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Cassie Roth did not toss her bouquet or a garter at her Tampa wedding last month. Jonathon Roth, her husband, threw a cat.
This is not a real cat, but a velvety black cat stuffed plushy with golden-rimmed eyes.
Christina Soto, Roth's bridesmaid, dived for the feline and picked it up from the floor. She later agreed to visit the Humane Society of Tampa Bay in the future to adopt a shelter cat.
The Human Association adoptable kittens were on display and available for adoption during the cocktail hour.
Cassie, 27, said that weddings can be costly and she wanted to give back to the community when she got married. She also noted that Jonathon and Cassie have always loved cats.
She said to the Washington Post, "We wanted to include cats somehow in the wedding and help a couple of animals in need." "Everyone loved it -- many said they had never been to a wedding like this."
The video of the cat-toss uploaded to TikTok on Dec. 30, by one of the Roths' wedding organizers, has been viewed more than 4,000,000 times.
Jonathon Roth, 27, said that "it was a fun and unique way to do something." "We don’t even have TikTok so it was a shock to see our wedding popping up on social media."
Kelly Nova and Ilana Karcinski organized the cat toss, who are founders of FairyTail Pet Care, a service that allows couples to include their pets in their wedding vows. They also host small pet adoption events.
Nova and Karcinski have outfitted more than 1,100 dogs with tux collars and bows since 2015. They arranged for them to be brought briefly to the ceremony so they could walk down the aisle, look around and pose (ears up, tongues out!) for photos with the wedding party.
Nova stated that only eight cats have been honored with the same honor and added that the Roths' cat toss was the first. The Roth wedding decorations said, "We're getting meowied!"