How to Include Your Pets In your Elopement
If I could somehow niche my work down into one little category, it would be “Camping Elopements with Dogs”. There is something about falling asleep and waking up with your dog in your car/tent/RV, their warm little bodies keeping you alive because while it's actually 50 degrees out, it might as well be -32 when you’re in a tent at 10,000 feet.
Imagine this! You wake up with your pup, or pups if you are a lucky SOB and have more than one, you and your partner pack your wedding clothes into your hiking bag, you’ve chosen a location where your dog can be off leash, you head up a short trail before making breakfast as the alpine glow starts on the nearby mountain range. Your dog is running around enjoying their best life!! You finish breakfast and change into your wedding clothes, but, OH NO!, you forgot to pack the lint roller so there is dog hair all over your wedding clothes. Too bad, so sad! Just another way to include your pup in your wedding day :)
As someone who did not grow up with dogs, my dog is the love of my life. I could not imagine him not being a part of my wedding day (actually, that's a lie, I did imagine - and plan - for my elopement to be in a national park where dogs aren’t allowed and thankfully my photographers talked me out of it so that we could include him in the whole day).
If you also cannot imagine not including your furry best friend SOMEWAY SOMEHOW in your wedding day, read on fellow DINKWAD’s (Double Income No Kids With A Dog) and let me enlighten you with some ideas.
15 Ways to Include Your Dog in Your Wedding and on Your Elopement Day
Have your dog sign your Colorado Marriage License
The best part about getting married in Colorado, outside of the magical weather, towns, mountains, nature, outdoors, people, wildlife, national parks, every other reason why you would ever want to elope in Colorado...is that your pets can sign your marriage license. All you need is an ink pad and a patient dog, and viola you’ve got their cute paw prints on your marriage license!
Bonus points if you practice this before the big day so you know how much pressure to apply for the print to come out perfect. And how many treats you need to have on hand for a willing participant.
2. Have a First Look With Your Dog
Having a first look with your dog on your wedding day as a way to include them is easier than it sounds! It’s something fun and quick that you can do, especially if you've already done a first look with your partner and you can both be there for a first look with your pup!! You can make it even more fun by being on opposite sides and calling them to see who they come to first.
P.S. I would never ever even think of helping one of you conceal dog treats so that the odds fall slightly in your favor…;)
Check out this guide “Should You Do a First Look?” if you’re not sure if one is right for you.
3. Write Vows To Your Dog to Read During Your Ceremony
More belly rubs? All the lambchop stuffies they could ever imagine destroying? Including them in every adventure ever and vowing to 'never leave the dogs behind'? Writing vows to your pup during your ceremony allows you to add a unique touch of love and humor to your day. It's also something you and your partner can write and read to your pup together, so think of it as a way to acknowledge their role in your relationship.
4. Toast to Your Dog On Your Wedding Day
Along the same lines as above, you can also give a toast to your pup. This doesn't have to be a champagne toast either; it can be a cheese toast or a pup-cup toast. I mean, this part is easy. Just think about what your dog would want to eat or slurp up in .25 seconds.
5. Have your dog walk You Down The Aisle, be a Flower “escort” or Ring Bearer
When you want someone to walk you down the aisle but also... don't want someone to walk you down the aisle because the mention of inviting immediate family means all of a sudden your two-person + dog elopement has turned into a full-blown wedding day with Aunt Connie from Alabama that you've never met. Then it's all "MOM, STOP, I DON'T EVEN REMEMBER KAREN, YOUR BEST FRIEND FROM GRADE SCHOOL; I'M NOT INVITING HER TO MY WEDDING."
You get the picture. Have your dog walk you down the aisle instead.
6. Have a Paw Print Unity Ceremony
This one's pretty self-explanatory. If you've got their paws covered in ink from signing your marriage license, why not get your paws dirty too and make some type of art or photo you can hang that includes all of your little hand and paw prints? You could send it off to have someone make a wool embroidery of it, have your photographer make a cool double exposure with it, or find some other way to incorporate it around your house that doesn't make it look like a dog paw and turkey handprints from some kid's kindergarten project
7. Dog Wedding Attire
Bandanas, tuxedos, dresses, and tutus! You can find pretty much anything for your pets nowadays and customize it to fit your pet and their personality. Of course, this is only if your pet can stand to be in clothes, as I've definitely seen some that just become zombies that forget how to move as soon as a piece of clothing is put on them. So, you know, test it out before the big day. And don't shy away from those Halloween costumes—what's funnier than your Wiener dog being dressed up as a hot dog on your wedding day? Better yet, do a first look with your dog and your partner but secretly dress your dog up in a Halloween costume because that would actually be the cutest reaction to photograph and have as a memory.
8. Have your dog in a Costume for a funny first look
Because the above idea in #7 was too hilarious to me not to include it as its own paragraph. Does your partner love horror movies? Dress your dog up like Freddy or Chucky. If your partner loves tacos or pizza…you get where I’m going with this.
9. Custom Everything
If you have a shopping problem like me, this is the perfect excuse to buy a bunch of new stuff for your dog. Cute + clean items like a new:
Leash
Collar
Dog tags
Bandana
Backpack (if hiking)
10. Get Ready with Them
There's no reason your dogs can't be there when you get ready if you are able to work out logistics for someone to take them after you're finished!! This can be a cute way to get more photos with your pup and include them in one of the most exciting parts of the day.
11. Incorporate Them Into The Decor and Favors
These next two are more for larger weddings but get little cutouts of them and cut out the eyes for photo booths! Get creative with your table decor, numbers, or names. Put their faces on your napkins! Create pet-friendly wedding favors. Have their face as a cake topper.
Or even have a petting zoo or animal adoption event at your reception!! Okay, that one is a little wild but imagine all the cute little puppies finding their fur-ever homes on your wedding day.
12. Include your dog in your reception entrance
Bonus points, have your DJ play something fun like “who let the dogs out”. Yeeeeee. Or just let them roam around and live their best life by stealing everyones food.
13. Include your pets in “family” photos
Even if you’re having a larger wedding, hire or find a friend to be your “dog wrangler” that can bring your pup to and from different locations to include them in family photos, or get some candid shots of you playing with your pup!!
14. Take Candid Photos With Them
Whether they are with you the whole day, or you have a friend that brings them for an hour, having time to run around with your pup for some genuine candids with them can be so much fun! I recommend finding locations that allow dogs to be off leash if they’re good at recall, that way you can play fetch, chase, and run around with them without their leash. You can also make their day and take them on a short walk :)
15. Include them on your “Save the Date” or “We eloped!” cards that you mail out
Can’t go wrong with including something about your pets on your save the dates or “we eloped!” cards that you send out to family and friends! It could be a picture that includes your pet, a copy of your pets paw print somewhere on the card or envelope, or even a ‘blurb’ from your pet about what they thought about your wedding day or how they were included! My wedding day from my dogs perspective was probably “10/10, got cake. But then 0/10 when mom and dad left me with my aunt and I had to whine so mom and dad knew how much I missed them.”.