Wedding pet chaperone

You want the dog in the photographs. You do not want to be the one holding a lead in a wedding dress, and you do not want to be asking your best man to slip away at six to go and let him out.

That is the job.

How the day works

1. I collect your dog from home: brushed, walked, and ready rather than wound up
2. Bring them to the venue for the ceremony and the photographs
3. Hold them, walk them, water them, and keep them calm through the noise, the confetti and a hundred strangers
4. Take them home, feed them, and settle them, and stay on with them if you would rather they were not left

What is included

• A meet and greet beforehand, and a look at the venue if it is local
• Collection and return
• Water bowl, towels, treats, poo bags, and a spare lead, because somebody always forgets one
• Somebody whose only job, all day, is your dog
• A word with your photographer and the venue about where the dog can and cannot go

Worth knowing before you book

Weddings are loud, hot and full of strangers, and most dogs have about two hours of that in them before they would rather be at home on the sofa. That is why the usual plan is ceremony, photographs, then home, rather than the whole day.

Check with your venue early. Plenty allow dogs in the grounds but not inside for the ceremony, and it is much easier to know that in March than on the morning.

The practical bits nobody thinks of

• A light-coloured dog and a dark suit do not mix. Whoever is holding the lead for photographs should know that before, not after
• Flower collars and bandanas are better than anything tied round the neck tightly
• Dogs get hot in August in a walled garden with no shade. I will find the shade
• Nobody should be feeding your dog canapes, however much they ask, and I am happy to be the one who says so

Other animals

It is usually dogs. If you want a horse in the photographs, ask.