Including Your Pet On Your Big Day: Ideas And Tips

Being a proud fur parent means that you’ll want to include your pet in every family event, as many as possible. And this becomes even more important and obvious when you and your partner are in the process of wedding planning. Since your wedding will be one of the most monumental events in your life, you will need ideas and inspiration to include your fur babies in your dream wedding. If you’re in the middle of the wedding planning process, and you’ve been putting together some ideas, then this blog is just for you! Today’s topic of discussion is how to include your pets in your wedding, with practical and effective inspiration, which will definitely help you out: 

The First Steps: Create the Right Setting for your Fur Babies! 

Do you have an idea of what your wedding should look like? Have you already imagined what your pet will do at your wedding? Do you picture your wedding photos with your partner and your pet, happily smiling? If the answer to those questions is a yes, or seems like a good idea for your wedding, then you’ll need to start at the very beginning. Start with the wedding venue options. To include a pet in your wedding, you will need a pet-friendly wedding venue. Apart from the wedding venue, you will need to consider if your pet is comfortable in large crowds or not. Some pets are extremely social, while others are not. Whether it is a cat or a dog you want to include, if your pet is comfortable in large crowds and is friendly, then your idea of including them would be perfect. And if your pet is not comfortable, and you have some time before the wedding, you can try to help them overcome social anxiety. 

Posing for Pictures: Get your Ideas in Order! 

When you think of including your pet in a wedding, the first thing that comes to mind is your wedding photobook peppered with dazzling photos of you, your partner, your friends, and your family. Since your fur baby is a member of the family, chances are you’ve already pictured them in those photos whenever you think about it. Since you already have some ideas, talk to your partner and your wedding photographer about how you’d want your pet to be photographed. Talk about the poses, and the times you’d want them to take a photo of your pet. Additionally, before posing for the wedding photos, remember to get a gist of the poses your wedding photographer has planned, this will help you to transition smoothly between the poses. Also, on the day of the wedding, remember to tell your photographer of the photos you want to see of your pet, for example, if you want your pet’s portraits dressed to nines for the day, or you want your friends and family petting your pet as photos, these requirements should be communicated to your photographer. 

If you’re looking for ideas for poses to try for your wedding photos, then we have you covered! Let’s start with the first step, shall we? You can set the tone of expectations with a great engagement photo shoot with your pet! Pet-inclusive engagement photos can also be used in your wedding invitations. Apart from this, you can talk to your partner about who gets to pose with your pet for getting ready photos! If you have two pets, you can take one and your partner can take the other one for their photos! Getting ready for photos with your pet is a stunning way to include your pet in the wedding because you can dress your pets up and have them pose with your outfits as well! A great photo idea for getting ready for photos with your pets is to have them sit, spread your accessories around them in a semi-circular design, and have the pet look up at the camera! Another way to include your pet is to pose with your pet for some photos after you finish getting ready! 

For the Proud Pet-Parent Bride: Walk Down the Aisle 

This idea is specifically for brides and their pets! You can dress your pet with accessories and little booties to help them look the part of the wedding and walk down with them! Of course, you can practice the walk beforehand, and try your hand at it during your rehearsal dinner as well, this will help your pet walk down the aisle with you smoothly on your wedding day! You can dress your adorable pet in a suit made specifically for them, or have them wear bows! Another adorable way to dress your pet is to create an entire ensemble that is close to the groom and groomsmen outfits. Walking down the aisle with your pet also makes for a brilliant photo opportunity! 

For the Proud Pet-Parent Groom: The Best Man You’ll Need! 

This idea is specifically for the groom! You can make your little munchkin a part of the boys! Your pet can be your best man and stand next to you with your boys. You can choose an outfit for your pet that sets your fur baby apart from the other boys, or you could have your pet dressed in the same colors! When you take your spot at the altar, waiting for your partner to walk down the aisle, your pet can stand next to you. What’s more, you can teach your furry best friend to bring you the rings when the officiator calls for the rings. Before the big day, make sure that you spend some time with your pet, training them to bring you the rings. 

Bonus Idea: Escorted by your Pet 

How about doing something different for pet parents who have bigger fur babies? Add a modern touch to your wedding rituals by walking down the aisle with your partner, with pet escorts! You can bring your ponies, horses or cats, or even sheep! The escort idea works well for any kind of pet parent with the desire to include their pets! This idea can work impressively well for outdoor weddings or backyard weddings. To make this idea work as well as you imagine it to be, dress your babies with the right wedding theme colors and accessories. You could add a top hat to make your pet uber-stylish, or you could choose to use flower collars with the flowers you’ve chosen for your wedding! 

Pet Stickers: A Way to Include Any Pet

Although most of our pet-inspired wedding ideas so far have been mostly for smaller pets like dogs, let’s talk about a way to include the bigger fur babies for your wedding! If you’re a proud horse parent or have pets that are too big for your wedding venue, then how about getting some stickers to remember them? You can use illustrations as an homage to your pets, or use your pet’s photos and have stickers made for the wedding! You can use these personalized stickers on your wedding favors, or use them on the wedding invitations you send out. If you can’t find a good custom sticker vendor, or you want to keep your budget in check, then you can create your own DIY custom stickers with tape!  

Signature Drinks, Food Items, and Dessert: A Gourmet Treat! 

If you’re looking for an amazing way to honor your adorable pet, then there’s nothing better than creating signature drinks, food items, and dessert options! The best part about this idea is that, if you’re good with flavors or baking, you can do it yourself! You can create your own wedding menu additions, and watch your wedding guests enjoy your food! The first idea that we have for pet-inspired signature drinks is to use some dog-inspired cocktail ideas. Another way to include your pets is to use googly eyes and decor stickers on the cocktail glasses to make them look like pets! What’s more, this creative idea of making your wedding cocktails look like beautiful pets or animals, gives you the opportunity to bring out your creative side, and add adorable DIY touches to your wedding. Another way to include your pets in your wedding theme is to add some animal-shaped dessert ideas - think cookies, animal-themed cupcakes, or dessert cakes shaped as your pet or any other animal you’d want to add. A great way to get some ideas for what kind of designs to use for your wedding dessert menu is to look at some inspiration for cute animal-shaped dessert ideas. If you’re looking to throw a budget-friendly wedding, and are good with creative desserts and cookies, you can try to make your own! As for food ideas, you can use some cute animal props or have the wedding menu display designed with photos or illustrations of your adorable pet or pets! Last but not least for pet-inspired food, drinks, and dessert ideas, how about a pet-themed wedding cake? You can add a custom cake topper that has you, your partner, and your pet together. Or you could use some creative inspiration to add pet figurines to your wedding cake! For example, you can have a prop that looks like your pet popping out of the cake tiers, or just have some pretty props to add to your wedding cake! 

Pet-Themed Escort Cards: Overloading Adorable! 

Who doesn’t love pretty escort cards? If you’re looking for a way to include your pets and make them a big part of your day, then why not create some beautiful escort cards? A great way to have adorable escort cards, then you can use the pet-themed stickers you’ve created before. If you are already using some cute and adorable pet stickers in your wedding, you can add them to your escort cards and create synchronicity in your wedding! Apart from this, you can also just create some beautiful pet stickers for simply your escort cards, you can just do that! Another way to showcase your love for your pets is to create a cardboard cutout escort card display, where you can put your pet-themed escort cards! If you’re looking to add more ideas to your pet-themed escort cards, then you can have the pet-themed escort card display board exactly like your pet, and the pet escort cards can be in the colors of your wedding theme. Customized escort cards, especially your pet-themed cards, should always look like a part of your wedding theme and ensemble. Additionally, you can use the wedding colors as alternating colors for the cards, so it looks stunning on the display as well! 

Pet-Illustration Napkins: Cute Faces Everywhere! 

If you’re looking for an easy way to add your pet to the wedding, then you should consider looking into customized napkins. Customized wedding napkins are fairly easy to find, and are pretty cool! One of the best things about this idea is that if you’ve recently lost a pet, even then your pet can be a part of your wedding! Or you could use photos or illustrations of your pet, add them to the pretty paper napkins and leave them with the plate settings for your wedding! If you’re good with art, and illustrations, then you can absolutely create one for your wedding! 

Before we wrap up, a pet-inclusive wedding does not mean that you’ll only think of different decor ideas, you can come up with different forms including your adorable fur baby. You can ask your pet sitter to bring your pet to the wedding, if your pet is not comfortable around people, for a brief visit and some wedding photos. Another way to include your pet and your friend’s pets is to let all of your proud pet parent friends bring their pets as well! But before you decide to make a decision on how to include your pet in your wedding, sit down with your partner and consider the ideas you love together before deciding on one! That said, we hope the ideas above help you find the idea or ideas that resonate with you!