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Kids at receptions

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AmberWaves

AmberWaves

Ideal_Rock
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Oct 19, 2005
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Me again.
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Sorry. Anyway, I wanted to know how people are having their receptions.. With kids? Without? With only a few? Also, if there are children, are you having meals made for the kids alone? So they won''t be eating "grownup" food? Are they sitting at their own table? Are they having different favors?
 
We''re having children, but only family. Haven''t decided yet what they will eat, but I think I''ll have them sit at the same table as their parents.
 
I think we are having only 2 kids at the wedding and they will eat with their parents. I''ll find out tomorrow what my venue does for kids, hadn''t thought about that yet. They will get the same favor as everyone else, which is a tin of mints.
 
We had kids, tons of them, mostly family. We had them sit with their parents. No kids menu. Everyone got the same favors, but I also made color books and got bubbles (I ended up forgetting to bring the bubbles and it''s still in our room) for the kids.
 
We invited kids to our wedding because both DH & I have great memories of attending family/friend weddings as kids. So, we invited the children of both friends & family, & left it up to them whether they wanted to bring them. Some did; some didn''t. The ones who did thanked us for including the kids, & the kids themselves really had a great time. The ages ranged from infant on up to 17, & we probably had about 25 kids there (out of a total of 175 guests).

We sat them with their parents & they ate the ''grownup'' food. Our buffet was roast beef, lemon chicken, california mix veggies, fettucine alfredo, redskin potatoes, plus salad/rolls. It was all very standard stuff that the kids would easily recognize & eat. Our caterer charged half-price for children. Everyone got the same favor -- m&m''s wrapped in tulle, nearly everyone loves m&m''s.

We didn''t have any special activities (or even babysitters) for the kids, but I''ve heard of brides having coloring books & ''toy corners''. I think that''s a bit much. The kids made their own fun & had a blast dancing. My mom''s cousin passed around the pew bows for them to take home as a ''souvenir'' & the kids really got a kick out of that.
 
FI and I love kids so they are welcome at our wedding. We actually won''t have that many, however, maybe only about 5 or 6 under the age of 12... we are serving a buffet so they are counted at kid prices (half) but are served the same... They''ll be sitting w/their parents probably... Favors haven''t been decided but they would get the same thing.
 
Okay, that all is starting to make me feel better. We have maybe 10 kids, and varying ages (of course). I like the coloring books at the table, but the idea of a kid''s corner makes me worry. I babysat and nannyed for a couple of years, and I know what a kid can get up to in a corner without their parents! Thanks for your help everyone!
 
Kids? Definitely. Since we''re having a mexican buffet, they can eat quesadillas. Mexican food is pretty child-friendly, I think.
 
You''re right, EBree. Man, I wish I had gone to more weddings as a kid. My cousin had an ice cream bar at his, but I was too young to remember.
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Boooo
 
We had kids at the reception, tons of them. We also had a buffet so we didn''t have to deal with the per-person plate thing. We also hired a clown for the first 2 hours of the reception to entertain the kids (balloons, face painting) so the parents could chill out a bit. Worked out really well.
 
I must be the odd man out, we had no kids and didn''t want them...and made no exceptions because didn''t want to deal with allowing certain people and not allowing others...almost every one was very great about it, but we did get a few upsets....I guess it''s true, you can''t please everyone
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... a girlfriend of mine hired three baby sitters, and there was a room at the venue where the kids were. It worked out really well for her.
 
I wish we were having more kids at the wedding but most of them in the family are 2000 miles away and their parents wanted to leave them home and have a real vacation! But having kids makes it a fun party--they like to get out on the dance floor and be cute. Yes, I really wish we''d have more kids there.
 
Date: 2/10/2006 5:06:40 PM
Author: FireGoddess
We had kids at the reception, tons of them. We also had a buffet so we didn''t have to deal with the per-person plate thing. We also hired a clown for the first 2 hours of the reception to entertain the kids (balloons, face painting) so the parents could chill out a bit. Worked out really well.
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I love that idea, but I''m seriously terrified of clowns!! Especially the balloon animal ones! Anyone read Stephen King''s "IT"?)

Maybe I could hire my boss'' daughter Casey to do the sitting for us. Her parents will be there anyway, and I used to babysit for her for about a decade.. It would be cute.
 
Date: 2/10/2006 6:31:47 PM
Author: AmberWaves

Date: 2/10/2006 5:06:40 PM
Author: FireGoddess
We had kids at the reception, tons of them. We also had a buffet so we didn''t have to deal with the per-person plate thing. We also hired a clown for the first 2 hours of the reception to entertain the kids (balloons, face painting) so the parents could chill out a bit. Worked out really well.
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I love that idea, but I''m seriously terrified of clowns!! Especially the balloon animal ones! Anyone read Stephen King''s ''IT''?)

Maybe I could hire my boss'' daughter Casey to do the sitting for us. Her parents will be there anyway, and I used to babysit for her for about a decade.. It would be cute.
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I have read IT. Scared the crap out of me for years. I used to take flying leaps into my bed thinking there was a clown under there waiting to grab me by my feet. But this woman was very cherubic and cute - more like a facepainter lady. No worries there.
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LOL, I think there''s an actual "phobia" for people who have a fear of clowns...can''t think of the name, though.
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Dang, there''s no clown emoticon!

Just wanted to add:

We didn''t have many children come to the wedding/reception, although we left the invitations open in that regard. The 10 or so who were there were seated next to their parents and we submitted a final count for kids meals that consisted of chicken fingers and fries, and I think they were also brought a salad. And of course they got to eat cake! The kids were actually a joy to have at the reception, we have so many pictures of them dancing and "clowning" around (couldn''t resist).
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We had a Sunday afternoon wedding, so it''s possible that many people were able to find sitters for the day. I don''t think we ever had anyone ask us whether it would be alright for them to bring kids or not. We just assumed that if they showed up with their parents they would be supervised by their parents, especially with it being a Sunday afternoon and us knowing most adults weren''t there to get sh*&faced.
 
Monarch, we''re also having a Sunday afternoon wedding, with NO ALCOHOL! (BIG drinkers in the family, actual liver problems) So that makes me feel good about it. Thanks. And clowns are the scariest things ever. "IT" is my favorite book of all time, but man.. I don''t like clowns.. I got the chills just thinking about them!!
 
oh another idea for the kids is to have a caricature artist - my friend did this for her wedding and it was a total hit!

I too do not care for clowns...
 
We are definitely going to have kids there! I have such good memories of being a kid at weddings, and my DF and I adore kids so we''re excited about it. :)
 
The only children being invited to my reception are my nieces and nephew who are in the bridal party.. oh and possibly my MOH''s infant twins who won''t eat anything.. (they were just born on Wednesday. :) Oh yeah.. and my fiance''s cousins kida because FMIL insists..
SO.. we cant say "no kids" because there are going to be kids.. So if other people are gonna start asking if they can bring kids (honestly.. there is next to no body who will.. there is only two or three other people who HAVE kids and most of them wouldn''t WANT them at a wedding reception).. I can''t say no.. So I don''t really know what we are doing for them
I haven''t really talked to the caterer about this, but I''m guessing they''re just gonna end up with the same food as everyone else. I''m not bothering with different favors.. and i''m certainly not having a kids table..if parents really want to bring thier kids to my wedding they can be responsible for taking care of them!!
 
I''ve been going back and forth on this issue too... Our main issue is our ceremony venue seats about 100 people tops. Our invite list is at about 140 w/out kids. The wedding is out of town so I know we shouldn''t have to worry about 140 people showing up. And our location is a popular "romantic weekend" type of place w/ lots of B&Bs so I know some of our friends have already made plans and are excited to leave the kids behind for a couple of days... But then there are those that will just assume kids are invited even if you don''t include their names on the invites. And my 2 nieces would be devastated if they couldn''t come... And then you have the typical dilemna: some of our friends kids are precious; others are holy terrors!!!

I think that the conclusion we''ve come to is this: Except for our siblings, whose children we will specifically invite, we are addressing invites just to the parents. Inevitably, some people will not notice. Then on the FAQ section of our website we will have something like this to the "are children invited?" question: While we don''t want to exclude kids and would absolutely love to see you and your children, please be aware that our ceremony venue is very small and in order to accommodate all of the adults, we are hoping that some of you choose to make this a romantic getaway weekend - just the two of you! But we realize that finding childcare while you are out of town can be difficult so don''t feel like you must leave them behind - what''s a wedding without a few kids to entertain us?!?!

Anyhow, something like that... As for food - we''re having a big buffet of heavy hot & cold hors d''oevres so there will be everything from beef sirloin and seafood stuffed mushrooms to chicken and cheese quesadillas and mini egg rolls. I like the coloring book idea!!
 
Well, I have a brother 18 years younger than me, 6 nephews, my BF has 2 nephews, 2 nieces, and my best friend has a 3 year old. So we''ll have kids ranging from 2-15 and I couldn''t even consider not inviting them. I think they''ll have the same food as everyone and sit with their parents. And we''ll probably just give them little bags of candy as favors. I had fun at weddings when I was a kid and I''m going to try and make it fun for them. I think I''m going to do the chicken dance and the hokey pokey just for the kids, so they can have fun too, though I am sure a lot of adults will join in.
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I was in the wedding of one of my closest friends from college. My children were the ring bearers. She had a lot of neices and nephews that were there as well. She had a separate room for them with videos, kid friendly food and babysitters. After their dinner they joined us and got to dance and have cake etc.. My kids had a blast, they were 5 and 3 at the time. This was many years ago but hope it helps!!
 
NO KIDS! They fall asleep, they cry, etc, and they get bored and can''t drink, plus their parents should get a babysitter. Also we want the parents to have a night off and have fun drinking and dancing without having to supervise.
 
My cousin had a "mom service" at her wedding, and all the kids ate and played in a separate area from the reception, but still on the premises.

We are having a luncheon, so we can easily accomodate all the kids in the family. They were so excited about the wedding, we want them to be there. Our caterer is doing a kid''s buffet, and it''s half the cost of the adult plates. They will have their own table, with crayons and books, but I expect them to run around outside during lunch, and it''s an enclosed area so they can. We really designed our wedding with the kids in mind, because they are a huge part of our lives and we want them to be there. Sure, they will probably cry and there will be tantrums and other kid behaviors, but that''s okay, it''s all part of life, just like our wedding!
 
I have no problem with children attending weddings. The problem arises when there is no parental control. I remember whilst i was getting mairred, there was a toddle running around and screaming in the background. It was very distracting.

Mums and dads have to use a bit of common sense, and if junior is causing a riot, take him out of the room for a while. If the child is very tired and is getting irritable, then its time to go home.

If parents just had a little more thought for others...people wouldn''t worry sorry much about having young children at their wedding.

DH and myself have been invited to weddings, where there is strictly no children allowed. I haven''t been offended by this at all, as I understand the reasoning behind it. At the end of the day, it''s whatever the bride and groom want, it''s their special day!

Blod
 
We aren''t having kids under a certain age....I the limit is 13....this knocks off a lot off the guest list. I just can''t see paying $18 for a 6 year old you is going to barely eat. Plus, I figure kids that young are probably going to be bored.
 
Thank you for all your responses. It''s funny, my BF and I were at his sister''s for a birthday party last night, and those kids are WILD. We will be having his 3 nephews and niece, and my baby cousin (and her new baby sister-due in august) and then I have a TON of cousins that I rarely see anymore. I fight with my mother about this because she said it''s family (her side, of course) and I have to invite them. I told her, hey, I haven''t seen them in 2 years, I''m not going to invite people just so you can feel better about it. See, my dad''s side has about 9 people. My MOM''s side has about 90. So it''s not going to happen. I''m so stressed out about this, we''re actually putting the wedding farther back so we can figure this all out. I''m thinking we''ll have 10-15 kids, but on a guest list of 100 people, that''s a whole lot. I don''t know what we''re going to do, really. I know we are having one kid from my side be the flower girl, one boy from his side be the ring bearer, and I just feel bad because out of the 4 nieces and nephews, two boys are his brother''s (one of which will be ring boy) and the other nephew and niece are his sisters (and will have no part in it, unless I figure something out) Stess!!
 
Date: 2/13/2006 11:42:10 AM
Author: AmberWaves
Thank you for all your responses. It''s funny, my BF and I were at his sister''s for a birthday party last night, and those kids are WILD. We will be having his 3 nephews and niece, and my baby cousin (and her new baby sister-due in august) and then I have a TON of cousins that I rarely see anymore. I fight with my mother about this because she said it''s family (her side, of course) and I have to invite them. I told her, hey, I haven''t seen them in 2 years, I''m not going to invite people just so you can feel better about it. See, my dad''s side has about 9 people. My MOM''s side has about 90. So it''s not going to happen. I''m so stressed out about this, we''re actually putting the wedding farther back so we can figure this all out. I''m thinking we''ll have 10-15 kids, but on a guest list of 100 people, that''s a whole lot. I don''t know what we''re going to do, really. I know we are having one kid from my side be the flower girl, one boy from his side be the ring bearer, and I just feel bad because out of the 4 nieces and nephews, two boys are his brother''s (one of which will be ring boy) and the other nephew and niece are his sisters (and will have no part in it, unless I figure something out) Stess!!
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Are they helping a lot for the wedding cost? I was only have family and very close friends but my mom wanted to invite a few of her friends, she offered to pay for them. We probably won''t have her pay but if your mom is really adament about having them come she pay for them.

My MOH didn''t invite any of her FIL family to theirs. She felt bad about it but he said it''s his family he''ll deal with the back lass if there is any.
 
With kids? Without? With only a few?
With kids. We kept our wedding relatively small so there weren''t too many, but we didn''t limit them.

are you having meals made for the kids alone? So they won''t be eating "grownup" food?
There was a kids plate at our venue (I think it was chicken strips, fries & fruit). We contacted the parents and offered them the choice of kids plate or one of the regular plate options.

Are they sitting at their own table?
Sat them with their parents, mainly so they had someone to keep them in line
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Are they having different favors?
Same favors. I meant to get coloring books to keep them occupied during dinner. I totally flaked on that one but they had fun anyway. When they were done eating they went to the dancefloor and entertained the adults. It was very cute.
 
no kids at our wedding. we are getting married in vegas, and want a fairly formal adult party. It is at the Four Seasons and at the cost per head we would be out another 10k if all the neices, nephews and cousins came. One of my FI''s cousin is not coming because she cant bring her 5 kids! That is fine with us, we are having a destination wedding we werent expecting everyone to come anyway. Sounds kinda mean, but we really dont want any kids, even if they are 16!

In saying that we were at my cousins wedding and the entire vows a child was screaming "no mom! no!" I''m sure that is a great audio clip in the wedding video. Although some large weddings will have lots of kids, and if that is what the bride and groom wants, but it isnt what I want! Can you tell I''m pretty firm on that?
 
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