The pooches – Baby Hope Diamond, a teacup-sized Coton de Tulear, and Chilly Pasternak, a tie-dyed poodle – were united in holy matrimony by Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog, with help from Robert Smigel, beneath a floral chuppah and in front of nearly 300 guests at the ritzy Jumeirah Essex House hotel across from Central Park.
Standing at Baby Hope’s side as the Maid of Honor was Wendy Diamond, Baby Hope’s owner, who orchestrated the $270,000 affair (all donated) to raise money and awareness for the Humane Society of New York.
“This was the sweetest and most beautiful animal benefit in history,” Diamond, a TV personality and pets rights activist, told Goodmorningamerica.com.
A $6,000 custom-made wedding dress for the bride, $30,000 worth of flowers, a $5,000 sushi spread and a $15,000 seven-piece orchestra were among the extravagances that made the wedding one for the record books.
“I am happy to announce that this is the most expensive pet wedding in history,” said Guinness World Records adjudicator Sara Wilcox, confirming it blew well past the previous record, a $16,421 ceremony for two cats in Thailand.
To celebrate, the pups dug into a buffet of Halo all-natural dog treats donated by talk show host Ellen Degeneres while their owners and guests dug into a five-tiered wedding cake topped by a model bisou fries made by the Hoboken, N.J., bakery made famous by TLC’s reality show “Cake Boss.”
Because the vendors-to-the-stars tapped by Diamond to orchestrate the event all donated their time and services, the $50,000 raised last night will all benefit the Lucky Diamond Critical Care Ward at the Humane Society of New York.
The ward is named for Diamond’s beloved Maltese who died of cancer last month. When Diamond learned that 15-year-old Lucky was near death, she began an online contest to find a new face for Animal Fair, the charity she founded after adopting Lucky in 1999.
Click HERE to see photos of Lucky.
Last night’s wedding was intended to be a last hurrah for Lucky, but instead became a chance for Hope Diamond to say “I do” to Chilly Pasternak, the Virginia poodle that won the online vote.
“Baby Hope, do you take this pooch to love, not spend the night with, and advocate for animal welfare as long as you both shall live? If so, breathe heavily,” Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog, said during the vows.
“And do you, Chilly, take this purse jockey to be your wife? Katie Holmes is back on the market, and I don’t think it would be any weirder than her first marriage! If so, sweat through your tongue.”
“I now pronounce you dog and bitch,” he said.
The Guinness World Record that those vows sealed is not the first world record held by Diamond and her dogs.
As the face of Animal Fair for more than a decade, Lucky earned a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records for the Animal Most Photographed with Celebrities, with more than 360 photos of everyone from Betty White to Barbara Walters, all cataloged in the ” Who Got Lucky?” column on the charity’s website.