This article was originally written by Emily Phillips for SWNS — the U.K.’s largest independent news agency, providing globally relevant original, verified, and engaging content to the world’s leading media outlets.
Bunny the disabled sheep has always been a “daddy’s girl,” according to owner Jake Ratcliffe — so when he and his bride, Rosie, tied the knot a few months ago, there was no better fit for the role of ring bearer than their beloved fluffy ewe.
In 2018, Jake founded his animal sanctuary, Millington’s Magical Barn, in Yorkshire, England, while also working as an electrical engineer. Though a pet lover, the 34-year-old had no previous experience in the rescue world prior to establishing the sanctuary, but in the years since, he’s helped over 200 animals who needed a home. He met Rosie, a 28-year-old veterinary nurse, when she began volunteering there in 2020. After spending the summer “mucking stables out and looking after animals together,” the couple fell in love and Jake proposed in August 2023.
They’d originally decided to get married in France — but once they delved further into wedding planning, the location “didn’t feel right,” Jake told SWNS. “We spoke about it more and thought, ‘We met here, fell in love here, and proposed here,’ so it was only right we got married here too. A sanctuary is not a wedding venue, so we had to come up with a solution of where [the ceremony] would be. I told Rosie I’d convert the cow barn into a wedding venue. Rosie was skeptical, but I’d like to say we pulled it off.”
When it came time for the ring bearer selection, Jake had his heart set on Bunny, who was born without the use of her back legs. “We were discussing ideas of who would be the ring bearer. I always wanted Bunny,” he said, noting that she “arrived at Millington’s just as we were turning the cow barn into a wedding venue, so she spent six weeks with me while we all set up.”
Initially, Rosie was worried about Bunny taking on such an important task, “as animals like cows, sheep, and pigs are not as adaptive with commands and training as dogs are,” Jake explained. Ahead of their nuptials, the couple “did a bit of a rehearsal, but with farm animals, there’s not much training to it. I kind of just had to rely on the fact [that] me and Bunny had a special relationship and […] that she would come to me. I had a bottle of milk on hand just in case.”
As a backup, they also assigned Alfie, one of Rosie’s childhood dogs, as the other ring bearer. But right before the ceremony began, the bichon frisé decided to take himself on a little adventure — and abandoned his role as secondary ring bearer in the pursuit of snacks. “We lost him, and I had to hastily borrow my mum’s ring to put on [Rosie’s] finger,” Jake shared.
Luckily, Bunny successfully walked down the aisle on Aug. 2 in her adapted chair, much to the delight of the couple’s 60 guests. “You [could] hear the collective ‘aw’ as she walked down the aisle,” Jake said.
“Everyone thought Bunny was amazing. While we were getting prepared for [the] wedding, we were not around in the garden at the time, and I told the groomsmen not to let Bunny eat anything she shouldn’t. But when the wedding photos came back, we saw she was eating some of the canapes. It proves you can’t put groomsmen in charge of anything,” he teased.
“As soon as the confetti was thrown, we ran around the farm trying to locate the ring. We thought, ‘Where would Alfie go?’” Jake said. “He was up in the cats’ room eating all their food with the ring on the floor next to him.”
As for Rosie, her wedding day couldn’t have been any more perfect — despite a missing ring and rogue pup. “Everybody has their own idea of their dream wedding, and for me, a big fancy French wedding just didn’t fit,” she said. “I’m much more of a simple girl, and getting married at home in beautiful Yorkshire, surrounded by our rescued animals, our friends, and our family was what truly mattered.
“We met at the sanctuary, we fell in love here, we even got engaged here while I was bottle-feeding a lamb that had a collar on saying ‘turn around,’” she continued. “It only felt right to complete the full circle and get married here. It took a village to turn our working animal sanctuary into our dream wedding venue, but thanks to everyone who contributed. It really was a dream day.” We’re sure Bunny agrees it was a baa-eautiful day.
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