At Wedding Receptions, Pets Take the Cake ... as Toppers!

Like many a beloved pet, Isis, a seal-point Siamese, is included whenever possible in her owner’s life. So Isis was there last Christmas Eve when Meagan Tuckey’s fiancé, Dallas Merlen, proposed.

And when the bride-to-be ordered a custom wedding cake topper showing a re-enactment of the proposal, there was no question it would include Isis in her rightful place, sitting close by.

“Isis is one of our family,” says Tuckey, of Salt Lake City. “If I leave my fiancé a note, I sign it, ‘love Meagan and Isis,’" even drawing a little pawprint.

Tuckey ordered her topper off the craft site etsy.com, where artisans offer styles from cartoony to realistic. They often work with sculpted polymer clay or painted wooden dolls, using photographs to guide them.

Patricia Rowe, who goes by the seller name patysclay on etsy.com, sculpted Tuckey’s topper. (Her prices start at around $300.) About one-third of her couples want a pet included, she says. She is working on a topper featuring a bride on a horse.

More than three-quarters of the bride-and-groom toppers that seller Keren Mudahi Smith makes include a pet. Known as user mudcards on etsy.com, Smith says there are even couples who want their pets to be the topper — their cat might be dressed as the bride while the dog is the groom.

Dogs pose an artistic challenge, Smith tells PEOPLEPets.com. Curly-haired canines are easier to sculpt than those with short or straight fur, which is less forgiving. And dogs come in endless varieties, while cats, though they differ in color, “usually have the same shape,” she says. (Her toppers sell for $55, with an extra $10 per dog and $5 per cat.)

If a couple has a pet, they always want to include it, says Amy VanderHorn, who is AVArtwork on etsy.com. (She charges $175, with no extra cost for pets.) She finds that engaged couples often adopt a pet “as a first step in their life together.”

The topper artists don’t think only about cuteness — they think about practicality, too. Toppers must be made of non-toxic material and must be light enough not to sink into the cake.

A request for a pet standing on all fours requires extra care, says VanderHorn. Not only must she balance the pet properly on the base, but “it is easier to squeeze a pet in” if it is sitting obediently or “all curled up” — just like real life!

See more pet trends on PEOPLEPets.com:
They Do! Owners Throw Canine Weddings for Love and Treats
Our Pet Fall Fashion Finds on Etsy!

Joyce Cohen