Japanese Hotel Lets You Rent an Alpaca as a Witness at Your Wedding

The Epinard Nasu Hotel, in Japan’s Tochigi Prefecture, offers a highly unconventional wedding service – newlyweds can rent a cute, fluffy alpaca from a nearby zoo to act as a witness to their wedding.

No one really knows when the hotel started using alpacas to attract customers, or how they came up with the unique idea, but judging from the number of photos happy newlyweds have been posting on Japanese social media lately, it’s definitely becoming popular. It’s not that alpacas are good luck charms, nor are they part of some obscure Japanese ritual, they’re just cute and a sure way to make a wedding memorable.

The alpacas are escorted down the aisle by a professional trainer who makes sure they are on their best behavior during the wedding ceremony. Still, somethings not even the most experienced trainers can prevent, so if you smell something funny during the proceedings, just ignore it. Usually they just stand there as the newlyweds exchange vows and declare their love for each other, kind of like human witnesses do.

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Elderly Care Home in Germany Uses Therapy Alpacas to Make Residents Happier

Just looking at the picture of an alpaca will make you want to pet the adorable creature. So it comes as no surprise that the camel’s super fluffy cousin is being used for therapy in Germany, at Berlin’s Mana Wedell Tagespflege elderly care home.

A group of alpacas live in the home’s garden and are welcome to go inside for a visit. A video of their interaction with the residents was put up on YouTube, and although it is in German, you can tell that the place is so full of love.

The footage shows the alpacas being taken to each of the residents’ rooms for a visit. It appears that the alpacas are incredibly affectionate and love to be cuddled. They also seem to enjoy being given tasty treats and like riding the elevator. The residents also have a great time petting and spoiling the delightful animals, making them happier and healthier.

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