dogs in weddings

[milos_mommy]

here is a wonderful place where i don't sound extremely crazy...

Zach and I (no, we're not getting married anytime in the near future) would like Milo and Giselle (his parent's mini doxie) to be the ringer bearer and flower-girl at our wedding.

We are keeping in mind that: Milo would like to use Giselle as his new chew toy and take all her stuffing out, and Giselle is not in a million years going to walk down the aisle (or do anything unless it's on HER terms), and also Giselle barks incessantly at every dog she sees and whatever food she wants or chair she wants ON or person she wants to pet her and is going to be the biggest princess in the room whether or not she's wearing the wedding dress (Yes I plan on competing with a 7 lb dog for attention on my wedding day)

Has anyone been to or heard about a wedding with dogs at/in it? How did it work? Did someone walk with the dogs down the aisle? Were they at the reception AND ceremony, or just one? How big/well trained/calm/ etc. were the dogs? Where was the wedding/ceremony? How formal/casual was it?

We're thinking we would have to designate a "babysitter" for each one to keep them happy/behaved/where they need to be. Probably someone would take either one or both of them home afterward, or they would both be leased and kept on opposite sides of the room and we would have the option of bringing them somewhere else should the need arise.

Just wondering if anyone has experience with this and if you think it's a good idea, doable, etc.

 

[PoodleMommy]

I have seen one wedding where the dog was the ring bearer.... someone walked the dog down the aisle though and it was a very well behaved dog.

 

[Fran101]

Ive seen doggie ringbearers. it was just a cute thing, the doors behind the aisle were opened and the couple called the dog over. the dog ran over and they got the rings
lol it wasn't perfect,the dog kind of RAN over to them, but it was cute and special

for outdoor weddings they incoorperate the flower arrangement on the dogs collar using kind of a prom corsage kind of thing and tie the rings into that..

for more traditional church ceremonies usually the white pillows are used ..

I think it would be all about practice. some dogs will run to their owners naturally but in a wedding full of distractions, doing a few practice runs with treats wouldn't hurt
or having someone hold the leash and walk with the ring bearer


as for flower girl, im not sure how that would work lol having a little girl walk WITH the dog and the dog wearing the kind of flowers shes throwing would be very very pretty

from what ive seen, the ringbearer dog, depending on if its a male/female is held by the maid of honor/best man (if your dog has a good sit/stay..we wouldnt want them to distract from the ceremony). Flowers/bow tie to match the outfits of the groomsmen or bridemaid really looks great for pictures

they stay for the ceremony and the pictures afterward and then usually, somebody brings the dogs home

 

[Dogs6]

At my riding instructors wedding their falabella pony was the ring bearer but I have not seen Dogs

 

[Romy]

These are from my cousin's wedding.

They didn't do anything like ringbearing. It was pretty laid back. They just walked around and smooched food off all the guests. :rofl1:

 

[SisMorphine]

I have plans to make the best man and maid of honor catch my dogs as we send them down the aisle. I just have to find a way to make the bitesleeves look pretty. Oh yeah, and I have to find a guy to marry who doesn't mind that my dogs do bitework

 

[FoxyWench]

if i were to ever get married id like ALL my dogs at the ceremony (i also want an outdoor handfasting rather than a traditional chuirch wedding so it is a little more doggy friendly)

the way i saw it done for a freinds wedding, she had 3 dogs.
2 small dogs 1 male, 1 female the male was walked down the isle by the best man
the female by the maid of honor, the male had a bow tie on and matching flowers on a ribbon on his "wrist"
the female had a flower garland round her neck.
they looked gorgeous and were very well behaved.
the ring bearer was their BIG dog, hes an english mastif x dane, but hes a model citizen, he carried the rings in a little basket, then once the rings were accepted he sat there off leash.

all 3 dogs were very well behaved which i think in that situation is very important.
they also payed their dog walker to be there in case any of the dogs got restless or started acting up, at least they had someone not involved/attatched to the wedding itself to remove the dogs from the situation if nessicary.

unless its an informal party where the dogs can freely wander ect id probably take them home after the ceremony...

 

[yoko]

if i get married while yoshi is alive i do want her in my wedding

also as i am not a huge fan of children and none of my relatives have any that would be young enoug/behave well enough i have thought of doing that one where the flowers are on the collar with the rings

 

[Romy]

I have plans to make the best man and maid of honor catch my dogs as we send them down the aisle. I just have to find a way to make the bitesleeves look pretty. Oh yeah, and I have to find a guy to marry who doesn't mind that my dogs do bitework

If this ever comes to fruition, I demand a video. That sounds AWESOME.

 

[milos_mommy]

Thanks everyone! Lots of ideas

We plan on getting married outdoors, not sure about the reception, though. I think Zach wants something much larger and more formal than I do. Giselle would look so pretty with flowers! And we plan on Milo ACTUALLY carrying the rings...with a little practice it shouldn't be a big deal. He already carries things for me. And if there's a squeaky toy he'll make a beeline down the aisle.

There are no kids in our family and likely won't be until we have some. One of my bridesmaids could carry Giselle. Or pull her in a little decorated wagon.

 

[kms1167]

We just got married in the fall and Harley was in the wedding. He acted as a "groomsdog." He walked down with a couple of our friends in the bridal party and stood next to one of my groomsmen during the ceremony. It worked out fantastic...everyone loved him and he was so well behaved. He even ended up staying all night at the reception because he was hamming it up with all the guests and was being so good. Anyways here are a few pictures...

ill try to dig up some more of him standing with the bridal party later tonight.

 

[Saintgirl]

2 of my dogs were in my wedding. Abbey was our flower girl and my maid of honour walked her down the 'aisle'. Hutch was out ring bearer. He walked down the aisle with my hubby's best man. We were married out side at a resort and that was one of the major things that we had to take into consideration when we were wedding planning. We needed a venue that would allow the dogs. At first the resort did not want us to have the dogs and when they realised it was a make or break thing for us they quickly changed their minds. They even allowed us to keep the dogs at our cabin that we had rented. Hutch is a big boy and he certainly drew alot of attention from the other guests at the resort, but both of the dogs were on their best behavior.

Some of our family and guests thought that it was inappropriate to have the dogs in the wedding (some of the older generation), but it was our wedding and it was perfect for us! I would do it again in a heart beat!

 

[PoodleMommy]

By the way, I think its a great idea... if I ever got married mine would certainly be a part of it... and I will be happy to make it known ahead of time and no one needs to attend who does not like the idea.

Honestly, the wedding day is about the couple getting married and everyone else should keep their opinions to themselves, lol!

 

[milos_mommy]

I want a big (lots of people) but casual wedding. The whole point is to have everyone I love there and there's no one I love more than Milo, aside from the one I'm marrying. We very possibly may end up being married at his parent's new house. Which would be nice...Giselle could even stay inside and Milo outside.