Hi friends!
Today we're discussing if we should have our loveable, furry friends in the wedding. If you're anything like me, I LOVE my dog. He is truly my baby. When my now husband and I were planning our wedding, it took a full 2 years. About 5 months after we got engaged we brought Mater home, and he has been a huge staple in our lives, I mean he's apart of our family! We knew we wanted to include him in some way, whether that would be physically or in other ways, but how? And what things need to be considered?
What are some things to consider?
In reality, we would love to just say "Our dog is going to be at our wedding!", but thinking logically, how are we going to make that happen? Some things to think about are:
- Does my Ceremony/Reception venue allow dogs?
- If our dog is in the ceremony but not going to the reception, who is going to take him home? All of our family/friends will be at the wedding...
- Are we going to take our dog home? Or will we have someone watch him? If so, who is available to do it?
- Does our dog do well in big crowds? Will they get overwhelmed?
- Who is going to handle/watch our dog while we're getting married?
These are some things that my husband and I ran into when we were planning our wedding. Originally, we were going to have our dog be our flower pup(it's the cutest thing), but after looking at all the different things we would need to plan in order to have him there, it *really* didn't seem likely. And on top of it all, we later found out that unfortunately, our reception venue didn't allow dogs. So, now what do we do? We wanted our dog included in our big day, but how?
If you can't have your dog at your wedding, here are some alternative ways to include your furry friend on your big day:
- Incorporate them on napkins
- Mesh their name into your hashtag
- Name your signature drink after them(we did this and it was a HUGE hit, everyone just kept ordering "Maters" all night. So worth it!)
- Incorporate your dog onto your cake topper(in my personal opinion, these are the cutest)
- Have dog treats as your favors ex: from our dog, to yours, have a treat!
Now I know what you're thinking...
"But I still want pictures with them! They are a huge part of our lives and I cant imagine our wedding day without them."
Hear me out: Have a first look with them(I'm a firm believer that everyone should choose what they think is best for their wedding day. But I'm a *big* lover of first looks, and this is just another reason why).
If you want pictures with them but are unable to have them attend the wedding, a great way to do this is by sharing a first look with your pup. Not only do you get to share a first look with your future spouse, but you can also share that moment with your pup afterwards! This way you can still have them be physically apart of your day, without physically having them there. My husband and I shared our first look first, then invited our dog into our pictures afterwards. And I kid you not, they are some of the best photos I have from our wedding day(we even were able to get him a floral collar from our florist, it was a gamechanger)!
I hope this blog helped! If you are able to have your dog at your wedding, just make sure you cover all your bases but take lots of pictures and have the best time with them! There's nothing better than sharing memories with your pup on your wedding day if you can do it. And if you can't, there's no shame in showing them in the wedding in other ways! Thanks for reading in, stop back in next week for another MeaganMPhotography blog post.
