Stedman and Phoenix: Atlanta’s ‘Canine Couple of the Year’ to Wed!

Will and Kate, Jay Z and Beyonce, Barack and Michelle. Sure, these couples sparkle, but have you heard about Stedman and Phoenix?

Love at first sight! At first sniff, first nuzzle! He blogged "Will you marry me?" and she barked back "You betcha, babe!"

On the tail of their six-month engagement, these two Atlanta doggies will tie the knot Saturday night at in Midtown.

And if you attend any of this second annual Barkworld Expo — a social media conference for pet lovers that kicks off with a reception tonight at the nearby — you may attend the pooches’ wedding. (Barkworld Expo is all day Friday and Saturday, culminating in the wedding set for 7:30 p.m. Saturday on the hotel’s terrace).

Stedman the groom is a 7-year-old beagle belonging to Sarah Segal of Inman Park, who owns in West Midtown. The bride is 6-year-old Phoenix, a Papitese (cross between a Papillon and a Maltese), who hails from Buckhead, where she lives with her two-legged caregiver, Blair Berger.

“They met less than a year ago at doggy day care,” Segal said. “It’s been a whirlwind romance. He proposed to her in March by blogging his “Ode to Phoenix" proposal that Segal helped typed for him.

“He told me what to say, and I wrote the proposal to her,” Segal said. Phoenix immediately said yes and it’s been a bustle of wedding and reception plans ever since.

Whenever Stedman and Phoenix see each other “they go crazy,” Segal said. “You’ve got to see the way they nuzzle each other. There is extreme glee. They really are meant to be. For Atlanta, they are the canine couple of the year.”

Five dogs attended Stedman’s bachelor party last weekend, also at Lowes Hotel, chosen for the Barkworld conference because it is so pet-friendly. 

Billed as the only social media conference for the pet industry, Barkworld Expo — for folks with all types of pets, not just dogs — has about 300 already registered. Attendees are coming from all over the country, and from as far as Hawaii, Canada, Britain, even Israel.

“When it comes to their pets, yes, people will hop on a plane from Israel,” said Denise Quashie of Brookhaven, founder of Barkworld Expo.

It was Quashie’s tweet-loving Morkie named Frankie Bean, also known as El Perro, who inspired the idea to launch Barkworld. Frankie Bean now reportedly has 3,000 following him on Twitter. (Want to follow Frankie on Twitter name? His tweet name: frankieelterro)

The full Barkworld Expo fee is $149, but Patch readers can get a 50 percent discount by using the code at the bottom of this story.

The conference includes exhibits (on everything from fashion to health products) and hands-on educational workshops on topics such as “How to Take Good Pictures of Your Pet” and a “Social Media 101” workshop.  A rep from CNN iReport will give a presentation on how you and your pet can make a blog more newsworthy.

“When I tweet as my pet, I am tweeting to pet lovers,” Quashie said. “I have another tweet account for my professional friends who don’t necessarily want to hear about my visit to PetCo.”

Expo highlights include two headliners. Ted Rheingold, founder of Dogster.com and Catster.com,  speaks on “Passion and Persistence” at 9:45 a.m. Friday. Victoria Stilwell, star of Animal Planet’s “It’s Me or the Dog,” speaks at 2 p.m. Friday, and will meet and greet fans at 2:45 p.m., immediately following her talk titled “The Power of Positive in an Online World.”

The conference covers all facets of social media, from a pet’s lifestyle, to business education. The wedding of Stedman and his beloved Phoenix should prove a fun way to wrap things up on Saturday night.

Honeymoon: “We don’t want to say where they are going, because they are celebrities and a very private couple,” Segal said.

Following the nuptials, bride and bridegroom will continue to reside in their separate residences, but will visit each other frequently.

“They already vacation together,” Segal said.

If you go: Barkworld Expo, all day Friday and Saturday, Loews Atlanta Hotel, 1065 Peachtree St. NE, Full expo fee is $149 at the door, but Patch readers can get 50 percent off  registering online with this discount code: ATLSPA. www.barkworldexpo.com  Welcome reception is 6-8 tonight at Hotel Indigo, 683 Peachtree St. NE. Dog-sitting is available on site. For full conference schedule: http://barkworldexpo2011.sched.org/ Barkworld Expo attendees are invited to the 7:30 p.m. Saturday wedding of Stedman and Phoenix, but should RSVP to boomer@atlantadogspa.com