CHARLOTTE SULLIVAN was so fond of her pet donkey, Moses, and her English bull terrier, Bessie, that she insisted that they attend her wedding. So, as she walked down the aisle of St Lawrence's, in Weston-under-Penyard, near Ross-on-Wye, they trotted along beside her.

For the Rector, the Revd Neil Patterson, it was all in a day's work. "It didn't bother me," he said. "This is a rural parish; I keep ducks and cattle, and I used to have a horse, so I am well used to animals.

"I know Charlotte well, and I know she is animal-driven. The donkey featured quite early in our discussions. I said as long as someone else brings it, makes sure it is taken away, and is there with a shovel, just in case. It went according to plan; the donkey behaved itself.

"Admittedly it was one of the wackier requests I have had, but we have had donkeys in church before - they often come for Palm Sunday.

"What was more important was how we arranged the ceremony at short notice. Charlotte told me that her husband, Matthew Sullivan, had asked what she wanted for her 40th birthday, and she had wanted to be married. She said: 'I am 40 in three-and-a-half weeks; can we do it?'

"We had just enough time to read the banns. It demonstrated how much easier it is to get married than you think. In a world where people can spend too much, too long, getting married, it was rather refreshing to be able to do that."

Mrs Sullivan, a foster carer and mother of five, told her local paper, The Ross Gazette: "Because my children have been brought up with animals, I thought it would be a great thing to do."