Diane Cochran, for Brides and Grooms 2011
There is only one way Kristin Schauer and Tylor Larson can imagine their rings being carried down the aisle at their wedding next fall, and it isn’t in the hands of an adorable niece or nephew.
The Missoula couple’s ring bearer will be cute but in a furry, four-legged sort of way.
Sequoia, their Irish wolfhound, will fetch their wedding bands to the altar in a velvet pouch secured to her collar.
“She is like the most important part of our family,” Schauer said. “We absolutely adore her.”
Sequoia will be groomed just before the wedding and wear a crystal-studded satin collar that matches the bridesmaids’ dresses. Her name will be listed in the wedding program, and she will be included in the formal photographs.
“Everyone who knows us expected it,” Schauer said of the decision to put Sequoia in the ceremony.
Schauer, who works as a pet groomer, and Larson, a motion graphics designer, are among a small but growing number of couples including dogs in their nuptials.
“They’re there to celebrate with friends and family, and they recognize their dog or dogs are part of that,” said Thea Delamater, a Missoula wedding planner who has worked pooches into plenty of ceremonies.
Adding a dog to a wedding is not without risk, and it is not a good idea for every couple, Delamater said.
“You have to have a fun attitude when you plan to involve a dog in your ceremony,” she said. “If the dog lifts its leg on the altar or takes a bite out of somebody’s bouquet, you have to roll with it.”
For some couples, those candid moments make good stories that are retold for years. But for others, a misbehaving dog spells disaster.
Delamater’s clients tend to be easygoing couples who plan outdoor ceremonies. In one, a dog walked down the aisle with the bride and then again with the groom.
“He sat by the father of the bride during the ceremony,” Delamater said. “At the end, the dog went up to the bride and groom, met them at the altar, and all three walked back down the aisle. There were some pretty incredible photographs. Forever they’ll have that moment it was just the three of them.”
Finding a wedding venue other than the family ranch or a friend’s backyard that allows dogs is not easy. Schauer and Larson sought and received an exception to the no-pets rule at the resort where they will be married.
Pets are not allowed at the Daly Mansion in Hamilton, for example, but the historic site makes exceptions for special occasions such as weddings, said April Johnson, the mansion’s events coordinator.
Johnson helped plan a wedding that had a canine ring bearer and another one in which the bride and groom each had their dog by their side.
“The second couple met at a dog-training class, hence their dogs in the wedding,” she said.
Missoula photographer Cathy Deschamps takes a squeaky toy to weddings that include dogs. The toy focuses pups that are too antsy to pose for family photographs.
“As long as they don’t see a squirrel,” Deschamps said.
Deschamps photographed one couple who wanted their “kids” – a Yorkshire terrier and a Maltese – in their pictures.
“I’ve seen people put a bow tie on a Labrador,” she said. “It depends on how willing the dog is to play along.”
Bow ties are just the tip of the iceberg for dog wedding apparel. There are white dresses and veils; tuxedos and tuxedo shirts; pearl collars; jeweled collars; and even satin “bridesmaid” gowns.
“They actually have a pillow that ties around the dog’s body” to carry wedding rings, said Jenny Lundberg Denute, owner of Pet Nebula in Missoula.
There are also wedding-themed dog toys, including a plush white heart bearing the embroidered inscription “The Yappy Couple” – and rubber chickens dressed as a bride and groom.