Lilly Smartelli dreams of marrying her best friend on Valentine’s Day. “Bernie and I have been looking for just the right wedding venue to stage our big Italian wedding,” said Ms. Smartelli, 55, who lives in Phoenix. Ms. Smartelli marks Feb. 14 on her calendar, not as a romantic holiday, but as a day defined by comfort, happiness and a different sort of true love.

She found all of those things in Bernie, who happens to be one of the main characters in a book she self-published last October called, “The $5 Dog Wedding.” He also happens to be a dog. “I love Bernie to death and I know he’s going to make quite a handsome groom,” Ms. Smartelli said. “But there is one problem where our wedding is concerned.”