Nadine Kellett says demand for her animal wedding chaperone skills has “ramped up” since she launched her Newcastle pet minding business Little Red Animal Care. 

 “I know how important pets are to their family and I wanted people to be able to have their best friend by their side at their wedding and be stress free,” she says.

Ms Kellett meets her wedding clients ahead of their big day to discuss their pet and their requests. 

“It could be walking the pet down the aisle, meeting guests on arrival or watching on the sidelines,” she says. “Then in the photos, I help the photographer get the animal to the camera and hopefully smiling, and once all that is over I may take them home and tuck them in and give them dinner or people might want me to look after them for the night or their honeymoon.”

Ms Kellett’s love for pooches dates back to childhood – her grandmother raised corgis and participated in dog shows. Ms Kellett won the child dog handler award at local shows and the chance to go to the Royal Easter Show. 

In more than half of the weddings she attends to chaperone pets, the clients walk down the aisle with their animals, usually dogs.

“In one, there were two big Dalmations that the bride walked with her,” she said. 

Animals, she concedes, “are not always angels”, and there have been times when she’s had to gently usher them to the sidelines. 

A mother of two children and two fur babies, Elvis and Rose, Ms Kellett sees nothing unusual in people wanting their pets at weddings. 

“You invite mum, dad and grandma and grandpa and children so why not invite your best furry friends in the whole wide world – they are your first children, the ones you have before children,” she says. 

In most weddings at which she chaperones, pets have a minimum decoration of a flower, but many don a tuxedo or tutu. Ms Kellett also offers a pet wedding costume service for clients. 

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