For me weddings are all about family so for those that have a large family will most likely have relatives with children or maybe you have children yourself. If that is the case then having children attend your wedding is a must. You may of course not want children at your wedding and if that is the case then you need to make sure that you let the parents know when sending out the wedding invitations, I have done a post all about your wedding invitations.
For me it really was a must as I already had children of my own and I wanted them to be a big part of our wedding, I could not imagine my day without them it just would not be right.
I think the most important part when planning your wedding if you have children involved is to make them feel as though they are part of everything you are doing. I know my boys loved going to choose and get measured up for their suits, they were of course the page boys, they really did look gorgeous!
If you are doing your own favours, get them involved in it and let them help it will make them feel as though they too are helping with the planning. Maybe doing favours for just the children would be a great idea, ask them what they would like in their favour bags and tell them this is their little job.
My daughter was my only bridesmaid and that is what I wanted, to have other bridesmaids as well as my four children would of been two much! It was what I was happy with.
My daughter came along to my hen party, we went to a lovely hotel for a spa weekend. There was about twelve of us in total, we had lovely food and was pampered with massages, body scrubs, manicures, pedicures etc... it was so nice, I keep saying we must have a spa weekend again! Of course my daughter absolutely loved it, plus it made her feel part of everything.
On the day of your wedding you will be feeling nervous and the last thing you want is to be worrying about the children, so you need to make sure everything is organised for them.
My Daughter, a close friend and I stayed over the night before my wedding at the venue where we were getting married, which was at Ettington Chase Hotel in Stratford-upon-Avon. I felt it was going to be alot easier as the hotel was quite a distance from home and I did not want to be rushing around in the morning. I had everything I needed at my venue to take away any unnecessary stress. I had arranged for my hairstylist and beautician to come to the hotel on the morning too, again another stress gone, you do not want be be rushing around on the morning of your wedding day, organisation is the key!
My husband and my three boys stayed at home so my husband was in charge of getting them up and ready. I remember being in my hotel room getting ready on the morning of my wedding, I looked out the window to see my husband and the boys in their suits, of course they did not see me, I just remember thinking how lovely, smart and grown up they looked. It really was a special moment that I will never forget, very emotional.
We had quite alot of children at our wedding and they were all so well behaved and looked as though they were having a great time, which is what I wanted.
So if you are having children at your wedding I have put together a list that I hope will help with your planning:
My Daughter, a close friend and I stayed over the night before my wedding at the venue where we were getting married, which was at Ettington Chase Hotel in Stratford-upon-Avon. I felt it was going to be alot easier as the hotel was quite a distance from home and I did not want to be rushing around in the morning. I had everything I needed at my venue to take away any unnecessary stress. I had arranged for my hairstylist and beautician to come to the hotel on the morning too, again another stress gone, you do not want be be rushing around on the morning of your wedding day, organisation is the key!
My husband and my three boys stayed at home so my husband was in charge of getting them up and ready. I remember being in my hotel room getting ready on the morning of my wedding, I looked out the window to see my husband and the boys in their suits, of course they did not see me, I just remember thinking how lovely, smart and grown up they looked. It really was a special moment that I will never forget, very emotional.
We had quite alot of children at our wedding and they were all so well behaved and looked as though they were having a great time, which is what I wanted.
So if you are having children at your wedding I have put together a list that I hope will help with your planning:
- I would advise you to have a relative, close friend, or a responsible young adult that you can trust to watch your children throughout the day, you are going to be busy enjoying your day of course! The safety of your children is the most important and you do not want to be worrying about them. This will help you feel more relaxed knowing they are looked after.
- During your wedding ceremony I would advise that your children are with your responsible adult so they can deal with any problems that may occur, it could be anything from them needing the toilet to wanting to go for a wonder, especially if they are very young and can not sit still for a long time, lets face it some wedding ceremonies can go on for over an hour and for a young child its a long time to sit still.
- Speaking to your wedding venue to see if they have a spare room that you can use is a great idea, some people ask to have a television set up in there and you can put a dvd on for them so they can have some quiet time if they are getting a bit over excited, or maybe feeling tired, its a long day for them.
- Hire a couple of childcare Nannies, that's if your budget stretches or if you know a responsible young adult you could invite them to keep an eye on your young guests.
- You could also hire a children's entertainer for a couple of hours, there are ones out there that specialise in weddings, do a web search, just make sure you go for the ones that have good reviews. Do your research!
- Add some activity sheets to your children's favours, you can find children's activity sheets online that you just print off, this is a great idea to keep the little ones occupied during your sit down meal. Mini mega sketchers are also great at keeping the children entertained, that could be another little filler for your younger guests favours.
- One of my good friends had a sweet cart, that was a great idea as the children were constantly kept busy filling their sweet bags up, maybe a good idea would be to have it after the sit down meal!
- If your having a summer wedding then make the most of the outdoors, hire a bouncy castle, they will love that Or you could set up a kids only tent! bring along some toys to put inside to entertain them.
- Another good idea is to seat your younger guests all together, that way they are all in one place, Maybe have a couple adults at the same table, your young responsible adult or if you have hired a Nannie then they can keep an eye on them to make sure they are getting up to any mischief!
Above all I would honestly not worry too much as when children are together they all play and make their own fun, you must remember yourself when you were a child, it was always fun when there were other children around, children have great imaginations!
