Dogs as part of bridal party?

My dog is going to be the flower girl. She's the entire wedding party. Everyone knows how I feel about it so it's no shocker. I'd love to attend a wedding with dogs.

Lots of my couples do this, and being a dog lover, I"m on board with it too! You have everything in place, with a way for them to join you and then be whisked back to the comfort of their home, lol Guests seem to love it, and as you said, they ARE your family. And reliability wise, they are just as predictable as any given four year old.....

Check out https://www.facebook.com/Vowwowwow?ref=hl There are lots of photos on there.

I think this can be great, but don't feel like you need to have a flower girl or ring bearer! If your dogs aren't totally psyched about large groups of people, or your sister isn't thrilled about missing part of cocktail hour or something else to drive the dogs home, they're not a necessity.

It a 2 edged sword. I love my dogs and totally get that they are part of the family but they are animals so they don't always do what we expect or want. Plus they poop at random. We went to a wedding with 2 dogs. Super cute. Well behaved. 1 pooped on her train at the alter. Then other began to throw up as they walked out. Just consider how they react the crowds and who will take care of them before during and after.

I wanted my dogs to be in the wedding, and they are both well-behaved, so I thought it would work out. But then my FH reminded me how excited they get around new people and food...and all I could think of was my 70lb standard poodle going nutso and knocking someone over, or our creative little pit mix stealing food right out of someone's hand as soon as they let their guard down...however, our venue is no dogs, so I'll never have the chance to see if they would have made it through without catastrophe.

My FSIL did have her dog at their wedding - and she had her cousin be the "dog handler". It worked out really well, and the dog had a lovely day, as did the bride and groom!

I had my dogs in the wedding. They acted as the ring bearer. My step father walked them down the aisle. Btw If they are properly trained they won't poop on anything they aren't supposed to

I TRIED!!! I tried so hard but do to his breed (Cane Corso) no one wanted that. So the photog fell inlove with him so she is doing a free engagement session to include him so he will be in our save the dates!!!

This is a question you need to answer yourself. Would your dogs be okay being around that many people? Would they get stressed or nervous? Are you going to have time to walk them enough right before the ceremony so they don't have to go to the bathroom down the aisle? Who is going to walk them down the aisle? Is your brother/sister going to be willing to leave the venue to take them home? We had my dogs in my wedding. It was perfect. They were well behaved, didn't pee/poop in the middle, an extended family friend (who was not invited to the wedding) drove them home after the ceremony (I paid her $100 because it was a bit of a drive) and it worked out great. But my dogs are always around lots and lots of people. They do great in public. They're fine around a hundred people we've brought them to fests/the beach/etc so they're really socalized. If your pets will do good then yes absolutely (I will say though A LOT of people thought I was insane when I mentioned it during planning) but there are a lot of dogs that will freak out and be nervous. So you just need to think of how your dog would be.

If my venue allowed animals, my Trixie (pug) would be there,front and center! I vote yes!

Dogs at a bridal party would be a great addiction and it would add more awwww moments!

I would love to have our dog at the wedding, but she is a super stubborn and creative (but sweet), alpha Scottie whose nickname is the Princess of Naughty. Need I say more! LOL She'll have more fun running around outside with other pups at the boarding place we're taking her.

If you're cool with whatever your dogs might or might not do, go for it!

As an animal lover, I think the idea is awesome. However, you may want to consider other people who aren't excited about dogs. My mom and cousin are both terrified of dogs no matter the size. If they're just going to be there for the ceremony then it probably wouldn't be a huge deal, but you may want to check with those who would be in the immediate proximity (eg- bridal party, groomsmen) to make sure that everyone will be ok.

Wow, a lot of people brought up good points!

I think that I am going to try (which means I need to work with getting them more used to crowds-they love people too much some times) but if not, I definitely think that the engagement session would be a good idea!

And @Alyssa, that's a good point, I definitely didn't think of that. Most of my half of the bridal party are dog lovers and owners, but idk about FH's half!

I think it would be cute, but agree with other's concerns. Also, I think it'd be unfair to the person that has to leave and take them home instead of enjoy the party. Could you maybe hire a dog walker to take care of that part, at least?

I am a HUGE animal lover and totally understand the desire to have them there. BUT I really don't think a wedding is a place to have an animal. As others mentioned, guests could be scared, its not fair to the dogs, and the handlers should be able to focus on you.

Leave fido at home.

I feel like part of my family will be missing not having my dogs there but I know they wouldn't behave. It really depends on the personality of the dog and how much added stress your willing to endure. I plan to have them in my engagement pics

We want our cat to be in it so badly. But he's a cat and he would hate it.

So we'll just have to have a cardboard cutout instead

As a fellow dog lover we definitely toyed with this idea, but ultimately as adorable as our pug is he is terribly behaved-we joke that he wouldn't make it down the aisle because he'd want to say hi to everyone and when he finally did, he'd whine the whole ceremony because he'd want to be picked up and held by one of us (he's so spoiled!). I think if your dogs are SUPER well behaved it's a really cute idea, but make sure you have a plan for them after the ceremony is over-you don't want to have to watch them the whole evening or make family watch them instead of enjoying themselves. May be best to see if they can be picked up and taken to a dog hotel or by a dog walker who can take them to someone's house to be cared for during the rest of the wedding day so you don't need to worry about them.

But also, don't feel you need to have a flower girl and ring bearer! We don't have anyone locally with kids the right age, so we aren't bothering.