Dog Friendly Weddings – A guide to including your dog on your wedding day in 2027
I absolutely love dogs and as a Manchester based wedding photographer, very little makes me smile more than seeing your dogs at weddings.
If you include your dog on your wedding day and you’ve booked me as your photographer, then you’ll definitely end up with more photos of your dog than you will of yourselves. Well, that’s not strictly true, but hopefully you get my point!
I’ve been photographing weddings for over ten years now, and many of my couples have had their dogs along for the day. I’ve always done my best to capture the personalities of my couple’s dogs as I know they are a much-cherished member of the family.
With that in mind, I’ve collated my knowledge and experience to create this little guide to including your dog on your big day.
I’ve also included some of my personal favourite dog-related wedding photos that I’ve captured over the years.
Dog Friendly Wedding Venues
If you go back as little as ten or fifteen years ago, many business owners such as pubs and cafes seemed reluctant to allow dogs onto their premises.
Even today, lots of people seem surprised that the majority of wedding venues in the UK these days are actually dog friendly. The owner of one particular venue where I regularly work told me that people cause far more damage and destruction than any dog ever has, so he much prefers dogs to people!
So as pubs and cafes have started to open their doors to dogs, so have the wedding venues.
Off the top of my head, here are some dog friendly wedding venues in the north west of England who will happily welcome your pup on your big day – The Out Barn, Styal Lodge, Abbeywood Estate, Middleton Lodge, Holmes Mill, Cockley Wood Weddings, Sandhole Oak Barn, Capesthorne Hall, Merrydale Manor, Tower Hill Barns, Combermere Abbey, Arley Hall & Gardens, Peckforton Castle, Cheshire Woodland Weddings, Parkgate Farm, Bartle Hall, Alcumlow Wedding Barn, Owen House Wedding Barn, Hobbit Hill, Wellbeing Farm, Eaves Hall, Mitton Hall, The Ashes Barn.
And there are no doubt, lots more.
Obviously, do bear in mind that each individual venue will have specific rules about which parts of the venue is dog friendly and which areas are off limits. So please ask them for their specific dog policy before booking your wedding location.
Who will look after my dog on the wedding day?
One of the most obvious questions many people have when they are considering bringing their dog to their wedding is – who will look after my dog on the wedding day?
After all, it’s very likely that all of the family and friends you would trust to look after your dog will actually be guests at your wedding.
Over the last few years a number of dog chaperone services have popped up to cater for people who want their dogs as wedding guests.
They can look after your pup for the duration of the wedding day, and many will have them overnight too.
More importantly, they can bring them along after the ceremony for a few photos with you and your guests. Below are some dog chaperone services based in the North of England who I have had the pleasure of working with –
The fantastically named Bow Wow Vow – I’ve worked alongside them several times in Yorkshire.
I’ve also worked with Paw Patrol in the Cheshire area.
I can also recommend The Wedding Buddy, an East-Yorkshire based dog chaperone service.
Emma the Cheshire Dog Lady also comes highly recommended, I recently worked alongside her at Owen House Barn.
Want to see more photos of dogs at weddings?
Of course you do, I know that’s what you’re really here for, so I’ll leave you with some more photos I’ve taken of my couple’s wedding dogs over the years.
Enjoy!
Bring your dog to your wedding!
I hope this guide has inspired you enough to consider including your dog on your wedding day. As a dog owner myself, I know just how important your dogs are to you and your family. So if your dog isn’t spooked by large gatherings then I highly recommend bringing them along for your big day. You won’t regret it, I promise!
As much as I adore dogs, I’m not a dog behaviour expert so I also recommend having a read of this guide put together by The Dogs Trust. This includes more detailed information to help your dog feel happy and comfortable on your wedding day.
My 2027 & 2028 diary is open
My diary for the next couple of years is officially open. 2027 is going to be a very busy but exciting year, with only a handful of spaces left before I hang up the fully-booked sign.
Please do get in touch if you are planning a wedding and you enjoy my work. My style is very much based upon a documentary approach, I’m not the type of photographer who will take you away from your guests for hours so that you miss all the fun.
I want you to spend the vast majority of your wedding day celebrating with your friends and family, I suggest setting aside about 20 minutes for some formal group photos and another 15 minutes or so for some photos of just the two of you. No cheesy posing or anything dated or cliched.
Thank you
Thank you so much to all my friends and family who have supported me on my photographic journey over the years. On the first of July 2026 I officially marked twelve years as a full-time wedding photographer, a landmark moment for me and one that I will celebrate properly later in the year when the busiest part of the wedding season is over.
I also want to thank every single one of my couples past, present and future for putting your faith in me and trusting me to document one of the most important days of your lives.
I feel privileged to be able to capture so many wonderful wedding days for a living, it really is one of the best jobs in the world.
Lots of love
Steve x
All images are © Steve Grogan Photography.
