Our Special Day
My fiancé and I are going to get married in a few months, and we’ve decided we don’t want kids at the wedding. We’ve also assigned the roles that are usually performed by children to our beloved pets. My dog will be the flower girl, my fiancé’s dog will be the ring bearer, and my two cats are co-maids of honor. Our friends, my fiancé’s sister, and my brothers think this is adorable.
Alas! Our other relatives do not share this enthusiasm. His parents said they thought it was strange but accepted it because they want us to be happy. But my parents were downright horrible. They threw a fit and accused me of “placing animals above children”. I calmly explained to them that this was my fiancé’s and my wedding and it really wasn’t their place to decide who would be a part of it.
Our pets are well trained and well behaved, which is more than I can say about our relatives’ kids. But as it happens, my parents aren’t even coming to my wedding because I refused to follow a certain wedding tradition I object to—the father “giving away” the daughter. Good riddance! However, they sadly are not the only ones causing trouble.
One of the friends I’ve known since childhood is a mother of three and was going to be one of the bridesmaids. She was “horrified” when she learned that my dog and cats will be in the wedding party. Surely, her three ill-mannered kids should have had that honor. She threatened to not come to the wedding too. I made it easier for her by taking her name off the guest list.
Then, my cousin who has two kids told me she would bring her kids anyway. When she and her family were actually there, surely I won’t be able to do anything about it. I told her I would have her, her husband, and their kids escorted out by security. That shut her up. My fiancé’s then-friend asked him to “make me” replace my dog with his daughter as the flower girl.
He was warned to never bring it up again. This wedding will be a special day for my fiancé and I and we will not let other people’s entitlement ruin it.