Bournemouth couple host naming ceremony for labradoodle puppy

Rosie the labradoodle joined the Wilmshurst family in more style than most others, with a full naming ceremony dedicated to her.

Mark Wimshurst-Smith, 35 and his husband, Russell Wimshurst-Stevens, 38, said Rosie’s naming ceremony was a party that ‘went a bit too far in the best way’.

“It started as sort of a bit of a joke,” said Mark.

“We got the dog and we said, we'll like a welcome dog party, we can do it like a baby name ceremony.

“And then we found [someone] who wrote a script and we realised this has gotten a bit more serious, but it was really sweet and everyone enjoyed it.”

Alanna Betambeau, also known as Mrs Toastmaster, is a practised public speaker and presented Rosie’s special naming ceremony.

“Mrs Toastmaster went away and sort of created something quite sort of sweet and sentimental, which in some ways sort of adds to the humour of it, but also sort of became quite sweet at the same time,” said Mark.

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He added that friends, family and neighbours were invited as plus ones for their pets, and that everyone had ‘a great time’ during the event earlier this month.

Mark and Russell’s neighbour, Christine Rogers, read out a poem for Rosie during the celebration titled The Love of a Dog.

She began the ‘tongue in cheek’ poem by saying: “Can I all remind you that dog spelled backwards actually spells another word.”

To conclude the event, Alanna pronounced Rosie’s official ‘pup parents’, Mark’s sister and a neighbour who will act as her godparents.

“Rosie had a wonderful time, ate a lot of treats and slept it off most of the next day,” said Mark.

Despite destroying Mark’s designer sunglasses and a hairdryer, the couple said Rosie is ‘loved so much’ and is the perfect addition to their family.