Central Massachusetts Wedding Resource
Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/1541243
52 We Do! • Winter 2025 • www.wedoweddingsma.com R EMEMBER IN 2020 when the world shut down and everyone decided the only thing to do was to adopt dogs? Always the family's best friend, pandemic pups were practically elevated to the status of first born child, and now their owners are getting married. It's no surprise that most couples want them to be part of the festivities. A 2021 Wedding Wire sur- vey found that 91 percent pet owners involve their dog – or cat or horse – in their wedding day. If you ask Danielle Marchessault, a Holliston-based pet wedding planner and coordinator, everyone was doing it. "This past year, things have kind of shifted," said Marchessault. While dogs and other fur babies aren't automatically on the guest list, she and her team of 10 handlers are still plenty busy, working as many as 200 weddings per year to provide handling and care of pets during pic- tures and ceremonies. The business, For the Love of Paws, was a career change for Marchessault, a former teacher and dog owner. Growing up with both dogs and horses, Marchessault couldn't picture getting mar- ried without her dogs there, and she had a hunch many other peo- ple felt the same way. After her first full season on the wedding circuit in 2019, the business took off. Not only does the team at For the Love of Paws handle and care for the pets while brides and grooms enjoy the moment, they also help pose the animals, train them to walk down the aisle and trans- port them back home at the end of their duties. It's a service her clients find invaluable – pricing starts at $500 for a basic package. But even if a pet wedding planner isn't a line item in your budget, Marchessault says pet care is a job to be delegated; the last thing the happy couple should do is wing it. She encourages all couples to designate someone – even a friend – as the pet's point of contact. Must love dogs? Danielle Marchessault always knew she'd include her beloved dogs in her wedding celebration. After realizing that dream at her 2019 wedding, she now makes a living helping other couples do the same. Couples and venue managers say 'Yes' to pets P H OTO : L AU R E N D O B I S H P H OTO G R A P H Y