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
