Man’s best friend is turning into man’s best man in a trend where brides and bridegrooms insist on having their dog in their wedding photos.

Fred Vero, the owner of Fred Vero Photography in Butler, has been photographing weddings since 2011.

“I’ve done a wide variety of wedding venues: barn weddings, backyard weddings, indoor venues,” said Vero.

He said he’s seen a growing trend for couples to include their dog or dogs in photos of their wedding day.

“I’m getting a lot of weddings where they are including their dogs as part of the ceremony,” said Vero. “They’re even dressing them up in little tuxes and bow ties.”

“We’ve had one or two dogs in the pictures. We haven’t had three dogs yet, but I’m sure that will happen,” he said.

“They’ll either walk down the aisle or they will be in a dog crate and let out for the ceremony,” he said. The dogs are generally well behaved.

Vero said another trend is more brides and bridegrooms asking for smoke shots to be incorporated into their wedding pictures.

Vero said he provides the smoke. He said one of his favorite recent wedding photographs was when he incorporated smoke and a sunset into the background at the Pinehall at Eisler Farms venue in Prospect.

He added that the sunset shot is a perennial favorite for newlyweds.

“I’m always looking for a good sunset shot, whether at a barn wedding or an indoor venue,” he said. “You have to time in right to get back outside for a sunset.”

Amanda Lynn, ower of Amanda Lynn Photography of Butler, has been photographing weddings for seven years.

She said she’s taken pictures of several themed weddings.

“I did a ‘Peaky Blinders’-themed wedding a few years ago,” she said, noting the bride and bridegroom were both fans of the British crime drama set during the aftermath of World War I.

“I actually had them in ‘Peaky Blinders’ outfits. The bride wore a 1920s-type gown that was gorgeous. The gentlemen all wore tweed suits, vests and fedora hats,” Lynn said.

“I rented a 1920s classic car,” she said.

Lynn said, “Another couple I know wanted a Harley-Davidson wedding in 2017 down in Pittsburgh. We were at Salvador’s for the wedding. They were a cool couple.”

“One wedding was a country-themed wedding. It was all outdoors on her property. They had motorcycles too,” she said.

“They were the most unique couple. It was ‘You do your thing; I will do my thing. We will meet in the middle.’ They were so down to earth. ‘You do you; I trust you,’” Lynn said.

Lynn said she also photographed a Halloween wedding where all the wedding party dressed in dark clothing goth style.

Vero noted the wedding season seems to be shifting to later in the year from the traditional June weddings to later in the fall with October being the most popular month for weddings in Western Pennsylvania.

“October is very popular obviously because of climate conditions, not the colder months,” he said. “It used to be June brides. October has become the new June because it’s better weather for outdoor weddings.”

A wedding trend she has noticed has been a leftover from the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic: the micro wedding.

“A micro wedding is 50 or less people. It was created during COVID because of all the different health policies. It’s the immediate family and a handful of friends and that’s it,” Lynn said.

Whatever the date of the nuptials, Vero suggested the most important tip to keep a wedding running smoothly is to build in lots of time.

“People use Google Maps and see it’s 15 minutes to get from Point A to Point B. But that’s if you’re in jeans and a T-shirt,” said Vero. “It’s different if you’re in a dress and have six bridesmaids. You have to build in cushions of time.”

“Nothing shows stress in a bride or groom’s face more than running short of time,” he said.

He’s happy to help brides and bridegrooms build a timeline for their big day to cut down on rushing and stress.

“I’m not a wedding coordinator, but I’ve gone to a lot of weddings,” Vero said.

That’s why he knows to pack a sewing kit and double-sided tape in his camera bag for unforeseen eventualities.

And he knows through experience to tell the bride to bring a few towels with her to the venue before the ceremony.

“Florists deliver flowers in glass vases full of water,” he said. “The bouquet will be dripping. I can photoshop a big water mark on a wedding gown out of a photo, but no bride wants to walk down the aisle with one on her dress.”

Vero said the last thing he does the night before a client’s wedding is to call them after the rehearsal dinner.

“It’s a five-minute call. I ask if anything’s changed. Sometimes they’ll say, ‘We decided to do such and such.’ You want to be prepared for the most recent changes,“ he said.