In an ideal world, every couple would have their pet, clad in a delightful miniature formal outfit, accompany them up the aisle (they are part of the family, after all!) but unfortunately, this isn’t always practical. Having pets at weddings poses many, many challenges, so couples are often forced to get creative in how they include them in their day.
If you happen to be getting ready at home, you can have your beloved furball (dog, cat, rabbit, guinea pig…) appear in a few photos without much fuss. Make sure to add this to the wedding photo checklist you give your photographer. But if not, a fun photo display or cake topper will do the trick!
To help with your pet-related wedding dilemmas, we’ve put together a list of options for pet owners, including a handy guide to having your fluffy sidekick attend your wedding. Ready to see lots of crazy cute photos of pets at weddings? Keep reading…
Ideas to Include Pets at Weddings
1. Have your pet attend your wedding
Now, before you get drunk on the idea of a hamster ring bearer, hear us out. Whether your pet will be able to attend your wedding depends hugely on a number of variables, including the location of your wedding, the wedding venue and, of course, on your pet!
Dogs tend to be the easiest pets to manage at weddings, but we’ve seen couples bring their horses, goats and rabbits along on their big day too. Only you can make the call on whether it’ll be safe and stress-free for your pet.
If you are considering having your pet at your wedding, ask yourselves these questions first:
- Is your wedding venue located within a few hours’ drive of your house?
- Can your ceremony space accommodate your pet?
- Can your reception venue accommodate your pet?
- Does your accommodation allow pets?
- Does your pet behave well in new environments?
- Does your pet behave well around large groups of people?
- Are there other animals at your venue that your pet might like to chase/or be afraid of?
- Is one of your guests willing to take care of your pet during the day?
- If not, can you get a pet-sitter for the day?
- Can you source pet-friendly confetti (because, let’s face it, your pet will attempt to eat it)?
- Is it possible to hang your decorations up high so your pet can’t get to them?
- Can you include your pet’s attendance on the invitations so any guests will allergies can prepare accordingly?
If you answered no to a couple of the above questions, having your pet attend your wedding is probably not going to be practical. But don’t fret, because there are lots of other ways to include them in your big day.
2. Have a pet sitter bring your pet to the wedding for a visit
If you can find a good pet sitter in the area or you know one who is willing to travel with you, this is a great option for couples who just can’t imagine their big day without their little (or large) furball by their side!
You will still have to check that your pet is allowed at your ceremony and/or reception venue, but this way, your pet will be looked after at all times but get to take part in the day and appear in a few photos without giving you a logistical headache. Try Petsitters Ireland or Pawshake.ie to begin with.
3. Mention them in the ceremony
One of the easiest ways to pay tribute to your beloved pet is to mention them in your ceremony, either in your self-penned vows, or by dedicating a special animal-themed poem to them, like this one How Falling in Love is Like Owning a Dog.
4. Include them in the wedding party
There are no rules when it comes to wedding parties these days from the Best Woman, to the Man of Honour, Flowermen and Groomswomen – why not have a Best Dog or Dog of Honour? Tie the rings or your vows to your pet’s collar or lead, and have one of your wedding party walk up, or pull them along in a little trolley, up the aisle with them. Then either hand them over to the pet sitter, or have them sit quietly with a guest. In the case of it being a llama or horse (we’ve seen it!) best to pop them back in the paddock!
5. Include them in the morning prep
If one or both of you is going from home, then it’s the perfect opportunity to get cute photos with your pet before you leave. This is a good workaround if it isn’t suitable for them to be at the wedding itself. Chances are they’ll be in the middle of all the fun anyway, so we sure to get something appropriate for them to wear for the occasion. If they won’t do a full on outfit – try a collar or bandana. Any excuse to dress them up really!
6. Have them made into a cardboard cutout
OK, hands up – we actually stole this idea from one of our real wedding couples, Emma and Neil! They couldn’t bring their beloved pooch Walter to the wedding as, in Emma’s words “he is much too big and gets a bit overexcited”, so they had a life-size Walter cutout made for the occasion!
Our favourite thing about this option is that your pet will be able to appear in your wedding portraits (sort of!). You’ll find lots of sellers offering custom cutouts on Amazon, but a local printer might be able to do it for you too. You could also reserve a seat for them up front with a framed photo – that way, they’re there in spirit!
7. Include them in your stationery
There are literally dozens of ways to have your pet star in your wedding day through the medium of stationery – plan a little photo shoot for your Save the Dates or engagement shoot, hire an illustrator to incorporate their fuzzy faces into your invitations, or print an illustration on menus, signage, napkins or brown paper doggie bags (get it?!) if you’re having a sweet table.
8. Decorate your venue with photos
The simplest idea on this list is probably incorporating photos of your pet into your day, whether it’s in a cute display telling your story so far, or in free-standing frames dotted around the reception space, or having a different photo of them on each table
If you’re having an engagement shoot, you could bring you pet along and use those images, but even if you’re just having a smartphone photo shoot at home, we highly encourage purchasing a little outfit for your pet for the occasion. Everyone loves a dog in a bow tie!
9. Incorporate them into your cake
We can never resist an animal cake topper and if it’s a tiny representation of your beloved pet, all the better. You can ask your baker to render them in icing, or commission an Etsy seller to make one in clay or wood which you can save as a keepsake later.
We’ve seen lots of cool styles where the pets are climbing up the tiers or peeking out from under the icing, too. One of our real wedding couples, Sinead and Stephen, had their whole wedding cake made in the likeness of their cat Trigger, but they don’t recommend it – when it came time to slice and serve, they couldn’t bring themselves to do it!
10. Make a charity donation to an animal shelter
This is a particularly sweet idea if you found your pet through a rescue and rehoming charity, but actually, it’s a lovely sentiment either way. Simply make a donation to your chosen charity in honour of your fluffy companion and then find a cute way to let your guests know about it!
Lots of animal charities will print up cards for you, using a photo of your pet, that you can then leave on the tables in lieu of favours – you’ll find a few on the list of charity wedding favours here – or of course, you could have your own cards or signage printed up too.
11. Pay homage with pet-themed décor
You can really be as subtle or as elaborate as you like with pet-themed wedding décor. We’ve seen everything including cow centrepieces, so this is one area where you can really let your imagination run wild!
If you’ve only got a few tables (or loads of pets) you can use pets as inspiration for your table names, and we also love the idea of a pet-themed photo booth!
12. Wear them on your sleeve or bouquet
If you really want to keep your pet close on your wedding day, pay homage with special cufflinks or a bouquet charm. Selected Etsy sellers can customise cufflinks with a photo, or a paw print or illustration featuring your pet’s breed would be just as cute!
Brides can go for a similar effect by attaching a charm with a photo of their pet to their bouquet, and we think both of these ideas would be a thoughtful wedding gift for your soon-to-be spouse!
Danielle Christine Photography via One Fab Day
13. Name a signature cocktail after them
If your venue or caterer offers the option of bespoke cocktails, why not get them to whip up something inspired by your precious furball or furballs? Granted, your pet might not have an affiliation with any particular spirit (at least, we hope not!) but this isn’t really the point – having an illustration of your pet grace an adorable cocktail menu absolutely is!
Want to see how other couples incorporated their pets into their big day? You’ll find lots more pets at weddings examples here.
