Weddingbee boards

I am doing it and the hotel offered to throw that in!  (Believe me its the only thing they offered me gratis!) In french it is called a cree.  Obviously I will have to hire a sitter and if the number gets big, maybe two.  I understand I am not obligated to pay for sitters and supposedly I am to put that cost on the parents but I think it is a small price to pay for having them out from under the adults and not getting a plated dinner!  

The hotel offered a DVD player as well.  I asked all my friends with kids and with only ONE exception the parents overwhelmingly said WELL OBVIOUSLY, as if I were asking might they wear shoes to my wedding!  Only person who was "concerned" lives in a very small town and was worried about her kids safety, come to find out they are 12 and 15!  (which in my opinion could possibly be included) Which brings me to my next point:

You are going to have to choose an age and STICK TO IT, You can EASILY choose 18, you can choose 12 or 13 if you are Jewish, you can choose whatever age is considered to be "out in society" if you wish.  That varies depending what part of the country you are living in.  I did slip a personal note into the invites of parents with children with whom I was not sure.  (Yes my FI has a big family and has done a bad job at keeping track!)

Another question that came up for me--what about the kids that are IN the wedding?  Aha, its all good news.  You CAN choose to include wedding party children only in the reception or you can send them all to the kids party.  I am sending slices of cake with sparklers down to them so it will still feel special-I will accompany that delivery and stay till I see them stuffing their faces with cake-which I estimate to be about one minute!  

Hope this helps, I spent several weeks mulling and researching so if you've any questions, ASK!

PS As a final note I would like to add-I had breakfast with my dear friend at the  Carlyle last week when her usually perfect daughter shrieked and tore a sugar packet apart before twisting her body and sending my water glass to the floor..My friend laughed and said, "Again, why dont you want kids at your wedding?"  

We are planning to do the same thing! Our reception is taking place in an outdoor courtyard and there is a room right behind it (with glass walls), which we hope to convert into a "kids room" with dvd player, wii game console, other games and a large mat for younger kids to crawl around.

My main concern is if parents will feel like they have to stay in the room or if other adults might seek "refuge" in this indoor space. hopefully not!

Our kids room was a huge hit.

We had a ton of little ones at our wedding and an available room attached to the ballroom. We left it pretty free-form. We didn't hire a babysitter or any entertainers. We provided coloring books, crayons, some magic wands/tiaras/hats, ballons... basically stuff from the dollar store. Just make sure there's enough that sharing won't be an issue. We notified most of the parents in advance, and I think a couple brought storybooks from home. We didn't require (or even request) that the kids stay in there, and they ate in the ballroom with their parents. But the kids room was heavily used. Not only did it give the children space to play, but lots of parents appreciated having at as a "cry room" during the ceremony and a place to change diapers.