welcomed treat for her.
Gerber – I can’t wait to see a picture of Dude’s sweet dog wearing a matching bandana. What a sweet way to include her!