Besotted British animal owners are paying up to £20,000 ($30,000) for lavish weddings for their dogs, cats and even rabbits.
Self-pronounced "animal registrar" Ann Clark's basic marriage package — which has no legal standing — costs £150 ($240), but Ann has revealed some people spend much more on caterers, professional photographers, chauffeur-driven cars and elaborate designer dresses.
Ann, 55, started advertising her services as a pet celebrant four years ago and has "married" dozens of animals since.
She offers religious and non-religious ceremonies in the backyard of her home in Northhamptonshire, and also conducts same-sex civil unions.
Even more bizarrely, Ann officiates weddings between different species and even siblings, but draws the line at marrying owners to their pets.
Most of Ann's clients are dogs, but she has also married several cats, rabbits and other domestic animals.
And if the humiliation of marrying their brother or sister isn't enough, the pets are almost always forced to wear elaborate outfits, generally tiny replicas of human wedding clothes including white gowns, tuxedos and veils.
The average pet wedding starts with a champagne breakfast for owners and guests, while the bride and groom are given milk and water.
The party then moves outside for the actual marriage. Ann encourages owners to write personalised vows for their pets to "exchange" in the ceremony that typically lasts 15 minutes.
Afterwards, she presents the pets with certificates of marriage, and a bowl of their preferred treat to celebrate.
"The actual wedding days are lovely," Ann told the UK's Daily Mail newspaper. "It's beautiful when you see animals that clearly adore each other being joined together.
"The owners can get very emotional too. There are often a lot of guests and it’s a lovely day out for everyone, just like a human wedding."
But not all weddings end happily ever after. Of Ann's former clients, one is now a widow while another pair is divorced.
"Sadly, we've had one cat who was widowed, after her husband was run over by a car," Ann says. "Her owner called to say how devastated she was.
"We've also sadly had one divorce; the owners called up a few months after the wedding to tell us the animals had grown apart. That has been our only divorce."
Your say: Would you pay money for a wedding for your pet?
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