As your pet is really a part of your family, they may be someone you want to add into your wedding day to add a personalized feature. Your pet may or may not be allowed to attend your wedding, but even so there are many ways you can have your pet at your wedding for your guests to see that really will add personality to your wedding day. Here are some of the common ways you can add your pets into your wedding day.

Signature Drinks, Stirrers, and Cocktail Napkins

The most common way to incorporate your furry friend into your wedding day is to name a signature cocktail after them. Many people will get a sign that has their dog drawn on there and a photo of the drink itself - make sure to specify what is actually in the drink for your guests as well! If you really want to add to this, you can have the cocktail napkins have a corner with your pets’ faces on them, maybe even with a little cute phrase so that they know “the drinks are on me” from your pet! We’ve also seen that people will have drink stirrers with their pets’ faces printed on the stirring end too, so you really can get people’s attention with all three of these elements.

2. Invitations or Save the Dates

Your invitations and save the dates are the first interactions your guests will have about your wedding. If you really want to wrap your pet into your whole wedding, this is a great place to start. You can have an actual photo on your save the date of you with your pet, or you can add a customized face on your invitations. You can make this subtle or obvious too - it’s totally up to you! An idea for a subtle nod could be to get customized wax seals of your pet and use that inside of the envelopes to literally tie everything together.

3. Cake Topper

Another common option is to have you as a couple with your pet on top of your cake. For my own wedding, we bought a miniature corgi figurine and had that on the top with two mini adirondack chairs. You can really find anything that fits your personality and you can find hundreds of options online to get a custom pet for your cake!

4. Actually Bringing to the Wedding

Of course if you are allowed to have your pet at your wedding venue, you can also have them actually attend your wedding! Many people will have someone bring their pet to be a ring bearer for the ceremony and then bring them back home. There are a lot of logistics involved with this because you usually should ask someone that isn’t attending the wedding as a guest to do this, but it definitely can be worth it to get some photos with your pet and have them be a part of the day you come together as a family!

5. Signs/Paper Goods

Menus, programs, welcome signs, table numbers…. the possibilities are endless! Whether they are the focal feature on your welcome sign, or hidden Easter eggs for your guests to find in the program, this is a great way to include your pet and you can use multiple methods here to really wrap them in the whole day! Any of your signage can have them included if you wanted to get everything a little customized with your pet on it. There have even been weddings that make life-size pet faces on sticks or cardboard cutouts and bring them out as props for a photo booth or on the dance floor.

6. “Doggie Bags” with Favors Inside

This can also be any customized bags for other favor options like popcorn, donuts, or candy. You can add a phrase on there as well to thank them for celebrating or something to do with the favor itself. It’s a great way to wrap up the evening with a little last nod to your pet that your guests are sure to smile at!

7. Mentioning Them in your Ceremony

If you want them to be included in the ceremony, but can’t/aren’t able to bring them along, you can have your officiant have a line about your pet or include them into your vows. This way, people will feel them included but without the logistics or rules of them actually being there! Since the ceremony is really the most important part of the day as the actual marriage is a big part of your wedding day, it could be nice to include them into that part of the day as well.

Having your pet at your wedding day physically can be a little complicated, but these are some ways that you really can include your pets without them actually being there. If you want your wedding day to have a personal element, adding your pet into your wedding day surely will make your guests feel like the day is more tailored to you specifically as a couple. If you need some more ideas on how to include your pet into your wedding, you can reach out to me here and I’d love to shoot some ideas at you!