Original Article: https://blog.theanimalrescuesite.greatergood.com/shelter-pets-weddings/

As of late, recent trends in nuptials have tended toward destination weddings that include lavish ceremonies in exotic locations. They’re often pricey and preclude many guests from attending. That is apparently changing with what is hopefully a new trend on the horizon: including adoptable shelter pets available at after-parties and receptions. Hip, hip, hooray!!!!!!! It’s about time more people took to raising awareness of rescue animals.

cat toss wedding - A Recent Wedding Included Adoptable Shelter Pets at an Unforgettable Reception
Photo: TikTok/@fairytail_petcare

Wedding Trends

According to a piece in The Washington Post, at a recent Tampa wedding Cassie Roth didn’t toss her floral bouquet after the ceremony. Instead, she and her new husband, Jonathon, tossed a toy cat with gold-rimmed eyes into the waiting crowd. Odd? Perhaps, but it was all for a good cause. You see, Christina Soto, one of the bridesmaids, agreed — as well as the rest of the ladies waiting to catch the plush kitty — that she’d visit the Humane Society of Tampa Bay at a later date to adopt a shelter cat if she caught the bouquet.

cat toss wedding 2 - A Recent Wedding Included Adoptable Shelter Pets at an Unforgettable Reception
Photo: TikTok/@fairytail_petcare

I Now Pronounce You…

During cocktails featuring drinks named after the newlyweds’ felines, guests were also allowed to meet five rescue kittens in need of forever homes.

“Weddings can be wasteful, so we were trying to be mindful of ways we could give back when we got married,” said Cassie, noting that she and her hubby have both loved cats ever since they met back in high school. “We wanted to incorporate cats somehow in our wedding and help a few animals in need,” she added. “Everyone loved it — they said they’d never been to a wedding like that.”

cat toss wedding cropped - A Recent Wedding Included Adoptable Shelter Pets at an Unforgettable Reception
Photo: TikTok/@fairytail_petcare

Cat Toss

While it may have been unusual to toss a cat — even if it was a stuffed animal — at a wedding, guests were indeed thrilled by the quirky change of pace, and a video of the event posted on TikTok by one of the wedding planners after the ceremony has received more than 4 million views along with thousands of likes, comments, and shares. Bringing awareness to rescue animals is a great way to start your lives together and a trend we hope more and more couples will incorporate until it becomes a beloved global tradition.

If this sounds like something you could easily embrace, contact your local animal shelter and discuss including rescue pets on your big day. Your friends and family will always remember where they got their fur baby and will presumably never forget your wedding!

@fairytail_petcare

WAIT FOR IT 😱 This is literally what dreams are made of 😻💍 #cat #catsoftiktok #petsoftiktok #kitten #kittensoftiktok #rescue #rescuecat #wedding #weddingtiktok #weddingday #weddingpetcare #fyp #foryou

♬ What Dreams Are Made Of – Hilary Duff

Source: The Animal Rescue Site Blog