While the day you say “I do” is probably the biggest day of your life – pets in weddings are targeted to be the trend for 2022…

I’m not really sure when fluffy paws became a popular addition to the bridal PAWty, but those wagging tails prancing down the aisle have certainly increased over the last decade.

I remember in 2012, Lee and I attended a wedding and witnessed this gorgeous long-legged Doberman bring a three-year-old human ring bearer towards the alter. Talk about a show stopper. This dog sat patiently in between the bride and groom during the vow exchange and was the subject of conversation throughout the reception.

A PET IN A WEDDING –

is not as easy as you may think! This I can speak of from experience. Tiffany and John were married in 2015 at Folly Beach in Charleston. This was their dream, which also included having the Boys participate. It was a September wedding, which made for mild temperatures, and the sand would not be too hot on their paws! #pawfect

Tiffany planned to walk down a long pavilion boardwalk with her dad, Harley, and Jaxson. Together they would come down these steep stairs to the beach area where her groom and guests were seated…

Harley nor “puppy” Jax liked the stairs and refused to come down on a leash. Once they were free like Simba, they raced down and ran all over the beach.

Tiffany was disappointed, accepted defeat and agreed to use the dogs in their “official” engagement photos. To say Harley and Jaxson acted like they had home training would be typing a lie…

I love my boys – but they are wedding prop failures LOL! They pulled like crazy and just wouldn’t cooperate.

DO WHAT’S BEST FOR YOUR DOG –

and view this whole event from their perspective. Be honest about the entire day. That’s what I had to do. As a result, I realized two things –

• they didn’t want to be led down those steep stairs on a leash. Can’t say I blame them.
• based on Jaxson’s age – this would have been too much excitement for him.

Our family unanimously agreed – this pre-wedding site visit had already turned into a debacle with only about a dozen humans around. I saw this as a precursor to the fiasco it could be on the actual wedding day.

The vision of an unleashed Jaxson bolting for the ocean waves in search of his ancestral dolphin roots gave me chills…

DON’T GET ME WRONG –

I still smile when I think of what could have been if we were able to make this work. I love looking at photos of the family pup incorporated into a joyous occasion like a wedding…

When I spoke to a few wedding planners about this increased interest in the inclusion of family pets in weddings, they pretty much agreed with all of what I’ve read online about the Do’s and Don’ts when it comes to pets and weddings. But consistently the one area they all agreed is commonly overlooked, happens to be – checking with the venue! For health code reasons many places prohibit animals inside their space. Some even have restrictions anywhere on the premises.

Tiffany’s wedding planner reached out to the venue in advance inquiring about their policy regarding pets in weddings…

Turned out they were fine with it – our subjects just couldn’t seem to get it together LOL

We were able to salvage some photos from the engagement shoot for our own wedding album collection…

And YES Jaxson is missing. He saw a squirrel and hauled tail- but by then we were over him – so we made it all about Harley!

No matter what, dogs make each moment worthy of a memory