"[My groom] didn't grow up with dogs and over the years, I've turned him into [a dog person]. He was all for it," bride Sarah Mallouk Crain said.
These bridesmaids and groomsmen were more than happy to make room for a couple of little ones after this Pennsylvania bride decided her wedding photos would be incomplete without some rescue puppies.
Five 8-month-old puppies became the star of dog rescuer Sarah Mallouk Crain's big day earlier this month when she invited her wedding party to each carry a tiny boxer-coonhound puppy instead of the more traditional bouquets of flowers.
"The groomsmen loved it," Crain told InsideEdition.com. "They had so much fun with the puppies."
And even though she made the decision to bring in the dogs on her own, she said her groom, Matt Crain, "was all about it. He didn't grow up with dogs, and over the years, I've turned him into [a dog person]."
Crain, who helped found Elizabethtown's Pitties Love Peace, which focuses on rescuing pit bulls, said animals have always been an important part of her life.
"All my pictures growing up, my parents have me off in the corner playing with an animal," Crain said.
She said her passion is rescuing dogs, and helped raise the five pups featured at her wedding, after they were all brought to Pitties Love Peace in early July.
The puppies, all from the same litter, are named after the original five first ladies: Martha, Abigail, Dolley, Elizabeth and Louisa.
They have each been living with separate foster parents since they were rescued, but for Crain's big day, they were all able to make it to her wedding.
Read: Abandoned Stray Puppies Given The Transformation of a Lifetime After Being Rescued
"Who needs bouquets when you have puppies," her photographer Caroline Logan told InsideEdition.com. "Her heart for rescue pups is obvious and she now gets to share that with Matt as they start their lives together as husband and wife with several fur-babies already a part of their family, making life extra sweet."
Crain said she hopes her wedding photos will encourage people to become more involved with shelters and rescue, and for those who are ready for a new addition to the family, she told InsideEdition.com the pups featured at her wedding will soon be up for adoption.
Watch: Bride and Groom Ask Grandmothers, 75 and 74, to Be Flower Girls at Their Wedding
