Two Pugs' Long Distance Relationship Led to Lavish Wedding

The long-distance love of Pugs Kismet and Rose led to an adorable Valentine's Day wedding in New York, that also happened to be a fundraiser for sick Pugs. (Photo by Dorri Olds) — The long-distance love of Pugs Kismet and Rose led to an adorable Valentine’s Day wedding in New York that also happened to be a fundraiser for sick Pugs. (Photo by Dorri Olds)

Newlywed Rose is a Pug widow. In 2004, she was married to her Pug husband, Herbie. They had four Pug puppies: Porky, Pinky, Ruby and Rio. Sadly, Pinky died young. That’s when Rose’s mom, Lisa Coplin Kerner, founded the non-profit 501(c)(3) Pugs for Pinky (PFP).

So before you go and pooh-pooh a Pug wedding, just know this: It was a fundraiser for PFP, which helps sick Pugs and the people they own and, as all animal lovers know, vet bills can be sky high.

All photos by Dorri Olds.

Here’s the tail … err … tale:

On Oct. 23, 2013, now-husband, Kismet the Pug, participated in a PFP Gala Dog Fashion Show. It was his first pet fashion event ever. Kerner had encouraged Kismet’s mom, Viki Anders, to bring Kismet from their home in Maryland and travel to New York City for the Pre-Westminster Pet Fashion Week events in February 2014.

Kismet participated in the 2014 Doggies and Tiaras fundraiser and went on to win a medal at the Celebrity Catwalk that same weekend. He’d worn a tuxedo and top hat made by Anders. Rose was crowned queen at that 2014 Doggies and Tiaras Pageant. Clearly, it was kismet that they met.

Things progressed as the Pugs grew fonder of each other. They dated at more fashion events until they were one of those couples who like to wear matching outfits. The Pugs continued to land prizes almost everywhere they went. On July 4, 2014, Kismet and Rose went to the Baltimore American Visionary Museum annual costume contest. Rose won Most Original as a flower made by her mom while Kismet won Most Patriotic in a red, white and blue tux and top hat by Sandra Barnes of Chicka-Bow-Wow.

Later that summer, the couple attended the Staten Island Pug Meetup annual pool party together. They were the talk of the town, and their dating really took off when they wiggled to the Wigglebutts Go Hollywoof in September 2014. Kismet won Best Dressed Male in a Liberace-type tux, and their romance continued to bloom when Rose won Wigglebutt of the year.

“One thing led to another,” said Anders. “Rose and Kismet have always gotten along but when we traveled, each wanted a little space and slept on their own beds. This wedding weekend, as the wedding drew near, they began to scoot closer and closer to each other.”

And, the rest, as they say, is history.

As the Pugs were carried across the pink carpet, rose petals were sprinkled all around. Their K-9 friends and humans gathered. The wedding was flawless except I did notice that the groom got easily distracted by biscuits. Still, they have as good a chance as any young couple to stay in love the rest of their lives.

After the wedding, I asked both moms what stuck out in their minds from the event. “Watching everyone turn a car dealership into a beautiful wedding venue,” Anders replied. (Honda of Manhattan donated the space.) Another touching moment, she said, was during the first dance, when Kismet fell sound asleep in her arms.

“The wedding was amazing!” Rose’s mom Kerner said. “All our friends, even new friends, pulled together to make it happen. It wasn’t easy planning the event, and there was so much to do. My mom was ill, but she made me promise that I go to New York and have the wedding, no matter what. It was a promise I had to keep.”