Comments on: Kids At Weddings

By: Abbie

Abbie — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 16:48:09 +0000

For our wedding, we addressed out-of-town invites to “The Such-and-such family” as we knew it would be hard for some people with young kids to travel 1200 miles and not bring them. For all locals, we addressed the invites to the adults only. We also put a list of CPR-certified sitters on our wedding website. We had some close friends our age (including two groomsmen) who left their kids home with grandparents and made the trek with just their wifes… as a fun adult trip. They had a blast. Sure enough, we had some locals who added their kids on to the RSVP… including J’s boss who added his 15 year-old daughter on the RSVP and then wanted an add of his 24 year-old daughter and her boyfriend a week before the wedding (which we obliged… it WAS the owner of the company after all). I even had to go round-and-round with a bridesmaid who was telling people that they MUST bring their kids or it wouldn’t be fun and had them write kids in. What?! She didn’t get it… but then, she literally had 20 kids storm the dance floor during her first dance at her wedding and thought it was cute. Me, not-so-much. While I wasn’t willing to totally rule out kids, I had the same thoughts… why not enjoy a night out without the kids??
.-= Abbie´s last blog ..Our Wedding: Getting Ready =-.

By: Meghan

Meghan — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 14:59:25 +0000

I TOTALLY agree with you. I think a wedding is a great opportunity to get away from the kids and have a great time.
One exception I have is with the flower girl/ring bearer… I’m torn about whether or not they should be invited to at least part of the reception.
My brother was married last year and had my niece and nephew as his flower girl and ring bearer. Immediately after the ceremony they were sent off to the hotel… My niece was so upset! And i felt kind of conflicted about it because they are two of the most well behaved kids..I think it wouldve been great for them to at least get a couple dances in and then be sent off to the hotel so their parents could enjoy their evening.
So I guess I agree with you, but I think it gets a little tricky when you involve kids in your ceremony.
.-= Meghan´s last blog ..Ah! I’m so excited! =-.

By: Jill

Jill — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 21:12:04 +0000

I 100% agree with you about kids at weddings. It’s SO annoying. The sign on this post is priceless… I LOVE it. At my spray tan salon in Houston there was a sign in the waiting room that read, “Unattended children will be thrown out the back door and fed to cats.”
.-= Jill´s last blog ..Is It Just Me??? =-.

By: Practically Perfect...

Practically Perfect... — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 15:40:20 +0000

I’m not a kids-at-weddings kind of person, but we had a lot of out of town guests who couldn’t or didn’t feel comfortable enough to leave their kids at home while they flew or drove large distances away. So, I hired 3 babysitters (friends of friends) to stay in the church’s nursery and had ushers direct families with little ones there. The parents were given pagers so that they could be beeped out of the service if they were really needed. Our reception hall was next to the church, so the pagers were still effective after the service. Worked perfectly
.-= Practically Perfect…´s last blog ..Can You Believe that I Get to Live There?! =-.

By: PinkJulep

PinkJulep — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 21:56:04 +0000

I think it depends on the kind of wedding it is. I have to be honest… the kids at my wedding, mostly tweens and teens, but anyway… they made it more fun than it already was and they got the oldies and goldies dancing! They were great!!! Fortunately the only person under the age of 11 was a newborn… so we didn’t have 5 year olds screaming, throwing food and running around with their dresses over their heads, or I might agree with you whole-heartedly!
.-= PinkJulep´s last blog ..Have You Heard About Jukari Fit to Fly Workout? =-.

By: Gina

Gina — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 14:36:03 +0000

I am with you. not a fan at all, however my sister is getting married in two weeks and my almost 4 year old is in the wedding. We have lots of out of town family traveling in for the wedding and they want to see him as well. I did get my sil to sit for my 4 month old (there was no way he would be attending!!). Its a hard call to make. Yes, I certainly would love a night out with out my kids, but my sister is the bride and my family want him there too. .-= Gina´s last blog ..Publicly Shamed =-.

By: megan

megan — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 14:02:36 +0000

completely agree! guests of the wedding receive invitations far enough in advance to hire a babysitter so there shouldn't be any excuses about not having a place for the children. i'm not even a fan of children being in the wedding; most of the time, they can't even fulfill the job of walking all the way down the aisle without running to their mother. just my preference. .-= megan´s last blog ..thursday shmursday =-.

By: Shorty

Shorty — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 13:45:22 +0000

I’m sure a lot of brides/grooms feel obligated to keep the kids around for the entire event since they ask a little kid to be the flower girl and ring bearer. But, I see nothing wrong with telling the parents of those children that once the wedding is over and the reception is beginning that the kiddos will need to have an alternative locale to hang out. My sister is actually considering having a babysitter in another room outside of the reception for the kids to go since the people she is asking to let their children be in the wedding will have to travel quite a distance to get there. We’ll see how it all works out…
.-= Shorty´s last blog ..So many things! =-.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 03:14:24 +0000

100% agreed. Let mom and dad have a night out and the bride and groom have their day. No kids either but a huge fan of the babysitter!
.-= Sarah´s last blog ..2 By 2 We Will Go =-.

By: MeganTree

MeganTree — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 03:10:35 +0000

A child talked all the way through my wedding. She was not taken out of the ceremony and my grandma who was sitting in front of her could not hear a thing, except for this child's voice through most of the ceremony. A year later I am still bitter. Kids should not be at weddings! .-= MeganTree´s last blog ..Thursday Thoughts =-.