The age-old debate…
Should we invite kids? Should this shindig be for the over 21 crowd? What will my friends and family think if I say “no kids?”
Our families didn’t like it. My mom was pissed and argumentative. Some of them didn’t show up because they couldn’t bring their children.
I felt bad for all of 5 min.
It was OUR day.
There was no true Bridezilla moment involved, but there is something to be said about people respecting your day and wishes for something that is truly about YOU and YOUR SPOUSE-to-be.
Don’t get me wrong. I love kids. Both my nieces and nephew were in the wedding.
What I loved more was actually being able to look back on that all-important day and being able to remember it and not trying to read lips because someone is fussy and screaming during the ENTIRE ceremony. Think I’m over exaggerating? CheckĀ out these stories.
This is something about which I feel/felt very strongly: the wedding day is supposed to be a reflection of you and your intended. If you don’t want kids, don’t have them. I’m not knocking anyone for having children at their wedding, but due to different factors (read: expensive food we didn’t want picked over and/or chucked across the room) we decided to just keep our guest list age 12 and up.
So how did we handle the backlash?
We hired a babysitter. A real, professional caregiver with a license, references and everything!
This may seem a bit unconventional, but man, it was a life saver…
Especially since we had a relative show up with a kid (who we’re not entirely sure was even hers) at the last minute , whom she proceeded to try to sneak in.
Being that we had our ceremony and reception at a local hotel, we spent the extra money to rent a room and have the babysitter be upstairs from all the action. This allowed us to 1. have our special day be what we wanted and 2. alleviate fears of parents who (naturally) worried about their little ones.
To keep it as fair as possible, we paid for our minis to be with the babysitter and let other parents know that if they absolutely had to bring their kids, that the service was available to them. Our minis didn’t care…they were actually quite excited to be able to play with each other freely and be out of those fancy clothes š
The fabulous Martha Stewart even put her 2 cents in on this topic. And of course this is an appropriate response, because, ya know…it’s Martha!
If you do want/have to have children at your wedding, here are some ideas on how to keep them entertained:
- There is an entire website dedicated to keeping weddings kid friendly,
- Find ways to include them and keep them content,
- Set up a corner or table just for them during the reception, have kid-friendly food and activities available!
No matter what you decide, remember that this is about you and your S.O. Yes your family is important, their opinions matter, but it’s not about them in the end.
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