Remember Junior Mink? He’s my little golden retriever, who has been my sidekick for the last five years. Very early in our wedding planning, I debated having Junior Mink in our wedding. I feared that he’d be uncomfortable or the logistics of getting him to and from our venue would prove too difficult. Almost every comment from my original post about this encouraged me to include Junior Mink in our big day. One bee even Photoshop’ed an image of Junior Mink with a bride and groom to encourage me.
We settled on including Junior Mink pretty soon after that. Mr. Mink and I weren’t exactly in agreement about what Junior Mink should wear, though. Mr. Mink thought the bow-tie collar we have was the perfect outfit for Junior Mink. I put it on him for holidays and special occasions.
Photo by Miss Mink
I had a slightly different idea. I had seen floral wreaths that my florists, Pat and Sherry Spencer of Pat’s Floral Designs, had made for dogs on a few wedding blogs. I thought Junior Mink would look adorable with a floral wreath around his neck.
In the end, I was a bit more passionate about the floral wreath than Mr. Mink was about the bow tie, so the wreath wins. I bought Junior Mink a black collar, lead, and Gentle Leader harness to be the foundation for his look, and I think he looks very sharp.
Photo by Miss Mink
Of course, now we had to deal with the logistics of getting Junior Mink to the wedding and returning him home after our ceremony. We considered asking a few of our friends to do this, but we didn’t want anyone to miss out on part of the day because they were ferrying Junior Mink around. We considered asking a few neighbors who are students, but our wedding day is their moving day.
I almost gave up on Junior Mink being in the wedding but, as luck would have it, I saw a Living Social email about hiring an errand running company that operations in Virginia, DC, and Maryland called Vivacity to do all kinds of tasks, including pet sitting. I quickly emailed the company to ask if our “task” fit into their pet-sitting parameters and got a lovely email back from the owner, Ashleigh Ward, saying she’d be happy to help us. I quickly purchased the Living Social deal and felt relieved that we wouldn’t be burdening a guest with the role of chauffeur for Junior Mink.
I recently met Ashleigh for coffee to talk about our timeline. I brought Junior Mink along so they could meet, in case she wasn’t a “dog person.” It turns out that she has two dogs herself, so she’s completely comfortable with taking care of Junior Mink on our wedding day. She put me at ease almost immediately.
I took a picture of Ashleigh’s binder because it has a bee on it! / Photo by Miss Mink
I decided that I might also hire her to do some of the last-minute jobs that come up just before the wedding. I’m not sure I can juggle dropping welcome bags off at area hotels, transporting linens to the venue, picking up my dress (from where it’ll be steamed), and other tasks on the same day as our rehearsal. It might be nice to have someone else to help us on the day before the big day.
How are you planning on handling last-minute wedding tasks?
Resourceful Ms. Mink! Sounds like this will work out very well. Junior Mink looks so handsome with his bow tie. Awww……
For the last minute errands, I will have bridesmaids, family members, friends and our wedding planner help out. We’re getting so busy now that I finally asked my bridesmaids’ to take care of finding their own shoes for the wedding. Hopefully it goes well. I totally trust their tastes, I just hope they can agree (I have 5 bridesmaids.)
Oh, I’m sure it will be just fine! I told my bridesmaids to just wear nude shoes. I didn’t make them come to a consensus and the ones I’ve seen so far are great. It’ll work out!
I didn’t want to send my bridesmaids or family members running around town (especially with welcome bags), so I’m thinking about using the errand company.
An errand-running service? That’s GENIUS.
I’m surprised the venue would allow you to have a dog. Is the errand company dropping him off before the ceremony and then taking him away right after?
Junior Mink is adorable!
Our Miss Eva the Golden Retriever, will be lounging with her cousin Balthier the Corgi while we make her honest.
Our venue doesn’t allow dogs, so that was easy. We love our pup, but I think I’d have left her home, anyway. I’m afraid that 15 years down the road I’d look at wedding pictures of us and her and be all sad that she wasn’t around. Crazy, I know. Plus she’s a blonde fur-machine, and no one wants that on their tux.
@Meaghan: Yep! I wrote about it on my first post.
A bunch of the vineyards around here have dogs and most are dog friendly. Those that don’t have food service are dog friendly indoors and out. 
@Meaghan: I forgot that I also posted a picture of the dogs at one of the vineyards we considered in our venue search. Aren’t they cute?
@almostmrsj: One of our friends told us that wedding pictures encapsulate your life at the time they were taken, so there will always be friends that drifted away, family members who passed on, etc.
I’m sure I’ll cherish the pictures of Junior Mink once he’s no longer with us…the ones I took at home and the ones we’ll take at the wedding.
I love the idea of an errand company, even more since that means Junior Mink will be a part of the day, he’s so cute!
@Miss Mink: I’ve only been to the vinyards in California and after the wine tastings I wouldn’t know any difference.
what a gorgeous gorgeous dog!! he really is so handsome with that bowtie, and he looks so proud in his harness! i would love to have our little puppy at our wedding, which is slated to be outdoors – but if we end up with an indoor ceremony due to weather, he wouldn’t be allowed inside and i would be so sad 
so we nixed the idea. lucky mink! ps “junior mink” makes me want to buy junior mints haha.
This is so smart- I might hire some errand help if we continue to have extra room in the budget. Great idea, mink!
Junior Mink is SO handsome! So glad you can include him. Our beach house doesn’t allow dogs, but friends are at staying at a place that does, so we’re hoping our Golden mix can make an appearance for some pictures. The hard part will be keeping him from taking a swim!!
That’s a really cool business. Though I’m surprised someone who operates in DC is willing to drive to Cville. Not the most fun section of I 81, lol.
@Future Army Wife: Ah, it’s based in Charlottesville, but there are staff members in Richmond, Roanoke, the beach, and all over the DC area. I was curious, so I asked…Ashleigh said she travels to the other areas, but not constantly.
Junior Mink is such a handsome guy! I might be in love with him
I LOVE dogs at weddings!!! Excited to see how his wreath looks on him! And what a great idea to hire an errand company!
Junior Mink is so distinguished! Handsome boy. Want to hug him!
Mrs. Mink, Charlottesville, Virginia Age and Occupation: 34, College Administrator Fiance's Age and Occupation: 40, Craft Beer Consultant Engagement Date: November 26, 2010 Wedding Date: June 2012 Venue: Pippin Hill Farm & Vineyards About Me: I left a pre-war brownstone in Boston six years ago to live in a funky, Southern city where Thomas Jefferson, Dave Matthews, and urban chicken keepers enjoy equal social standing. I still love my Patriots and Red Sox, but have fallen in love with Virginia. I work in education and specialize in integrating technology into my work to improve the student experience. I’m a diehard blogger, animal lover, jamband follower, and DIYer. I paint to relax and have transferred by energy from home projects to wedding projects in recent months. When Mr. Mink and I started talking about marriage, we knew our wedding would be outdoors, that my golden retriever would be part of the day, and that the music would be fantastic. We’ve taken a few risks during our planning process and we’ve been enjoying the process immensely!
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