While a millennium marriage at midnight may not seem unusual, this marriage was different. It was between two Maltese dogs.

Did they exchange vows, you ask? Did they wear bridal clothes? Did they honeymoon? Yes, yes, and yes. Perhaps an act of love and devotion more reflective of their owners' own relationships, this wedding had it all.

Shelley Johnson, mother of the bride, spent weeks preparing for the big day. A white satin gown for Shayna, a tux for Dusty, a red lacy dress for Koko, the Maid of Honor (the only other pup in the procession). The wedding colors were red, white, and purple -- festive for New Years. Flower arrangements decorated the home of Bunny Heller, mother of the groom. There were also small bouquets and boutonnieres for the wedding party.

Vows were written and exchanged (read by the pets' owners), and a minister even stopped by after midnight to bless the wedding. There was even a faux wedding license, signed by one guest, a policeman who acted as an official witness of the county.

Over sixty invitations were sent out around the country, and about 25 people attended the ceremony and reception, with one guest traveling to the Florida wedding from Texas.

"The idea was both mine and Bunny's (the mother of the groom)," Johnson said. "The four of us, Bunny and her husband and my husband and I, have been friends for about two years. We are all from Florida, live less then an hour apart from each other, and are all retired."

" This past summer," Johnson continues, "we were traveling together in our motor homes, and observed how the dogs just love each other so much. Shayna [Shelley's Maltese] has a sister, Koko, also a Maltese, so it's not like she's lonely. But she just loves Dusty. You say his name and she gets excited. As soon as she sees him, she goes crazy. We just thought that it would be great for the millennium to have a wedding."

Does the wedding mean the two dogs will be shacking up any time soon? "It's really all just in fun," Johnson said. "Shayna will still live with us and Dusty will live with Bunny. And, you know, Shayna's a modern dog and insisted on keeping her last name. And no, there won't be any puppies!"

With the same motor homes, the same dogs, and admittedly similar personalities shared by the four friends, Johnson says, "It's the dogs that are technically getting married, but I think it's really the four of us. We're such great friends. This was just a fun and creative way to express ourselves."

In place of an engagement ring is, of course, a diamond collar. "We were at a party on Labor Day at the Hellers' house and Dusty surprised us all by presenting Shayna with a diamond collar and asking for her paw in marriage."

Once the vows were exchanged, each doggy received a 14K gold heart-shaped dog tag. They read: Dusty Weds Shayna January 1, 2000, and vice versa.

A great deal of time and energy was put towards preparations: the two couples sewed the wedding clothes and made decorations (Shelley's hobby is making doggy clothes, www.bigfoot.com/~shelleyjohnson), made invitations and wrote wedding vows, and cooked an Italian feast for dinner (Maltese, once called "The Roman Ladies' Dog," is an Italian breed).

All the preparations for this Maltese Millennium Marriage, as they call it, stood as a testament to how devoted the two families are not just to their dogs, but to each other. The honeymoon, by the way, will bring the two families together by motor home next summer in Maine. "Shayna loves lobster!" said Johnson.

Pet weddings are becoming increasingly popular. After searching newsgroups, pet-lovers' Web sites, and local dog parks, an easy half a dozen more couples surfaced.

There was the family in Hollywood that had two Jack Russell Terriers that got married. This, far less extravagant than the Millennium Maltese Marriage, was a staged wedding where the family's two small daughters dressed up their doggies, performed a play-like ceremony for the entire family, and, "pushed the dogs' noses together and said, 'I do.'

The girls, their mother, Tracy Dugin, tells me at the Mulhulland dog park in Los Angeles, "really just wanted puppies. They thought if the dogs got married, they'd be well on their way. And, actually, it ended up being a really good learning experience where we got to talk with the girls [ages 7 and 9] about marriage and commitment, and, of course, where puppies come from!"

Another married pet couple was between newlyweds Austin and Monica Miller, of Tacoma, Washington. "Austin and I both had dogs and decided that when we got married, the dogs would get married, too." Monica said. "I know it sounds kind of sick, but we put a little veil on his dog, who is the girl dog, and a little hat on my dog, who is the boy.

They were walked down the aisle in front of us by Austin's niece and nephew, and even though they weren't formally wed by the minister, they did get pictures taken and eat cake!"

So whose name was used? "Well, we thought it'd be funny if Penny, that's Austin's dog, took [Monica's dog] Romeo's last name. Isn't that what's proper?"

Each of these weddings, quite different from one another, is a unique expression and extension of the pet owners' love for each other, as well as for their pets.

From bringing the pets into a new family, to creating a new family because of the pets, pet weddings are a fun way for people to just get together and love one another.