Wedding Blog
It was a cold night in Troy, North Carolina on December 17, 2006; Jason and I were visiting his sister, brother-in-law, and their two Shih Tzus Simon and Autumn. I was laying on the couch curled up with a very pregnant Autumn, feeling the puppies move around inside of her belly. Suddenly, I felt Autumn contracting, so we rushed her over to her “delivery area”.
Several hours later, Autumn delivered three beautiful babies; sadly, one puppy did not make it.
Four months later Jason’s sister, Melissa, asked if Jason and I would like one of the puppies. The next week, Jason, carrying a big pink dog carrier, was on a flight to pick up our little girl. She is the biggest blessing in my life, I love her more than words can describe, and can’t imagine my wedding day without her.
Our number one requirement when searching for a venue was that she would be able to attend, to be our “flower dog”. Upon telling people that we will not be having a flower girl, but a flower dog, we have received various reactions, many of which claim us nuts.
Here she is, our beautiful girl, Isabella:
Isabella will be walking down the aisle with our ring bearer holding her leash. The ring bearer, Gavin, is my sister’s five year old step-son. He loves “Izzy Boo”, and is excited to walk down the aisle with her. As any flower girl would wear, Isabella will be wearing a beautiful dress.
Here are a few dresses we found suiting:
Are you having your dog (or any type of pet) in your wedding?
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Yes! We’re actually having my sisters dog in the wedding. She too is our flower pup. Can’t wait! I love dogs! I asked my 7 year old cousin to my flower girl but she actually turned down the offer :(. Oh well!
So cute! I wish my cats could be in the wedding, but I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t cooperate. 
Cute story!! How did the baby puppy do on the flight when your FH went to go get her? Did he get to keep her with him instead of going in the cargo hold?
No pets at my wedding (and no children either!). Your dogs are precious and I think I need to get one now (or at least after the wedding).
Adorable! Im allergic to…everything….or im sure we would have a dog or cat. We are SO the type of people who would use them in our wedding! I went to a wedding once where the couple used their dog as the “official greeter” at the outdoor reception. It was too cute!
We are having both of our monsters in the wedding! They are going to be the flower girl & ring bearer! They are labs, so we aren’t putting clothes on them. Eva will wear a pearl necklace with a flower on it & Strat is wearing a bowtie that matches my fiance’s vest.
We are going to “try” and have Eva carry a flower basket with a hole in the bottom so petals can fall out! Maybe it will work..
We too are debating having our furbaby as our flowerdog, however we aren’t sure if she’ll be comfortable around that many people. The one thing I do know is she’ll be making a cameo appearance in our engagment and day after wedding photos. Instead of a dress she’ll be sporting a cute flower collar from this etsy store, which makes them to support rescue efforts. So it’s a double great deal in my book.
That last photo of Isabella is awesome…great composition!
I LOVE Shih Tzus… my mom has one and she is such a sweetheart.
I am actually planning on having both of our dogs in the wedding. Lucky for me, we have a boy dog and a girl dog… perfect flower girl and ring barrier. I am hoping my FI’s niece and nephew will serve as the ring barrier and flower girl “attendents” (or maybe “escorts”, I haven’t decided yet on a title).
My FI thinks this may have disaster potential, but I keep telling him it will be just fine… our dogs are trained and well behaved. I think he is just worried about one of them taking a “bathroom break” on the trip down the isle.
That’s the worse thing that can happen, right?
My choc lab, Huxley, is going to be our “best dog” We’re not sure how we’re going to walk him down the aisle (on his own, with my FI, or with the best man), but he does pretty well when treats are around, so as long as the walker has a pocketful of goodies, he should behave. *knocks on wood*
I think it is a cute idea. It might actually be a little comforting for both your ring bearer and flower dog to be together during what can be an intimidating time for both of them.
Isabella is ADORABLE!
Our yorkie Tobi will be the ring bearer in our wedding. Hopefully I won’t regret that decision! haha
aww, such a cute story 
i love animals and think that is so nice that you are incorporating your dog!
My Lhasa Apso Abbie is our Flower dog!! My nephew will be 3 and is supposed to walk her down the aisle. If you have any advice on how to get a 3 year-old and a 1 year-old Lhasa puppy to cooperate, let me know.
I’m so glad you’re doing this too! Everyone involved in the wedding thinks I’m crazy. The florist looked at me like I was nuts.
O.M.G…. cutest dog ever. She looks like a little mighty dog running in the grass, so precious!
I too have a shih tzu and he is the love of my life! We wanted to include him in our wedding, but our venue would not allow it. It makes me sad that he wasn’t able to share our big day with us, but I am excited you are able to have your baby with you!
You are not nuts for having the dog in the wedding! She’s special to you and I think it is wonderful! We are having our wedding on the beach on an island and our baby won’t be able to make the trip. He’s a 9 year old big grey, white and balck sheltie and would probably be very uncomfortable in the heat. Just make sure to have plenty of treats on hand like other girls have said!
That pic of her running is adorable. My cousin has an adorable Maltese named Napoleon but he would think that everyone is there to play with him (why else would they be in one place) and the church doesn’t allow dogs. Darn.
Wow! I gotta tell you, I’m much more of a ‘big dog’ person…usually not so crazy about the little ones, BUT that picture of Isabella running in the grass is AWESOME! We’d love to have our girl at our wedding, but Mr Y’s family is not so dog friendly, and the idea of our 100 lb pooch who licks and slobers (and sheds) on everything in sight wouldn’t be that wonderful to them. Instead, we’ll have pictures of her plastered everywhere. Dogs are the best, I tell ya!
Our dog was a flowerdog in our beach wedding. She’s very attached to me so I let her walk along side me down the aisle. Once we got to the altar she was so excited to see her daddy she just started yipping for 5 minutes! then she just laid there between us for the whole ceremony. I think more people should include their pets since they are such a big part of our lives. We also allowed guests to bring their pets. Those people who think you’re nuts are just animal haters.
me and my FI were talking about it today, I have a lab/chow mix and he is the most adorable thing ever, I just know that he LOVES attention so I dont think he would ever make it down the aisle or stay there once hes there. He’s a total Sap!
I fully agree with lorim! We are 100% most certainly involving our little belle, in fact, we chose our venue around the fact that she was going to be our ring bearer. As a lab mix we are hoping she will walk to us but we think the flower girl may need to hold a flowered leash I have seen tons of recaps of weddings which involved dogs, and never really heard a bad story about involving them!
Oh MA GA. That puppy romping brought such joy to my heart. What a gorgeous girl and what a precious photo! I want to involve Paco, but I fear he’d cry the whole ceremony long….. we’re still undecided though, because he is the light of our lives!
omg! i want my boys to carry our rings down the aisle. his mom wants her 2 year old grandson to do it though. i feel awful though…because i sooooooo think that my dogs would be waaay cuter! anyone else feel that way?
All i have to say is that if she’s going to have a ring pillow on her - put in on a harness - NOT THE COLLAR! Shes got short little legs and if a too big ring pillow flips in front of her - poor iz will be tripping over it as she gets pulled along. Humorous for your guests? YUp. But I dont think your cute liitle bundle o’fluff will be as amused! Go for the halter if pillowing the pup! =)
What an adorable doggy! We really wanted our baby cockapoo, Emma, to be our flower girl/dog…but sadly our venue has a strict no pets policy! Also, Emma is a bit spoiled and would probably cop an attitude with all the guest fan fare and such!!
my beagle, Chloe, is our flower dog!
she is precious!!! i have a shih tzu too, and he’s going to be the ring bearer, though i’m making one of the groomsmen carry him since he’d get hyper or scared if he was to walk down the aisle, he might run or lick everyone haha, but i’m with you…i’m not having a wedding without my lovey puppy
Ahhhh. Miss Spring Roll, I told you before, I LOVE SHIH TZUS! They’re the best dogs, ever! I too thought about having Chachi (my Shih Tzu) in the wedding. I saw the cutest doggie suits at the mall 1 day but H2B refuses to have Chachi in the wedding. Boooo. LOL He’s so entertaining and he loves to “sing” when my mom plays the piano: “a-oooooooooh!” LOL! Shih Tzus have the best personalities. They’re like little people. Your Isabella is adorable. She looks like she’s so much fun to hang with.
@Miss Meatball: LOL! Are you making fun of Jessica Simpson?
Miss Spring Roll - Izzy Boo could not be any cuter
I was inspired by your post to finally ask my ceremony site if I could use my dog as our ring-bearer! And guess what? We can!!! I’m so excited now!
oh my gosh i absolutely love that picture of your puppy running
Jealous! I would love to have our dog in our wedding, but it’s a no-go due to both our venue and our little girl’s lack of manners That’s an awesome photo of Isabella running!
@MsJoe:
@Miss Fondue: I’m hoping for cooperation. As long as I don’t see any dog brownies on the aisle runner I’ll be happy!
@MrsDavis: She did really well on the flight; she was able to stay with him because she fit the size requirement
@slim: I definitely agree
@Miss Dumpling: It’s a shame you are allergic, but you can always look at cute pictures I bet the dog greeter was a huge success!
@misssnowflake: So cute! I initially wanted Isabella to carry a basket, but I can picture her tripping over it or trying to eat the flowers.
@GG+SB: I am hoping for the best when the day comes. That is so cute that you are having her in pictures.
@lilbird: . Oh my gosh, you have my same fear: dog brownies!@Ms. K: Will he be dressing up? I love yorkies
@Sarah: When I asked the venue coordinator, he stated that it is becoming quite popular to have pets at weddings.
@LittleBear: Thanks for the tip
@Miss X:
@chyyfire: I think I might have that problem with Izzy wanting to see me. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for the best.
@Samantha: I couldn’t agree more
@chaikac: I’m so glad I inspired you and yay!
Awwwwwwh!
Our Lhasa Apso, Billie Jean totally rocked the aisle and she walked down the whole thing in *almost* a straight line by herself! It was one of my favorite parts of the wedding and I cant wait to see pics of Izzy strutting her stuff!
i am dying of cuteness here…holy cow that one of her running is TOO CUTE!!
[...] “Flower Dog?!” by Miss Spring Roll [...]
[...] “Flower Dog?!” by Miss Spring Roll [...]
[...] “Flower Dog?!” by Miss Spring Roll [...]
Miss Spring Roll, I think it’s fantastic that you’re including Isabella in your wedding party. We have a Shih Tzu named Brandy who will be 14 years old soon and is a very special part of our family.
She was actually Ms Candy Corns Christmas present when Candy Corn was 10. When Candy Corn moved out of our home after college, we couldn’t part with Brandy and Candy Corn was understanding and compasionate enough to let Brandy stay with us. I think Candy Corn knew that if Brandy moved with her that meant that Mom & Dad were moving in too.
If Ms Candy Corn was allowed to have her dog Betty White in her wedding she would have done it. But at least Betty is staying in the hotel with Candy Corn on wedding weekend. Hopefully we can take doggie bags back to the hotel for Betty and Brandy.
Can’t wait to see your wedding photos posted after your marriage. Congratulations and best wishes to you and Mr Spring Roll.
[...] her much, as she lives in North Carolina with her husband and three Shih Tzu’s (two of which are Isabella and Gabriella’s biological [...]
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Mrs. Spring Roll, Tampa
Age and Occupation: 23, Certified Pharmacy Technician
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Concert Photographer
Engagement Date: May 1, 2008
Wedding Date: March 2009
Blogging Since: September 16, 2008
Venue: Beach Social Hall
About Me: I'm the stereotypical girl who enjoys sewing, baking, and decorating. I am blessed to share my life with Mr. Spring Roll and our two shih tzu's, Isabella and Gabriella. Hello Kitty, musicals, Target, and Chick-fil-a are a few of my favorite things. I have a fear of fish and Freddy Krueger. Planning our wedding has become a huge part of my life, and I love every minute of it!
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