And then there was the day the rabbits got married...

From the moment our daughter entertained the idea of getting a breeding pair of rabbits, the project has been 90% hers.  She sat on my lap as I pulled up web pages, and she read about breeds, the proper care and feeding of bunnies, and raising kits.  She picked out books at the library, helped pick her male and female from Craigslist listings, and keeps a daily ritual of providing food, water and hay, as well as lots of company and TLC. 

Our female rabbit is currently about 9 months old, and our male is 7 months.  In the past few weeks, it's become obvious that they were ready for breeding and quite interested in one another.  The female would "dig" at the bottom of her hutch which sits above the male's.  The male, when the waste tray was moved from between their hutches, would stand on his back legs to sniff, and even hop to get closer to his upstairs neighbor.  We realized that to time it so that baby bunnies would be ready to send to their new homes before Easter, we were approaching a good time for mating.  And so we made a timeline and got all ready.

But, in our daughter's innocent and beautiful understanding of the process, the first step had to be a wedding!  In order to have babies, the bunnies must be married!  We decided to celebrate this beautiful sentiment and go all out.  We did, indeed, have a sort of "bunny wedding" and what a party it was!!

We invited my daughter's playmates and their families.  She and I had a blast shopping and crafting and getting ready for the big day.  The kids made bunny masks, we decorated the porch and animal pen in the yard with streamers, and everything was themed in carrot colors.  

The napkin and utensil "carrots".

Rabbit food for peoples (don't actually feed rabbits this stuff... it makes them sick).

The latest in bunny formal wear.

The anxious groom.

Waiting for the bride...

We kept a barrier between them.  We didn't want the honeymoon to start before the vows were over.

I found a blessing for animals.  As I was reading it, the female rabbit made her way from down the aisle and met the male rabbit at the barrier.  They sniffed noses and appeared to be very happy to see each other.  The timing couldn't have been better.

(It's a good thing the barrier was between them.  The male was trying to push his way through it and the female turned around backwards towards him.  I'm not sure how many people picked up on that, but my husband and I noticed.)

Don't forget the wedding cake. (And, no, it wasn't carrot cake because the humans had to eat it.)

And they lived HOPPILY EVER AFTER!!!
 

Visit my Pinterest board for many of the how-to's to go with the cute crafts and yummy recipes!   

 

And, oh, yes, the actual baby-makin' did have to happen sometime, right?  So we gave the rabbits a little 15-minute honeymoon the day after the wedding.... or, well, as long as it took for the female to start getting annoyed.  We will be sure to let you know in about a month how it all worked out!