Weddingbee boards

I'm planning a wedding that is a destination for most my guests. I've thought about bringing in babysitters, since there could be about 12 kids all under the age of 8yrs old. Since everyone's from out of town, I figure it's better that they bring their kids to the wedding instead of trying to orchestrate getting sitters for the hotels, which I think would make parents feel uneasy about leaving their kids with strangers.

The thing I DO NOT WANT is babies and toddler terrors at my ceremony. I have experienced way to many bratty kids ruining ceremonies because of pansy-ass parenting and I'm just not going to allow it. But on the flipside ---- i really want my well behaved girlriends kids to be flowergirls. I love flowerchildren, they are so fun. But am I just asking for a huge nightmare? Is this considered a doublestandard?

Are any of you facing this dilemma? what's a girl who actually loves kids to do?

luckily everyone's entitled to a wedding they want, but straight up telling people that you love well behaved kids but not THEIR kids, well it doesnt go over very well.  if you can, use $ or space restraints as a reason instead- parents will have nothing to say but "ok".  and if they start a riot the day of the wedding when they see the flower kids, have someone inform them that flowergirls are generally accepted to be cute props & not actual children ;)  im not sure how the babysitting for only the ceremony would work but im sure it could! again, just tell the parents that there will be a seperate "children's room w/ provided sitter during the ceremony" ahead of time. then let the parents reclaim their kids for the reception. cost to you: 1 hour of babysitting time & no ruined ceremony.

We have a nanny service at the wedding venue - so they bring their kids, but they are in another room with lots of nannies, kid foods, kid games, kid stuff.  We will have so many friends with infants (something is in the water!!!), plus we know some people have no choice but to bring their kids (though many are trying to leave them at home for a romantic weekend).   Oh, everyone will need to get on a plane to come to the wedding. 

Anyways, our coordinator said that parents love the nanny services when they are on-site, so they can check on their kids and have them come out for the dancing if they choose.  I'd rather not have kids at the wedding - but I really want happy guests, so an onsite nanny service has been the way to go.  They've done a lot of weddings that are coordinator has done, they are licensed (like a day care), so we are feeling good about it.  Now, once we know the total number of kids (under 10... we have somehow invited 35?!) that are actually coming, we may become less enthused - the more kids, the more nannies, the more $$.  Fingers crossed that lots of people can make this a romantic, childless weekend! 

thanks piper and enmoore. I will definitely be hiring a sitter or nanny service at the wedding so that parents can check in on their kids.

Enmoore66 I'm in your same boat, I was thinking it would be 12 kids and now it's way more than my original calculation!

I'm cutting out all kids besides my two flower girls and the infant of one of my bridesmaids.  I crafted an email for my mom to send to the entire family (so no one feels singled out), that said "have been getting a lot of questions about the wedding, and wanted to let you know that x and y are having an adults-only wedding (no kiddies invited).  There will be a few kids there (the flower girls and infant of one of the bridesmaids), and while x and y love you and your kids, they hope you can find a babysitter for the weekend".  This worked well!  the wedding will be a destination for most, and I understand that it is tough for people to leave their kids for a weekend, but I had to be tough.  The responses we got were "awesome!!" and "can't wait to have a weekend alone!" nobody had a problem.  If we invited kids, it would be THIRTY extra guests.  No way, jose.

We are havign an outdoor wedding and have decided to set up an extra tent (small) for the kids.  It will be close to ours and supervised by babysitters.  We will have crafts, some toys, juiceboxes and extra kid friendly snacks there.  We will also have a few blowup mattresses with pillows and blankets so the kids can snuggle down.  We want to have a TV and DVD player so they can wathc a movie if they want.  We will have a kids table or two in the main reception area so that they can join in the aprty and eat with the adults.  I love watching little kids dance and there is nothing cuter than a little girl slow dancing with her dad.  Since ours is a destination wedding for half of our guests and we are having 8 (4 each) kids in the wedding we want it to be fun for them.  We talked about havign a kid free wedding but my youngest brother is only going to be 9 and between us we have 7 nieces and nephews so 2 of which live with us.  It would be too hard to exclude them.  Also, 2 of my bridesmaids are currently pregnant with thier first children, one has 2 kids and my sister who will probably be in the wedding as well has 3 kids.  On his side, one his brothers has 2 kids, his BM has 1 and one of his other groomsmen has 3.  We figure if we handle it right and buy some of the newer movies that the kids haven't seen yet they can be entertianed as the night wears on, maybe even sleep on the mattresses and the adults can still have agrand time.

What I feel bad about is that the location HAS A KID TRAIN that takes you on a tour around the estate during cocktails and an exact replica of Snow White's Cottage. So I feel weird saying no to kids. Should I just get over it?

this is my location : www.nestldown.com

So... Interesting turn of events.

Talked to a close family member that said "We are really looking forward to not bringing the kids and instead just having a great romantic getaway weekend".

How refreshing!