Ring Bearing Dogs (And Other Bad Ideas)

I think the idea of having our dog bear the ring for the wedding ceremony popped into my mom's head just about the moment the engagement was announced. She's been mentioning it ever since.

With our old dog, Jake, (rest his soul), a surprisingly calm and non-excitable Springer spaniel, it could possibly have worked. However, our new dog, Snoopy, is a decidedly excitable beagle prone to distraction at the slightest provocation. This dog gets interested in invisible insects, for heaven's sake. And smells, oh, how he loves smells. When he gets excited, he doesn't just jump or wiggle or bark - he takes off like a bullet out of a gun, and will end up a mile down the road before we can catch him.

So having Snoopy bear the ring is pretty much out (I hope). In fact, he'll probably be safely tucked away at a neighbor's house during the ceremony and reception, or at the kennel.

Other ideas we've had so far that have been shot down include...

• Serving chili at the wedding. Messy food and nice wedding clothes just don't go hand-in-hand.
• Having the wedding at the Outer Banks. We're still renting the house after the wedding, but if you have the actual ceremony there, they double the price. Not to mention how infinitely much more complicated a destination wedding can be.
• Allowing every long-distance wedding guest to stay at the house. We're already hosting family from Norway, and the groom's family. We have to draw the line somewhere!
• Using the traditional Norwegian costume as the wedding dress. It's a gorgeous dress, but it's designed for the frigid north, not the humid midatlantic region. Plus, the groom has already seen it :p
• Having the wedding guests stand for the ceremony. I am strongly, strongly against this. We're going to have enough chairs for everyone, anyway (I hope!) so they should be allowed to sit. Not to mention that it's just plain weird to have a bunch of people standing around for an extended period of time.

But we're still going ahead with planting the wedding flowers from seeds and having the father give the bride away on his motorcycle. So you can't say that we're entirely immune to ideas that might not turn out the way we planned!