My Feel Good Sunday post! ~Declan

             

• 3/21/14 at 1:25 PM  As posted on The Cut

Having a Donkey at Your Wedding Is a Thing Now

• By Maggie Lange            

The latest accessory for your wedding is a donkey.

According to the wedding-trend reporters at the Knot, donkeys at weddings are literal walking icebreakers, beasts that will lighten the burden of socializing. An Arizona company called Haul N Ass Productions has trained them to walk around, distributing beer from saddlebags. They also carry their own carrot snacks.

For entirely donkey-themed nuptials, there’s the Donkey Sanctuary in England, which was registered as a wedding venue in 2013. Couples marry in a decorated stable. Two of the participating donkeys are named Mopsy and Zippo.

Donkeys are especially popular in Tex-Mex-Southwestern-themed weddings. At this wedding, the donkey wore a floral straw hat and looked pissed off. At this wedding the donkey tried to eat the fancy floral arrangement, which, in his defense, looked like hay.

Participating burros can be small and adorable or quite large. Of course they can serve as transportation. Or perhaps, the donkey will just be a cool, chill party guest willing to stick his furry face in between the newly wedded.

Sometimes a couple getting married just happens onto an unemployed donkey in the background. Hugging a donkey in a wedding dress is funny! St. Johns destination offers semi-wild roaming donkeys in the background, for when you get bored of your guests.

Or you can get a sanctioned donkey. Vanessa Rice, at Haul N Ass, reports:

The donkeys go in hotels, restaurants — they go everywhere. The first thing guests want to do is touch their ears so they have to be very tolerant and they genuinely love people. The main thing is that they are trained to stand still and they’re rewarded for their good behavior. At weddings, you’ve got people that have never met, and before you know it, they’re hanging with the donkey, meeting over the donkey and helping each other take photos.

Rentable donkeys ($250 per hour) can wear a Southwestern costume or beautiful white decorations to match your wedding dress. Haul N Ass reports that they also accessorize their burros with a discreet donkey diaper, since animals poop wherever. Enjoy your special day!