In the past few years, Adrienne D’Alo has been invited to about 150 weddings. She’s attended all of them, but she rarely stays until the very end. Instead, she heads out early and takes one of the most important wedding attendees with her: the newlywed couple’s dog.
We’re all accustomed to a wedding planner, florist, catering team, and photographer being involved in a wedding, but what D’Alo offers is a new breed of service that not everyone is familiar with. In 2022, D’Alo started Wags Down the Aisle, a bespoke wedding service that caters to the couple’s dog.
“If I’m being a little bit less serious with it, I say I’m your dog’s plus one,” said D’Alo.
On the more formal side, Wags Down the Aisle is a pet care attendant service. On the wedding day, a licensed, trained, and insured member of the Wags Down the Aisle team caters to every need of the couple’s dog. From arriving at the wedding venue to posing for pictures to mingling with guests during cocktail hour to wiping muddy paws, Wags Down the Aisle is there to care for the dog, ensuring the groom’s mom, bride’s sister, or some friend isn’t bothered with the task.
In addition to Wags Down the Aisle, D’Alo works as a full-time program manager, which happens to overlap with the finite details of wedding planning. This means every dog enlisted to the care of Wags Down the Aisle gets their own wedding-day itinerary with locations, times, outfit changes, menu, and coordination with the wedding planner’s schedule.
Somewhere between one and four weeks before the wedding, a member of Wags Down the Aisle heads over to meet the couple’s dog, getting acquainted to make wedding day more comfortable for all parties. Then, on the big day, the lucky dog gets picked up from home, a hotel, or the Airbnb and heads to the venue. After a walking tour to get familiar with the area, showtime usually begins with pre-ceremony photos.
Any dog owner or even anyone who’s been around dogs can understand that not all dogs are thrilled about posing for pictures. But since photo memories are an important part of The Big Day, Wags Down the Aisle is there to help out.
“We’re the ones behind the photographer, waving treats around and telling the dogs that they’re the goodest boys and girls ever,” D’Alo said.
Since every wedding and dog is unique, Wags Down the Aisle customizes each dog’s wedding schedule according to the owners’ (and the dog’s) desires. Some dogs are thrilled to greet each guest as they arrive, some steal the show as the wedding’s ring bearer, and others join in on the first dance.
“There’s a lot of flexibility in the planning process, which I think is really helpful for people,” D’Alo explained. “It’s not like a cookie-cutter approach of how your dog will be at your wedding.”
But does your dog really need a wedding planner? According to couples who’ve hired Wags Down the Aisle, the answer is a resounding “YES!”
Kyleigh and Thomas Gartner knew they wanted their dog Callie to be involved in their wedding and found the help of D’Alo and the Wags Down the Aisle team to be a huge highlight of their special day.
“We genuinely believe Callie had the best day of her life,” said Kyleigh Gartner. “We never once worried about her wellbeing because we knew she was in the hands of the kindest people.”
Callie posed for photos, walked down the aisle, greeted guests, and took part in the first dance. Meanwhile over at Callie’s Bar, human wedding guests ordered up The Perfect Walk, a blood-orange mule, in either a leashed (non-alcoholic) or unleashed (alcoholic) version. While Callie didn’t partake in her cocktail menu, she was kept well hydrated and fed only her allergy-friendly treats, thanks to D’Alo and the team.
Another wedding might not have even happened if the couple hadn’t invited their dog, Sumo, and Wags Down the Aisle. Someone (we won’t name names) forgot the oh-so-important wedding rings. But Sumo, always looking out for his pawrents, came to the rescue by rushing down the aisle to deliver the rings.
That wasn’t the end of Sumo’s generosity during the wedding of his people, Christopher and Kat Duclos. Sumo came to the wedding equipped with his own “Kissing Boof,” delighting guests and getting all the pets while dressed in his dapper ceremonial Filipino Barong shirt, thanks to his attendant from Wags Down the Aisle.
Christopher Ducos adopted Sumo in 2014 and since he’s played such a large role in the couple’s relationship, they knew Sumo needed to be included. “I couldn’t imagine my big day with him just staying home napping,” said Christopher Ducos.
Originally, the couple planned for a wedding guest who’s also a dog trainer to care for Sumo on the big day, but eventually decided, “It just didn’t make sense to stick the responsibility onto someone that now wouldn’t be able to enjoy the event while having Sumo duty.”
The wedding day ended up being a Seattle summer scorcher, and Ducos mentioned Sumo’s plus one did a great job of cooling his paws, helping out with the kissing booth, and returning him home safely while the couple was busy enjoying the reception.
D’Alo said getting the dog home is another important aspect of the Wags Down the Aisle service. “We take them for another walk, a bathroom break, feed them dinner, and just make sure that they’re decompressed from their day before we leave,” said D’Alo.
While the majority of gigs for Wags Down the Aisle are weddings, D’Alo and her team are also available for elopements.
Every human and dog is welcome with Wags Down the Aisle. “We’ll never turn down anyone about who they love or what breed of dog they have,” D’Alo said.
Wags Down the Aisle is based in Western Washington and is available for weddings throughout the year, serving all couples and all dog breeds. Each member of the care team at Wags Down the Aisle is dog and cat first-aid and CPR certified, as well as insured. Learn more about Wags Down the Aisle on the company’s website and Instagram.
Lauren Allain is a freelance contributor for Seattle Refined.
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