DEAR ABBY: You printed several letters about children at weddings and the consequences of their (mis)behavior. While I agree with the concept that it is the bride's day, I thought maybe you would enjoy a lighter side to the problem.
Ten years ago, our oldest daughter was married in our backyard. The weather was perfect, the lawn and flowers looked beautiful, and we had 70 guests. One of our neighbors had hired a baby sitter to stay with her two young daughters with strict instructions not to let the girls outside until the reception had started.
As everyone stood to pray, the baby sitter quietly opened the back door and let the dog outside and quickly shut the door before the girls begged to go outside. For 30 seconds, everything was fine -- then the dog saw the guests and commenced barking and howling throughout the entire prayer. As the preacher concluded, the baby sitter let the dog inside and everyone burst out laughing.
So, although everything was perfect and we had no disruptive children, we hadn't counted on the dog's blessing. We have it on the wedding video and it still makes us laugh every time we watch it. -- CAROL J. RHINEHART, ROCKWALL, TEXAS