We are pet people at Something to Celebrate. While we love ALL weddings, we won’t lie, a wedding with a dog is just something special! You might be wondering why & how should you incorporate your fur baby into your wedding, especially if you can’t have them there in person. Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered!

ENGAGEMENT PHOTOS

This is the easiest way to incorporate your pets because you can take them near your house and they require the shortest time commitment. Use these photos on your save the dates, or print off and frame as many as you want and display them at your ceremony and reception for everyone to enjoy!

YOUR ATTIRE

This one is for the guys! Have some fun but keep it classy with socks (either just with your dog breed, or even custom ones with your exact pet) and cuff links like Mike. If your wedding is a bit more on the casual side, go crazy with your tie! In this day and age of so many custom clothing options, you can almost do anything, just make sure it fits the formality level of your celebration.

SIGNS, STICKERS, AND MORE!

There are so many options when it comes to signage and paper products, so use your imagination and have fun! We have seen lots of creative ideas in the past, and while we would love to share them all, it would take awhile, so below are just a few recent ones.

• Custom stamps, SO SO cute! If you have stamps, that means you can always include your pets on your invites as well.

• Make COVID precautions a bit more fun with custom stickers to indicate how comfortable your guests are with social distancing. Hopefully this particular use will be gone soon, but stickers are here to stay!

• Were you planning on doing assigned tables for your guests? If so, it will be one sign that you know everyone will be looking at, so of course you need your furry friends to be front and center on that sign!

• This is a big day, it’s the official start of a new family, so why not document it with an adorable sign with ALL your family members. You could easily make a sign that you also use as a guest book and have your friends and family sign. Or you could be like Kady & Nathan and just show off your newest piece of artwork for everyone to enjoy!

• Turn their adorable faces into photo booth props, and then they really be part of the celebration!!

YOUR BAR (AND BONUS FAVORS)!!

There are so many fun ways to include your pets into your bar and that is probably why we see this the most! Even if you are having a formal wedding, the bar is always a fun place, so you can use this area to bring in a little bit of whimsy into the evening.

• Have cups made with an illustrated version of your four legged friend and your new married name on the back. Keep them at the bar so they can used during the wedding, but order extra because guests will want to take one (or more) home as a favor!

• Sure, you could make a signature drink named after you or your fiance, but naming it after your pet is way more fun! It could be as simple as giving a traditional drink a new name for the night (like Kasey & Ed did with their margarita “The Willie” and old fashioned “The Carter”). Or turn your pet’s name into the drink, like Tina and Henry did with their “Zoey-Rita”!

• If thinking of drink names is too much, or you aren’t doing a signature cocktail, we’ve still got you covered! You can name your bars! Haley & Tyler named their three bars after their three dogs, Cash, Credit, and Debit (Tyler is an accountant if you are curious).

• If you are going to take the time to name your drinks after you dogs (or cats, anyone, maybe, one day..), you better have a sign made!! It can be a be on acrylic or printed and in a frame. The picture can look like a computer graphic, can be hand painted, can be a custom watercolor, again, the possibilities are endless.

• Last but not least, what is a bar without koozies and beverage napkins! Skip the monogram and opt for furry face instead!

CAKE

Before you start to doubt us, yes,, you can include your dogs on the wedding cake and not just the groom’s cake! Traditionally the groom’s cake is the more “fun” one, but you can fit your furry friends into anything you want. Actually incorporate them into the cake, like Haley & Tyler’s cake eating trio), or make them a topper (in plastic, metal, or icing form). If you still want just a traditional wedding cake with a hint of your loyal companion, grab an extra beverage napkin and display it on the cake table for a beautiful (and still elegant) photo!

INCLUDE THEM IN YOUR CEREMONY

Don’t know anyone to be a ring bearer or flower girl? No worries, your pet is up to the task! But the task they are ready for is looking adorable in photos and making your guests smile. Having proper wedding etiquette is not. They might stop to literally smell (or eat) the roses, chase a squirrel, or decide to jump on that beautiful new white gown they have never seen their mom in. So whenever you have your beloved animal at your wedding, they need their very own companion. Companies like The Pet Gal can even board them when you are gone during wedding weekend and your honeymoon. On wedding day they will bring them to your ceremony just in time for photos, stay with them during the ceremony (because as much as we love them, they don’t love us enough to sit through a 20 minute ceremony), help with with post-ceremony pictures, and then take them back home. Weddings are loud and full of strangers, and that can stress your dog. So let them stay just to spend time with the two people they love most in the world, and then let them go back home for a nap!

PHOTO TIME!!

How many days of your life are spent with a professional photographer following you like a shadow? Probably not many, so take advantage!! You are both dressed to the nines, so get your furry friend the cutest bow tie, or a flower collar, and you will treasure these pictures FOREVER!!

KISSES

Last but not least, include them for the kisses. Yours or theirs, they don’t care. They just love kisses!!

Included Photographers:

Agape House Studio
AL Gawlik Photography
Angela King Photography
Claire Casner Photography
Eye Wander Photo
Gaby Caskey Photography
Jessica Frey Photography
John Winters Photography
Josh & Dana Fernandez
Julie Wilhite Photography
Inked Fingers
Laurentina Photography
Nancy Aidee Photography
The Silhouette Studio Photography