Brides, Pets and Photographers

A little over a week ago I wrote a Throwback Thursday post which had several images of Molly the Wonder Dog. After a couple of fun comments from people about photographing pups at weddings, on the Facebook Wedding Photographer page I put out a request for bridal pets. A big thanks to those of you who shared images from past events. Just click on the image if you'd like to find out more about the artist.

Posted by Lisa Derevyck

Posted by Steffi Smith

Posted by Jeanette Bower Bollinger

Posted by Brett Nelson

The pup on the wedding day...posted by Stephanie Rogers

Posted by Paola de Paola

Posted by Timothy Faust

Posted by Natalie Rebecca Jackson

Here's the bottom line...

The top three hierarchy of why people hire a professional photographer in the portrait/social sector goes brides, babies and pets, in that order. This data came out of a Kodak survey at least 15 years ago and I don't believe it's changed at all. What has changed is the growing number of pets in the world.

Just for the U.S. market: Data published on the ASPCA site over the last year or so shows "70-80 million dogs and 74-96 million cats are owned in the United States. Approximately 37-47% of all households in the United States have a dog, and 30-37% have a cat. (Source: APPA)." 

It's a simple point - if pets aren't in your repertoire, maybe it's time to consider.  At the very least, expect them to be in the wedding party now and then!