Something borrowed ... along with old Blue

By DEBORAH HORAN
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
CHICAGO -- When Jane McBride walks down the aisle dressed in white this September, a furry ring bearer named Mufasa will stand at the altar next to the groom.
McBride, an assistant attorney general in Springfield, Ill., couldn't imagine her big day without the 85-pound Akita-Shepherd mix bearing witness, she said. She worries only that the dog might tear her gown when the minister instructs the groom to kiss the bride.
"Anytime John and I embrace, Mufasa thinks he should jump in there with us," McBride said. "He thinks it's a big pack hug and he gets all involved."
People without pets -- and even some who own them -- may find it strange to choreograph pets into a wedding ceremony. But dogs participating in human nuptials are on the rise, if sales of miniature sequined wedding gowns, frilly bridesmaid dresses and tiny black tuxedos are any indication.
The attire has been flying off the shelves at pet boutiques this wedding season, say shop owners, as the idea of adding a pet to the wedding party becomes more socially acceptable.
"Couples don't have children, but they do have a dog, so it only makes sense that they would stand up in their wedding," said Sheila Spitza, co-owner of Wet Nose Pet Spa.
Jennifer Schoonmaker, owner of Cody and Carl's Blvd., a pet boutique, said she has sold two white gowns (with veil) since she put a canine nuptial display in the window of her upscale store in May.
Sales soar
John Stewart, owner of Alexis Creations in San Antonio, said he has watched sales of canine wedding apparel soar in the three years he has been in business making designer dog clothing.
"When we first started we would get maybe one or two inquiries a year for formal wear for weddings," Stewart said. "Now we get that many a week."
Wedding planners, meanwhile, have added to their to-do lists such tasks as buying doggie biscuits and finding wedding venues that accept pets, said Chay Turner, owner of The Wedding Runners.
Turner said most dogs are led on leashes down the aisle. But she once planted a biscuit at the front of an aisle and then whispered, "OK, you're on," to cue a Yorkshire terrier to sprint toward the bride.
Including the pooch in the ceremony is typically the bride's idea, Turner said. At the Yorkshire terrier wedding, held in Maui, the groom only nodded.
"He was saying, 'Whatever you want, babe. I'm just gonna be here that day,'" Turner said.
Courtney Caveney dressed her corgi-pit bull in a special rose-colored bow with a pouch for the rings and had the animal walk the aisle at her wedding, held last.
"She just trotted right down," Caveney said of the 11-inch-tall dog.
Judy Alden, a wedding planner with JuWil Wedding Consulting, said she twice has worked dogs into the wedding ceremony, both held in private homes.
She's unfazed by the proliferation and cost of elaborate pet wedding attire that can run anywhere from $30 to more than $100, depending on the embellishments and type of fabric.
"Everybody is trying to jump on the wedding-industry bandwagon," Alden said.
Best sellers
Of all the doggie wedding apparel, the bridesmaids gowns and ring-bearer tuxes sell best, Spitza said. She has seen sales of those items increase every year as more and more couples invite pets big and small to watch them tie the knot.
Every once in a while, the attire isn't for human nuptials, she said. A few weeks ago, a couple browsed gowns and tuxes for an upcoming wedding between two pets for which they had rented a reception hall and sent out formal invitations.
"Who's to say what's right or wrong," Spitza said. "Everyone has their own level of eccentricity."
Schoonmaker didn't rent a separate hall for her own dog's knot-tying ceremony, held to promote her new boutique. Instead, the wedding and reception -- an elaborate affair with champagne, bouquets of white marigolds, balloons and presents -- were held at the pet spa in a minimall.
But Schoonmaker, a designer by trade, and co-worker Jeff McDaniel did mail out printed invitations to roughly 500 clients whose pets have visited the spa. They were written in cursive on colored paper with little paw prints and requested "the honor of your presence at the marriage of their canine children."
"It's all in fun," Schoonmaker said.