simple + speraw

After our honeymoon, Dustin and I were beyond excited to see our pictures and video from our wedding. It was so exciting to look it all and relive our favorite day a little. One of the best parts of getting the footage, was getting to watch the dance that we taught ourselves.

Rewind months and months back. We came across Work Song by Hozier on Pandora. And of course I had to hear it again immediately after. So I looked up the music video and we watched intently. The lyrics and Hozier’s soulful voice are more than enough to melt my heart, but the dancers!…they make the song. Go watch the music video…you’ll see. They’re really quite amazing.

So then I said, “We are learning that dance.” And I sort of got a “yeah right” face looking back at me. Well, my boo-thing underestimated my many years of dance and choreography. Also, what you might not know about Dustin and I is that we tend to break out in lyrical dance. A lot. So…the challenge was definitley accepted! We worked on that dance and taught ourselves the steps little by little. We’d play the song in slow-motion to get the intricate hand movements down. Our pup, Carter, would run around us anxiously as we practiced the lift in my living room. We’d be on a hike and randomly bust out into our choreographed routine. Man, was it a lot of work, but man was it fun to dance with my man every single day.

We practiced the routine in the barn the night before the wedding. Right before we had our last kiss as fiancés at almost midnight.

The next day, the DJ asked us if we were ready to do the dance right after our Taylor Swift “I knew you were trouble” dance off (hence why Dustin’s tie is pulled out). But the adrenaline was going so that was a smart move.

I simply love being able to watch this moment again…And AHHH! Here it is!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GRaBfSoKhA

photos by Nate + Lori // nateandlori.com

Although we amateaur-edited this video ourselves, the footage was amazingly captured by White in Revery // whiteinrevery.com

I’m home from another day with my firsties and the first thing I do is the same as always; Frisbee with my 4-legged babies. And for some reason, doing this today inspired me to finish this post. Hubby is still not home from work so instead of our normal “Wine-down Wednesday” activities, I shall write!

So you have a 4-legged baby too, and I know your wedding just wouldn’t be complete without that fluff standing by your side. Our fluff stood as the “Dog of Honor” at our wedding, and I have a few thoughts that might make you reevaluate this must-have.

Everything went super smooth with our buddy, Carter, at our wedding. He ran around the rehearsal the night before as we prepared for the biggest of days. He slept in the bridesmaids’ cottage with me and the girls that very night. He walked down the isle right before me the next day. And he spent the night with us on that big, beautiful day. However, the smoothness of it all was a result of a perfectionist’s proactive planning. You like that alliteration? 😉

If you are considering having your dog be in your wedding, PLEASE also consider the following:

Make sure the venue is dog friendly. Props to the Delamater House! Like I said, our pup was able to roam freely the night of the rehearsal and the day of, as the final touches were being added to our wedding. The owners of our venue had two adorable golden-doodles and were clearly dog lovers! It is important that your venue is comfortable with your fur-child!

{I’m going to start saying him, he, and his-because if I have to say him or her, he or she, his or her more than a couple times, this will get a tad annoying to read. So imagine your dog’s gender ;)}

Have him practice with the person he will be walking down with. They need to feel comfortable with each other prior to walking down the aisle in front of a possibly large crowd.

Have him practice walking slow in general. My perfect Carter is quite the puller on the leash. He needed this practice as well.
Bring him to the rehearsal. Have him get used to the property and where he will be staying while you dance the night away!
Which leads to this: he probably shouldn’t be sticking around for the reception. First of all, you don’t want to be worried about him when you should be focused on your new hubby or wife. Second of all, that is a lot for your fur-baby to handle. All of the people, noise, and dancing will be way over-whelming! Make sure your pup has a safe place to stay during this time!

Have it be someone’s job to check on your sweet, confused friend during the reception. Make sure you ask ahead of time so you don’t need to get worried and wind up leaving your own reception. Ask someone in the wedding party or a little sibling, cousin, etc. to do you the flavor of letting him out, playing with him, and loving on him a little while his parents celebrate their new marriage.
As he walks down the aisle during the ceremony, I recommend a short leash and a no-pull harness.

Make sure the person holding him while your busy saying your vows and getting married knows how to control a dog. Props Colleen! He or she needs to be able to get your dog to lay and stay.

Which leads to: your dog needs to be able to lay and stay. Your focus should not be on him at this time!

If you don’t think you can make all of these things happen, you may not want to include your fur-baby in this way. You don’t want a disaster to happen, and you definitley don’t want to give him unnecessary anxiety.

If you just got bummed by reading this and realized it’s not as simple as you thought to have your dog IN the wedding, try to incorporate him in a different way! My friend had the idea of honoring her pups by having drinks during cocktail hour that were named after them. How clever!

See our buddy’s wedding debut here!

photos by Nate + Lori // nateandlori.com

film by White in Revery // whiteinrevery.com