Say “I Do” With Your Pet There Too

 The Pet Gal’s Wedding Pet Attendant Services Take the Stress Out of Bringing Your Pet Along on Your Wedding Day

Credit: The Pet Gal

When dreaming of the perfect wedding day, there’s one family member every girl feels devastated to leave out, her fur child. But with everything a bride must be part of on her wedding day keeping track of and tending her pup can seem like an impossible feat, and let's be honest, do you really want to trust a drunk groomsman with your most precious? 

Enter The Pet Gal’s wedding attendant services. The Austin-based pet care service provider will not only chauffer your pup at your ceremony but will ensure they are right on schedule to walk down the aisle or pose for family photos. 

“The bride and groom’s reaction when they see their pet is amazing,” says Joy Viscomi, Pet Gal Wedding Pet Coordinator. “I also love seeing the guests' reactions when the dog walks down the aisle. Sometimes it's a surprise for the guests because they don't know the dog will be there.” 

Pet Gal wedding attendants work with you to customize your day and include your pet in any way you feel you want to. Viscomi says she’s even assisted a bride in having a mother-son dance with her fur son, Roman. 

“The first wedding I did in 2017, the couple had booked us for four hours, and then the couple came up and asked me how much for the rest of the night?” Viscomi recalls. “So, I was there when Roman, the Great Dane, had his first dance with mom and spent time in the cigar lounge with dad. He was also part of the send-off.” 

Viscomi says the most popular things for pets to do during weddings is to walk down the aisle with members of the wedding party, pose for photos, or be part of the ceremony as a flower girl or ring bearer. She said that typically, pups don’t stand at the front of the alter next to mom and dad for the nuptials though because they can be quite unpredictable. 

Visomi recalled a time where the bride and groom did want the furbaby to stand at the altar for their outdoor ceremony. Viscomi was nervous about this, and for good reason, because sure enough, the pup started “boot scooting during the ceremony” causing quite the reason for the crowd to laugh. However, the bride and groom laughed too, she says.  

Typically, during the vows, The Pet Gal attendants will walk pets around the venue grounds away from the ceremony where they can burn off energy, use the restroom, or bark freely.  

Credit: The Pet Gal

Another, cuter challenge with wedding ceremonies, Viscomi says is getting pups to focus on the task at hand during the ceremony. 

“The most difficult aspect is getting the dog to walk down the aisle and not want to greet every guest down the aisle,” she says. “We usually recommend a short leash, that way they don’t stop at every person saying ‘but wait you can pet me, and you can pet me.’” 

She added that treats also are a big help when encouraging pets to sit for photos or perform as the pet parents hoped. 

“We bring treats and I check with the pet the day before to make sure the pet doesn’t have any allergies,” she says. “We bring a squeaky toy to get their attention during photos, and water. Lots and lots of water because it can get hot in the summertime.” 

Viscomi says that typically couples will have their pet stay for the ceremony, and greet guests during cocktail hour while the bride and groom take photos -- once the pet has completed their portion of the photo-taking of course. Then, once dinner is served, typically couples will have the furbaby head home for the rest of the night. 

The Pet Gal was founded by Susan Anderson in 2009 and began offering wedding attending services in 2017 after a client asked Anderson if she could help her pup be part of her wedding day. Anderson did and realized she could add this as a service to her business. 

In addition to wedding attending, The Pet Gal offers dog walking, pet sitting, and pet taxiing services in the Austin area. Currently, The Pet Gal does 25-30 weddings annually and has 3-4 wedding attendants, but Viscomi says she thinks that number will increase as the demand for pet attending grows. 

“We were on track to do more weddings last year, but then COVID hit,” she says. 

Viscomi started working for The Pet Gal six years ago and took over the wedding attendant program a couple of years later. Since then, she's been the primary attendant on dozens of weddings around the Austin area and has traveled as far as San Antonio to help pets be part of the bride’s special day. 

Credit: The Pet Gal

While most of The Pet Gal’s weddings are in the Austin and Dripping Springs area, they will travel anywhere to bring their services to brides in need. The cost of The Pet Gal’s wedding attendant services is $330 for (2 hours), $540 (4 hours), $780 (6 hours). Each package includes services for one pet, travel to a venue in a 60-mile radius of Round Rock, one attendant, and event insurance. The fee to add additional pets is $20 per pet and chauffeur services are around $2 per mile. There is also an option to add additional attendants, should you have an overly zealous pet. 

“It depends on the breed of the dog and what the bride and groom request,” Viscomi says. “I have one coming up where the bride and groom have requested a second attendant for their Husky because he is very excited.” 

Viscomi says that she’s got the best job in the world. She loves helping pets and their people be together on the best day of their lives, and if there’s one thing she wants everyone to know, it’s that The Pet Gal’s Wedding Attending Services aren’t just for dogs. 

“We have a cat at a wedding too,” she says, “There were two dogs and one cat and it was amazing. I always said I wanted to help a cat be part of a wedding and I got to do that, he even wore a bow-tie. My next goal is to help a little pot-bellied pig be part of a ceremony.” 

To learn more about The Pet Gal’s Wedding Attendant services visit www.thepetgal.com.