Pets are family members, too– here are my 12 tips for success with including your dogs in your wedding! While it’s easiest to include them in an engagement session or after session, couples incorporate their pets into their wedding days, too! As an international, award-winning photographer, who has enjoyed photographing many dogs in weddings over the past decade, I am excited to share my 12 top tips with you!
12 Tips to Get Great Photos with Your Dog
1. Bring Treats & Squeaky Toys
Making sure to pack your pup’s favorite treats can really go a long way! It’s likely how you trained them to sit and stay, which you’ll probably want them to do at some point. I try to bring my own treats as a photographer, but really every dog is different and owners really know their pets best. Bringing something that squeaks is also good at getting their attention, especially if someone else can squeak it right next to me while I capture the photo!
2. Expect your dog to act like a dog 🙂
It might sound like a no-brainer, but doing things that you normally would with them makes them comfortable and is a great start to the session. Candid moments tend to be the most well-loved shots, too! If they start mercilessly begging for belly rubs mid-session go for it, if they are showing their personality, I’m there to capture it!
3. Let Your Dog’s Unique Personality Shine
Indulge them and bring out their uniqueness. Be sure to play to your dog’s strengths. Only have them wear cute clothes if they’re okay with it. If they’re good at sitting/rolling/fetching, incorporate that during the pictures. If walking down the aisle is something you believe you and your dog will handle well, a tip is to lure them down with a treat 😉
4. Make Sure Your Venue is Pet Friendly
There are a lot of wedding venues and other locations (hotels etc) that allow you to bring your pet! Of course, it’s very important to make sure everyone is on the same page before you bring your pup on the premises ;-)! Some venues are OK with having a dog outside but not inside, so talking about details upfront is a good idea. Some couples specifically wait until they find a place that is dog-friendly to book their venue, others take time to find a hotel for preparations or even a nearby park that will work! The park idea can work in a pinch but traveling on the day of can be at best time-consuming and at worst stressful, so bear that in mind too when you are considering what works best for you. An After Session (wedding photo session in wedding attire during a weekday) is also a fantastic workaround if having them there on the wedding day itself feels like too much for you!
5. Allow Plenty of Time
Hire a photographer that spends plenty of time with your pet. If you want great photos of your pet, you will need time to get you two and your pet at their best. I’m sure you’ve experienced this first-hand already with trying to get your own pet photos, it can be tough! This will alleviate stress and result in high-quality photos. For me, I also utilize the time to get creative angles and compositions for my couples and artistic, authentic moments, like this:
6. Bring a Handler
Dogs’ attention spans are way shorter than humans. While weddings last several hours, dogs are usually good for about 30 minutes. You can have someone bring your dog to the venue and bring them back or hang out until you’re finished with your dog. Either way, it will go way better than you trying to manage your dogs the entire time yourself.
7. Set Up a Meeting Time & Place
Something special that I offer to everyone I work with, is a Custom Wedding Day Timeline. I am equal parts creative & organized and really appreciate the value of a solid timeline! We work together so that you know realistically how long things will take and I can also problem-solve & brainstorm different ideas with you if needed. We leave that timeline meeting, knowing exactly where to meet your dog and their handler and giving you and your pup enough time to hit a grand slam with these photos! Shake on it?
8. Connect with your Dog
Hug, kiss, or cuddle your pets, let them sit on your lap, and do their thing, even if she’s cutting in on your first dance, embrace it. Even if you want them to face a certain way, don’t force it, let them be themselves. Trust me, if you get into it and be yourself, they’ll relax and be themselves, too and the results are unique, authentic, and fully YOU, so yeah, it generally turns out better anyway!
9. Don’t Force Traditional Portraits
Getting a shot like this one might be the reason you are hiring a photographer in the first place, but believe me when I say it can’t be forced. When I photograph a traditional wedding portrait like this one, it takes time. I actually try a few times throughout the day. I take a few minutes here or there and get everyone settled and still and try it. In this case, we were going for standing up first and the dogs weren’t having it. Everything came together here for like one second, lol and I snapped a photo!
10. Embrace the Chaos
You know yourself and your pet. If this will stress you or your dog out don’t do it. Just don’t. However if you will be able to embrace the chaos and be okay with a couple of natural photos and nothing more, I think you will be very happy with the results!
11. Have Fun & Love your Dog:
I’ve saved the best for last as this is my most important tip for successfully including your dogs on your wedding day. If your dog wants to do something crazy (roll on their back in the dirt, chase a squirrel, etc.) play along. Be free, and have a good laugh. It’s all about real life, real love, and the real you with Rhinehart Photography.
12. Find a Dog-Loving Photographer
Dogs can pick up on emotion; ideally, your photographer will love dogs as much as you do. If so, they will be able to bond with them from the start and capture some really sweet moments of your family in their element. They will need to be the right combination of patient and spontaneous to really capture your dog’s personality.
Looking for a Photographer who is Great with Dogs?
I hope you enjoyed reading my 12 tips for including your dogs on your wedding day. As a professional photographer with over ten years of experience, these are my go-to pieces of advice. If you are looking to hire a photographer to capture your wedding, engagement session, or even family session and want someone who loves dogs and has experience capturing authentic moments as you have seen above, please reach out to me!
Who Wrote This Article?
My name is Lisa Rhinehart and I’m an award-winning photographer who has been shooting for over ten years! I am currently ranked as one of the top photographers in the USA and a pet owner, too! I live in south-central Pennsylvania in a small University town, so I shoot often in PA but also serve Washington DC, New York City, and well beyond. Distance is no problem as we can meet initially via video chat and can travel (anywhere!) to you. You can read more about my weddings here. I have so many great options that I’m sure you’ll love.
Hungry for More?
- Recent Weddings
- 12 Tips for Including Dogs in Family Sessions
- 12 Tips for Including Dogs in Your Engagement Session
Contact Me!
Are you or someone you know looking for a photographer for their weddings, portraits, business branding, etc? I’m your girl! Contact me here, I’d love to hear all about it!
My Puppy, Stormy!
He’s a few years old now, but when we first got him he’d sit on my lap while I worked on the computer, he’s the sweetest ever!
Add Your Tips & Opinions
If you can think of any helpful tips to add about photographing dogs that I missed, comment below! I’d love to hear those and any other thoughts you have!
Dogs Love Me & Even Lick My Camera, haha!
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