Wedding attendants are going to the dogs.
Pet-loving couples are increasingly including their dogs (and other pets, to a much lesser degree) in the wedding parties of some very formal weddings — decking them out in silk and satin and including them in the receiving line, on the program and in the portraits.
“Many people think of their pets as family members, and they wouldn’t think of having a special day like this without that member,” says Celina Bojorquez, co-owner of Beverly Hills Mutt Club, purveyor of upscale accessories like doggie tuxedos ($70 and up) and couture dresses ($170 to $500).
One wedding I conducted a few years ago had five bridesmaids, of whom one was a horse. They had omitted to mention this at the wedding rehearsal, so I knew something was up only when the wedding party started laying plastic carpeting down at the back of the church. The horse concerned didn’t come far in – one of the people taking care of her said “We won’t bring her all the way to the front, she might get nervous.†I thought: if you bring her all the way to the front, I might get nervous. She was in a bridesmaid’s dress, exactly the same as the human bridesmaids. The bridegroom said to me: “Sorry about that, she’s very attached to her horse.” I thought “Didn’t we offer you pre-marriage counselling at any point?”