Written by Valerie van der Graaf
You only get married once...at least that is is the ideal scenario. Lots of people, including Paul, end up needing a second attempt at it before they get it right! But that doesn't take away from how special your wedding day is and how important it is to share it with the right people (and yes that includes your dog!).
We started writing the guestlist around a year before we got married. We wanted to celebrate our love with our nearest and dearest and show everyone that we were committing to a lifetime together forever. Originally Bobbi wasn't part of that picture. For the last 5 years he lived with my mum and he spent all his time with her, but whenever I would visit he would get jealous and create a scene. For a small dog he certainly has a massive personality!
Photography by Merel Zoet. Bobbie wears Hiro + Wolf Inca Orange Dog Harness, Dog Collar, Classic Lead and Shuka Red Dog Bow Tie.
Six months before the wedding my mum unexpectedly passed away. Bobbi was such an important part of her life and our family and so we decided to give him a home in our new house in Margate.
As soon as we began looking after Bobbi the relationship changed dramatically. We started to love Bobbi more than anything in the world. While we were grieving, Bobbi gave us happiness and love. We had a conversation and we both knew that we didn't want a wedding without our furry child present.
Since moving to Margate we have been so amazed by how dog friendly the town is. Every pub, restaurant and shop seems to welcome furry friends and everyone always seems happy to see Bobbi. He goes with us everywhere we go, so why should our wedding be any different?
Photography by Merel Zoet.
Obviously he needed to look the part. Bobbi can sometimes be a little bit difficult about wearing clothes which is a shame as he always looks so cute! In the end we found a very dapper bow tie for him from Hiro + Wolf that matched well with his harness and could easily be attached to a collar without irritating him.
The plan on the day itself was that my aunt would take care of Bobbi, but I think we slightly underestimated his need to be the centre of attention at all times! As soon as I walked down the aisle, Bobbi got so excited and my aunt lost hold of him as he ran up the aisle to be close to us. It was such a beautiful and sweet moment that showed how things can change so quickly and how an animal can really become a family member. He spent the rest of the ceremony sitting between us so he is definitely a part of the marriage now!
Photography by Merel Zoet.
Throughout the day he was by our side, from cutting the cake (our cake topper had a little chihuahua on it) and jumping into our arms during the speeches to dancing the night away on the dancefloor. He didn't mind all the fuss going on around him and just wanted to be by my side throughout our special day. He even ended up following me into the ladies toilets at one point! Although I'm sure if you could ask him then the only thing he would really remember would be getting a nice chunk of beef burger from the barbecue.
I am so glad he was a part of our special day. Bobbi has become such an important part of our lives and having him at the wedding also helped me feel my mum was there too. He definitely stole the show and was extremely popular with all our other guests. He was definitely the official guest of honour.