Bride shocks family by making pets 'flower girl' and 'ring bearer' instead of niece and nephew

A bride's family members were left questioning what she was doing when she chose to include pets in her wedding over her own niece and nephew.

The family members were so shocked in fact, that the bride felt she needed to get a second opinion on her actions to see whether she was being an 'a**hole'.

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In a post on Reddit, the bride explained that she and her fiancé had chosen to include their cat, Tibby, and their dog, Mika, in their wedding as the ring bearer and the flower girl.

The two pets are 'like children' to the couple and have helped them through some tough times, with the bride admitting: "I honestly think I wouldn’t be here anymore if I didn’t have to stick around to take care of them."

With her fiancé considering it a 'great idea', the pair decided to move ahead with the plan.

Some of their family members, however, weren't so keen on the idea.

When the bride brought up their decision at a family gathering, her sister-in-law took her aside and asked her why the animals had been given 'Ava and Liam's roles'.

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Ava and Liam are the bride's niece and nephew; twins who had been born via IVF after their mother sadly suffered a series of miscarriages.

The bride explained in her post that their whole family make a 'very big deal out of the twins' and 'shower them with attention and affection, almost to the exclusion of the other grandkids'.

After being questioned by the sister-in-law on the decision to leave the twins out of the wedding, the bride said she was 'confused', so the woman expanded.

"She explained that, since Ava and Liam were 'her miracle rainbow babies' that obviously they should be the flower girl and ring bearer.

"She said that it would be 'good for the family' for the twins to be in the wedding, and that it’s 'against tradition to have animals in the wedding'."

The sister-in-law apparently asked the bride to 'reconsider', but she said she 'wouldn't make any decisions' without her fiancé and quickly changed the subject.

Later, the couple both agreed that they'd prefer to have their animals involved, and while she's 'fairly sure [they'd] not be doing anything wrong', she began to wonder whether the pets would 'offend the family or go against tradition'.

After she asked whether she was being unreasonable, Reddit users flooded the bride with support and argued that they weren't her kids, and she didn't have to include anyone she didn't want to.

"As much as I hate people who refer to their pets as 'their children', like they’re comparable to actual human children, the bride and groom have final say over any roles for their big day," one person wrote.

"So if [the bride] and her husband want their pups to be the flower girl and ring bearer, then that’s that."

Another agreed, writing: "It's your day do as you wish. Make it a day to remember. Don't let people second guess you."

However, some people argued that involving the pets might not be such a good idea, as it might be 'distressing' for them.

What do you think?