Happy Is The Bride, Upstaged By Puppies
by Anna Cooke S
Top photo: Newlyweds Andee and Tina Krasinski with daughter Carter. The family adopted the puppy that Carter is holding and named him Swift (after Carter’s favorite country singer, Taylor Swift).
Photographs by Cami Zi Photography
ince her engagement two years ago, Andee knew she wanted to somehow include dogs in her wedding. Having grown up around animals, it
came as no surprise to her friends and family. Her fiancé, as always, went along with Andee’s idea. The couple immediately agreed on
the venue. The Wishing Well Barn in Plant City has a rustic vintage look and feel. It would be perfect for the outdoor wedding they both wanted. Having been a vet tech for 10 years,
Andee worked her way up through the ranks at Sarasota’s Cat Depot to become the shelter’s operations manager. She is now the general manager for the Sarasota location of Bayside Pet Resort. In between work and family responsibil- ities, Andee always finds time to volun- teer for shelters like Bradenton’s Nate’s Honor Animal Rescue. The internet app Pinterest was a
great resource for Andee’s wedding research. She began saving and posting images of dogs in weddings onto her own Pinterest page. It was still unclear how dogs would play a role in her wedding, until she saw a post about puppies. “The bridesmaids were carry- ing puppies instead of bouquets,” said Andee. “It was perfect. Who doesn’t love puppies?” She told Michelle, the wedding
designer and coordinator at Wishing Well Barn, about the puppies. There were 10 bridesmaids so 10 puppies would be needed. At first, Michelle seemed unfazed with the prospect of finding 10 puppies. Two weeks before the wedding, and still no source of pup- pies, the thought of a backup plan was starting to creep in. Then, Andee was alerted by a post on social media that a dog at Nate’s
36 THE NEW BARKER
Honor Rescue had just given birth to 10 puppies. Andee’s plan was becoming even more perfect. They would be incorporating adoptable puppies from the shelter into the wedding. It would help raise awareness not just for Nate’s Honor Rescue, but also promote the idea of adopting a shelter dog. “I used the word serendipitous a
lot throughout the last two weeks of planning our wedding,” said Andee. “With 10 puppies, a lot of things could go wrong. But, whatever could go right went right.” Logistically, pulling everything off
without so much as a hitch may not have been possible without Andee’s connections in the animal rescue community. Coordinating the transport of the puppies between the shelter in Bradenton and the venue in Plant City, and back again, was a smooth operation, thanks to shelter volunteers and a couple of Bayside Pet Resort employees. Instead of live flowers, Andee opted
for wooden flowers attached to the puppies’
harnesses.Designed and created by Cheyenne of ShyChic Boutique in Ellenton, the flowers looked real. Guests knew ahead of time the
type of wedding they would be attend- ing, and were given the option to donate to Nate’s Honor Rescue in lieu of gifts to the newlyweds. Both money and tangibles like food, beds, collars and leashes were also donated to the shelter by the wedding guests. Carter, the couple’s daughter, was
Andee’s flower girl. “She’s a natural around animals,” said Andee. “It’s very clear to me that she has a deep-rooted passion for animals just like Tina and I do. Carter was so concerned about the well-being of the puppies that she kept trying to put them on the grass to remind them to go potty.”
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