Boonie Tails

By Grace Keilbach 

Wedding Bells and Boonies

October 22, 2024, James and I eloped on Saipan at the courthouse and then celebrated with our three Boonies on the Beach. Although an unforgettable day for many beautiful reasons, the first thing that comes to mind is how I woke up violently ill at 4 a.m. that morning. After expelling everything in my body out both ends up until the ceremony at 4 p.m., I made it down the aisle without throwing up. However, I was still dying a slow, painful, death inside and can’t say I really enjoyed the day at any point.

James and I always had plans to celebrate with more friends and family on the mainland at a later date and after spending the first day of our marriage working through the “in sickness” part, we knew the next time round needed to be a fun one. As a type E bride, (far below even a type B), I began planning our 2026 wedding weekend around a day out on the boat and of course, Boonies. What could be more fun than that?! Here are some of the ways we included our dogs throughout the weekend, making it even more special, memorable, and fun for everyone!

The Invites

Starting off strong, our invites featured a picture of us with the girls from our elopement on Saipan. Just a little hint as to what the rest of the wedding would look like!

Coffe and Canines

The morning of the wedding, we had Just Right Coffee, a mobile coffee bar, set up at the house where most of our guests were staying. We worked with them ahead of time to come up with signature ‘Beach Boonie’ themed drinks such as the Ocean Latte, a vanilla latte with Blue spirulina "ocean" and cold foam "waves".

For two hours, our guests enjoyed complimentary coffee as they hung out with all the canines while sporting their Boonie Babies shirts. In addition to our three Boonies, two of Aria’s Boonies, my dad’s Boonies, my Grandma’s Boonie, and two other Pueblo, CO Boonies also attended the event where they enjoyed unlimited pup cups. A highlight of the weekend for all in attendance, this was the perfect opportunity to relax and hang out with everyone before the big day. We even had the most beautiful reunion! Drew and Sean, two of the most amazing Boonie fosters we met on Saipan, were reunited with their past foster dog, Bones, who now resides across the street from my grandma in Pueblo.

Whether its your wedding, birthday, family reunion, or a work event, we can’t recommend enough that you celebrate by having your own ‘coffee and canines’! To all of our Pueblo readers, reach out to Just Right Coffee  for all of your coffee bar needs. To everyone else, although we encourage you to try, good luck finding one this good and invested in all of your crazy dog ideas.

A Furry First Look

As anyone who has had a wedding knows, the day flies by, you run out of time, and things don’t always go according to plan. That’s why the next day, I could be found putting my wedding dress on again and waiting on the front porch for Boonies to turn the corner for our own special furry first look.

The beauty of this moment is that no matter if I am in my best dressed on the most special day or simply just returning home from work, they will always be this excited to greet me.

Vows

James went from a single military man to married dog dad over night and has loved my dogs as his own every day since. People always ask me how James feels about the dogs which is funny to me because I think its pretty obvious that if he wasn’t just as in love with them as I am, he wouldn’t be here. Being that the dogs are such an important aspect of our relationship and lives, of course they came up in my vows. Lucky for me, they wrote their own paragraph for me to share…

The Boozy Boonie

And last but certainly not least, we worked with our bartenders from That One Mobile Bar, to create a signature cocktail list featuring our Boonie Babies! We knew that our dogs would not enjoy the loud, crowded, environment so they went home to relax before the ceremony and enjoyed sleeping while we all drank in their honor.

I am so grateful that all of my family and friends know what saving the Boonies means to me and embrace me and the dogs with everything I do. This wedding weekend was special for so many reasons but largely because of the people and four legged creatures I got to share it with.

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Tails From The Highway

Our newest YouTube video, ‘Tails From The Highway’, is out now! Click HERE to watch part one of our road-trip series! Your likes, comments, and views help are help us work towards monetizing our account and making Boonie Babies more sustainable. Don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel, Boonie Babies Rescue, while you’re there!

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