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. Pets at weddings pose 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 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!

Eager to help with all of your pet-related wedding dilemmas, we’ve put together a list of options for loved-up pet owners, including a handy guide to having your fluffy sidekick attend your wedding. Ready to see some sickeningly cute photos of pets at weddings?! Of course you are!

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!

If you’re considering having your pet at your wedding, you have to ask yourselves a number of 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/eat?
• is one of your guests willing to take care of your pet during 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 day!

 

Photo by Michelle Wood via Whimsical Wonderland Weddings

2. Have a petsitter bring your pet to the wedding for a brief visit

If you can find a good petsitter 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! You could try Petsitters Ireland or Housesitting Ireland 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 by Taylor Mali. You could also reserve a seat for them up front with a framed photo – that way, they’re there in spirit!

4. 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.

5. 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, 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.

6. 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. 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!

7. 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. 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!

8. Make a charity donation to an animal shelter

This one’s 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 – you’ll find a list here – or of course, you could have your own cards or signage printed up!

9. 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 from cow centrepieces to rabbit-shaped candles and even a glitter box (like a glitter station, but you know, modelled after the place where your pet poops), so this is one area where you can really let your imagination run riot! 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!

10. Wear them on your sleeve

If you really want to keep your pet close on your wedding day, you could pay homage with some special cufflinks. Selected Etsy sellers can customise cufflinks with a photo, but 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 great to do as a thoughtful wedding gift for your soon-to-be spouse!

11. Name a 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 a frankly adorable cocktail menu is!

Want to see how other couples incorporated their pets into their big day? You’ll find lots more examples here.