The city vows that Winston and Daisy Mae can accompany Shannon Simmons and Cameron Signs to the altar at Easton's Beach.

01:12 AM EDT on Wednesday, July 19, 2006

BY RICHARD SALIT
Journal Staff Writer

NEWPORT -- Their wedding has gone to the dogs, and Shannon Simmons and her fiancé Cameron Signs couldn't be happier.

The city has decided it will allow their miniature English bulldog, Winston, and Jack Russell terrier, Daisy Mae, to attend their nuptials at Easton's Beach in the fall.

The couple from Groton, Conn., had learned it was against city rules for dogs to be on the beach only after they made plans to bring their pets, dress them in formal attire and include them in the wedding party. So Simmons and Signs simply requested in a letter that they be granted a waiver to "allow our furry family to be part of our special day."

Last week, without even having to hound the city, Simmons' and Signs' dream came true. On Wednesday, the City Council gave its blessing for city officials to put an agreement into writing, with certain conditions. Soon after, Susan Cooper, director of parks and recreation, related the good news.

"The dogs can be part of the wedding," Cooper said.

Simmons played a phone message from Cooper in front of the dogs.

"That made our day," she said. "They heard the message right when I did. They heard their names on the machine. They have this sense when someone is talking about them."

The wedding will be on Sept. 23, just one week before the beach reopens to dogs on leashes.

"We can definitely make plans now for the dogs -- their clothing, how they are going to get there and how they are going to get back," Simmons said.

They'll travel by limousine, of course. The "pet lodge" in Connecticut where they will be kept for several days will chauffeur the dogs to Newport, said Simmons, who will arrive here a day early with her fiancé. The dogs will be allowed on Easton's Beach for only one hour -- for the exchange of vows, not for the reception that will follow in the Rotunda.

"They can be in the ceremony and in the pictures," said an elated Simmons.

The ceremony will take place at the water's edge. As the guests stand in the sand, or nearby on the boardwalk, Winston and Daisy Mae will join the bridesmaids and groomsmen in walking down the aisle, but they'll be on leashes. That's one of the city's conditions.

Winston will have on a tux, while Daisy Mae will wear something more feminine. The tux bought for Winston when he was a puppy may now be too small and Daisy Mae will either wear the dress already bought for her or get one custom made, Simmons said.

Newport used to ban dogs on the beach from Memorial Day to Labor Day, but last spring it extended the prohibition through the end of September. The rules were tightened after an incident last winter at Middletown's Sachuest Beach that ignited a debate over dogs on public beaches. A man attacked two people with pepper spray when they refused to put their dogs on leashes. The man was arrested and the pet owners were cited with violating the leash law. The incident led to a review of town rules and additional restrictions on dogs on local beaches, both in Middletown and Newport.

"I really felt we needed to work with them on this," Cooper said. "They had booked the location prior to the ordinance being changed."

Cooper emphasized that the dogs are small, will be kept on a leash and will be on the beach for only an hour.

"If it were a horse, we probably wouldn't allow it," she said.

As unseemly as it may seem at a wedding, there is one other issue with Daisy Mae and Winston's attendance.

"They have to pick up after the dogs," Cooper said.

rsalit@projo.com / (401) 277-7467

SHARE photos of your pets -- at weddings or anywhere else -- by uploading them to:

http://projo.com/petphotos