Puppy Love

Photograph by Li Ward/Fat Orange Cat Studio

Are you dog-friendly? That was the first question Philena and Brian Kaplan asked potential venues while planning their June 2013 nuptials. Brian had brought home eight-week-old Marley, a Greater Swiss Mountain dog, early on in the couple’s relationship, and there was no doubt that he would play a big part in their wedding. On the day of their intimate, 42-guest affair on the Taj Boston rooftop, Marley, then three years old, enjoyed a bath at the Urban Hound before joining his humans at the hotel for getting-ready photos. “He was the man of the hour, basically,” Philena says with a laugh. The bride’s sister, Euginnia, escorted Marley—dapper in a custom navy-and-pink bowtie with matching leash—down the aisle to “One Love” (a tune by his namesake, Bob Marley). And after the vows, Marley broke free from Brian’s brother, Mark, to chase the happy couple out of the room. “We wanted the most important people in our lives to be there, only our immediate family and best friends,” Philena says. “Marley was at the top of that list.”

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