Dogmom

dyerwise

Has anyone included their dog in their wedding day without having their dog present on the day of?

I'm so in love with all of the photos I see of dogs being included on the wedding day, however, my dog is grumpy old man and isn't always the most well behaved(hes a beagle pom mix so hes stubborn and sassy). Having him with us on our wedding day is out of the question.

I adopted Rocco years before FI and I met, but Rocco is a huge part of our lives together. Both of our Mothers call him grandson. Family members have even said they can't wait to see Rocco at the wedding.

My Mom has recommended having a framed photo of him at the wedding somewhere or having one of those photo charms of him on my bouquet, however, both of these things seem kind of super weird, even for me, and I dresses my dog up as Batman for Halloween.
 
If we can't think of anything/anyway to include him, I won't be heartbroken, but I thought I'd see if anyone has done anything or has any ideas.

holyguacamole79

I like the idea of the charm for the bouquet.

dyerwise

Thanks @holyguacamole79! I've only seen them used for family members that are passed away, so I wasn't sure if that would be seem weird or creepy. I don't have any plans to put any charms for family members, so maybe that will be ok! 

hellohkb

First off, Rocco is SO adorable!

I've seen people get little cake toppers custom made to look like their pets on Etsy. I have also seen guest book prints that have a little drawing of the pet on them (also on Etsy). Both could be cute but I can see why you'd think a lot of the ideas are creepy or weird.

dyerwise

@hellohkb Thank you!!!

I've never seen the guestbook idea that is amazing! I do love the cake toppers as well! I've never seen the custom ones, just the generic purebred dog ones which is hard for me since Rocco's little weird body is so distinct!

This makes me so happy!!
Thank you!!

cupcait927

I was also going to suggest cake toppers. I've seen some absolutely adorable ones on Etsy. The guest book idea that @hellohkb suggested is awesome!

climbingsingle

Are you having a photo booth? I had this idea (though ran out of time to execute it) to make a cut-out of my dogs face to use a prop for our photo booth. 

msuprincess04

Aw. I just wanted to say super cute dog! I had a DW, so my Paco wasn't there, but it was cute that someone signed our guestbook with a little note and put a paw print and his name. I didn't see it till we got home, and it was really sweet.

SP29

Friends of ours took photos of their dog posing with large numbers on cardstock, got them printed, framed them and then used those as table numbers. 

They were cute, and everyone got to see their dog. His pose was slightly different in each one. 

I do also like those cake toppers! 

emmaaa

On of my best friends has two German Shepherds. She took a few of her bridal pictures with the male dog. And then on the day of the wedding, her and her DH took a few pictures with them prior to the wedding and someone took them back to their house.

If that isn't a possibility, then I like the cake topper idea.

SP29

I have other friends who also took professional photos with their dog (and guinea pig!) the day of. 

dyerwise

@climbingwife YES! that is IT! We are having a photo booth and that is perfect!! Thank you!!

KatWAG

Have you had engagement pictures taken? My best friend has two sassy pugs, since she knew they would not be well enough behaved to take part in her wedding, so she included them in their engagement shoot. And then used those pictures for her STDs.

GoldenPenguin

We had our dog in some engagement photos, and used one of those for our "guest book" - everyone signed the white mat around the photo. 

I know you said you haven't seen the custom cake toppers for your mix, so this would be hard as well, but I found these little dog card holders. We have a Golden Retriever, so it was easier to find, but it was like having a little version of her holding the table numbers! 



ETA: Our "guest book" 

dyerwise

KatWAG said:

Have you had engagement pictures taken? My best friend has two sassy pugs, since she knew they would not be well enough behaved to take part in her wedding, so she included them in their engagement shoot. And then used those pictures for her STDs.

oohhh sassy pugs!!

We did last weekend. We brought Rocco along with us but we quickly realized there were ticks in the area and too many distractions to get him to stay calm and focus. We abandoned hope and let him watch us from the the front seat of the car with the window completely down which is favorite thing in the world.

charlottesmom0626

our dog was in our wedding...we hired someone to bring her to the ceremony, then we took pictures, then she went home right after. It worked out well for us with our outdoor barn venue..I'm definitely AWing these pics

Edit to add: Would that be something you could workout? Like pay a dog walker to meet you for a few pictures after your ceremony or during the cocktail hour?

Jen4948

This is kinda cutesy, but my cousin had a reading at his wedding that was in his dog's name (it was supposed to have been "written" by the dog).

I like that bracelet idea, and I also like the idea of taking photos before or after the wedding with the dog (the ones taken before can be displayed at the wedding). 

SP29

@charlottesmom0626 Love those photos! Particularly the last one- what a smile!

luckya23

I had one dog's collar wrapped around my bouquet handle (borrowed), and 4 of the dogs' tags (old, new, and blue) pinned into the handle as well.  
I would show you if they didn't have my name and address on them ;-)

ahyatt87

First let me say that Rocco is adorable!

In terms of ideas, DH and I have 2 beagles. Double the stubbornness and double the adorable trouble! Like you, we wanted to include our furbabies in our wedding, but it just wasn't feasible. We ended up including them in our engagement photos and then used one of the photos as the label on our wine and Jones Soda favours.

If you aren't doing photos, I think including a cut out of Rocco in your photobooth, like others mentioned, is a great idea

justsie

I may be following this thread for ideas for myself. 

dyerwise

Thanks everyone for the great ideas!

@charlottesmom0626 How did you find the person you hired to bring your dog to the wedding and then bring her home? I was thinking about this, but we don't have a dog walker or anything.

The only people my dog actually likes are all going to be guests at our wedding (my mom, sisters, etc.) but he does really like the vet tech. I'm trying to figure out if it would be creepy for my to ask Kyle, the vet tech, if he'd like to make a little extra money some weekend...

charlottesmom0626

@dyerwise I dont think that would be creepy at all! I considered asking an intern/college student in the neighborhood to do it, but in the end we used "Fetch pet sitting services" which I think is nation wide? 

They do background checks on their petsitters, which was nice not knowing who was coming into our home. They also set up a meeting to meet your dog, see your home and how you like things done, where you keep the dog food, etc.

I called a number and was connected with an operator of sorts? Anyway I explained to her that my request was unusual:

We wanted someone to come to our house the day before the wedding, stay overnight at our house for normal pet care, then take their own car and drive the dog to our wedding location, stay for the pictures (20 minutes or so) and then take her back home and stay with her again over night. (we were staying in a hotel with the bridal party the night before and the night of the wedding with all our guests in the room block)

I did pay a little more for a unique service (mostly gas/travel fees) but we would have had to hire someone to stay at the house for 3 days anyway, since all of our friends and family were at the wedding. We left on our honeymoon a few days later and the dog stayed with a friend.

Pros to the service: I did't feel guilty for my request since I was paying for it. The lady that came also watered all my house plants, collected our mail, and washed the sheets she slept on in the guest bedroom.

Cons: slightly more expensive than paying the neighbors kids to let her out to pee.