By Tara Ramroop Hunt

The question isn’t why would you have your dog in your wedding; it’s why wouldn’t you have your dog in your wedding?

As proper San Francisco people, my husband and I know tons of dogs and a now-steadily growing set of small children. We know some friends’ daughters fairly well, but we know one little girl the best: Gida, our 10-year-old Boston terrier. She’s great; but she isn’t actually big on crowds of people until they get tipsy and start dropping food. As such, I wondered if maybe it was a bit mean to subject her to a starring role on our wedding day, when people — most of them, anyway — were still sober.

But, this is me strongly advising you to have a pet in your bridal party if your venue allows. Given Gida’s skillz at commands, she did a great job. After being set in place at the end of the aisle, she came when called from the other end by the groom, just as she does at home without a tulle cape on. Note that boisterous labs or shepherds could pose more behavior issues; though you may not care about your pet stealing your thunder, you may care about losing your deposit. So, beware and assign a willing friend to keep tabs on your fur pal.

Gida just stayed for our ceremony, which is something else to consider: sending the dog home after a job well done. She would have been bored to tears and, as the drunk quotient went up at the reception, so would her indignant Boston attitude. A friend took her home on the J-Church and zipped back in time for the reception. I’m still amazed at how Outside Lands weekend + Muni + dog turned out this well.

Remember that if you don’t ask, you don’t get; so give it a shot and ask, even if you’re pretty sure they’ll say no. I was sure our Civic Center venue would axe the idea before we could get all the words out, but she got the green light anyway. With a pretty hefty dog population around here, I’m hoping to see tons more canine participation at future weddings.

Images: Ashley Forrette

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