This Wedding Was for the Dogs

by Emily Raij

Well, my kids finally got so bored that they unlocked a new level of creativity, which can only be described as “let’s mess with the pets!”

In early spring, while still plugging along with online school and doing our best to stay safe, I set up a backyard playdate with our friends, the Blooms. When I told my kids, Tilly and Adam, that their friends were coming over at 3:30, Tilly immediately responded with “We should have a doggie wedding!”

Now, this was not the first time pups Gryffin Raij and Ruthie Bloom ran around the yard together. These were not even our first canine nuptials, as our dog, Ruby (of blessed memory), married a neighbor’s dog years ago. Tilly still had the wedding dress (a white tank top that had been bedazzled at the bottom) hanging in her closet. And, apparently, just like with human weddings, when you have the dress, the rest just falls into place.

The Blooms were totally on board, and mom Juliana announced that her kids, Jonah and Sasha, couldn’t wait for the event. Tilly made an official invitation and asked me for the wedding schedule from my wedding. Adam requested I bring out the tacky champagne flutes that featured a bride, groom, and wedding cake inside of small snow globes that we had kept around for toddler tea parties and, now, dog weddings. 

When our friends arrived, Ruthie immediately jumped in the pool. She swam off her pre-wedding jitters and was literally dripping with excitement. The dress was a little snug (no judgment), so the kids refashioned it into a veil, and Gryffin donned the menorah bow-tie my parents got him for Hanukkah. Tilly asked Adam if he approved of the match, and he gave his blessing. Seems like just yesterday the dogs had their bark mitzvahs, and now here we were.

Sasha walked Ruthie down the stone walkway to Pachelbel’s classic “Canon in D Major,” which Juliana played from her phone. Jonah officiated with his best Yiddish accent and bribed Gryffin with dog treats so he’d sit still. The ceremony culminated with Gryffin stepping on a small pool inflatable to mimic the breaking of the glass, and we all shouted “Mazel tov!” The happy couple then played tug-of-war with the inflatable (good thing it wasn’t a real glass) and slurped water out of the champagne flutes. Tilly captured the whole thing on video, and Sasha declared it “a nice little ceremony even though there weren’t any vows.”

It was a great day.

It was also a great reminder that we can have fun and find things to celebrate even in the midst of a pandemic. And, of course, as the vaccines became available, we’ve been able to celebrate even more. We attended a bat mitzvah at our synagogue in May on, meaningfully enough, the exact date I was considered fully vaccinated. 

Then we drove to Atlanta in June to celebrate the bat mitzvah of my oldest (and bestest!) friend’s daughter and made a mini-vacation out of it. It was the perfect start to summer after such a strange school year, although the kids did great. Tilly even found a creative way to feature her other pets at school as part of the news crew, a long-awaited goal she wasn’t sure could happen as a virtual student. Yes, Tilly’s two guinea pigs, Nutmeg and Ginger, ended up reporting on the weather, daily cafeteria menus, and other school events through videos Tilly filmed at home and sent in (See? Let’s mess with the pets!). The guinea pigs were a huge hit and a real point of pride for Tilly, who returned in person for the last few days of elementary school to attend special events including the fifth-grade awards ceremony. She won her school’s Dreamer and Doer award for community service and academics and got to bring Ginger and Nutmeg to school on the last day to meet their many fans.

There really is always something to celebrate.