Here's a question for the ladies with flowergirls and ring bearers - My ceremony is at my church at 4. My cocktail hour begins at 7 (I know - quite a gap - I hate it!). My FGs are 7 and 3 (my cousin's daughters) and my RB is 3 (my nephew). Should I be having these children at my reception? Is it rude to expect them to go home? On the other hand I don't think it's normal for a 3 year old to stay up until midnight and I want my sister and cousin to enjoy themselves without running after their kids. What is everyone else doing??? Any tips? I was thinking of having a babysitter in the bridal suite but I don't know if that's strange.
bettybcafe
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Re: Children at reception
Well I am not allowing children at my wedding either, except for my FG (9yrs old) and RB (3yrs) but I am not expecting them to leave after the ceremony HOWEVER my wedding ends pretty early..at 8:30pm, so they really wont be staying up that late anyway. If I were in ur situation I wouldnt send them home..if anything, they will fall asleep and you can stick them in the bridal suite lol jk
jessruth9
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Re: Children at reception
We are having between 8-10 kids at our reception. There are lots of young families and good friends. My 2 year old daughter will be hosting her own table at the reception. We are also having coloring books and games in the bridal suite with a babysitter as a kind of playroom. This way the grown ups can have fun knowing their kids are being taken care of by a trained babysitter.
Elise&Matt
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Re: Children at reception
Posted by jessruth9
We are having between 8-10 kids at our reception. There are lots of young families and good friends. My 2 year old daughter will be hosting her own table at the reception. We are also having coloring books and games in the bridal suite with a babysitter as a kind of playroom. This way the grown ups can have fun knowing their kids are being taken care of by a trained babysitter.
That's an excellent idea!! where would I find someone to babysit/entertain kids??
0707Bride
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Re: Children at reception
That sounds great - I need one too!
Sept07Bride
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Re: Children at reception
We have a 2 year old flower girl and her mom (my MOH) made arrangements for her to be picked up after the ceremony, since she would have been the only kid there and my MOH wants to enjoy herself and not have to worry about the baby.
rkl1130
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Re: Children at reception
My FG will just be shy of turning 2 and she will be the only child around. We're letting her stay--her mom is a BM. If worse comes to worse, she's told her in-laws that they might have to come and get her if she gets too cranky.
FutureMrs.T
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Re: Children at reception
My Flower Girls and Ring Bearer will be at the ceremony and cocktail hour, then I have a babysitter coming to pick them up so my sisters and their husbands can enjoy the reception. A wedding that ends at midnight is no place for a 4-5 year old....
jessruth9
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We are getting a baby sitter through the Sheraton we are staying at. They are CPR and First Aid certified. All of my usual FREE babysitters will be partying at the reception.
NY031978
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Re: Children at reception
we had 3 children....my 2 FG...our daughter and neice then our RB was our BM son...
we wanted them all there for as long as possible! We ended up deciding keep them for CH and entrance and have them leave after that.
RB didnt make it....he was beat b4 CH so he left! my daughter was there dancing alllll nite!! And neice stayed about an hr into the Recp
Tiggeruth
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Re: Children at reception
I had all sorts of ages of kids at my wedding. My reception ended at 11:30 and the 2 year old passed out in his stroller around 10, and I had one 3 year old last the whole night and the 3 year old fell asleep on her dads shoulder around 10:30 and then the 7+ girls lasted all night.
I think you should have them there...its fun having kids at the reception.
TnOiOnL
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Re: Children at reception
im having them at the RH.. but i am having my cousins kids too... we're very close and i cant imagine NOT inviting them.
a girl once said on here that her father told her that if u dont invite FG/RB to the RH, it's like you just want them at the ceremony for 'the show'
I agree with this.. I understand its alot of $ and people are on tight budgets. But I also dont think its fair for the parents of the FG/ RB to have to pay for a dress & tux for JUST a ceremony.. ya know?
HeatherRose
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Re: Children at reception
my fg's are 3 and 9 and the rb are 5 and 8.. I am having no children at my wedding but i cannot expect these people to not have there children there.. So far the parents of the 2 ringerbearers and 1 flower girl have said after the cocktail hr. somone is coming to pick them up, they don't want to watch there 3 children at a wedding... 1 flower girl left, but shes 9, so its not so bad, and if they ask me what they sholud do, i can't tell them shes not invited.
Vicky423
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Re: Children at reception
i had them the whole night my ceremony started at 4 and the ch was at 6 30. I made coloring books for them and everyone has been telling me that was the best thing ever because those kids didn;t run around at all they stayed in their chair coloring. Towards the end of the night my rb had fallen asleep lol. I say keep them busy and you will not have any problems.
Melimaup
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Re: Children at reception
I'm not having any kids at my reception except for my two flower girls, junior bridesmaid, and ring bearer....they all are very close so i'm sure they will entertain one another....
Nlynn
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Re: Children at reception
Posted by 0707Bride
Here's a question for the ladies with flowergirls and ring bearers - My ceremony is at my church at 4. My cocktail hour begins at 7 (I know - quite a gap - I hate it!). My FGs are 7 and 3 (my cousin's daughters) and my RB is 3 (my nephew). Should I be having these children at my reception? Is it rude to expect them to go home? On the other hand I don't think it's normal for a 3 year old to stay up until midnight and I want my sister and cousin to enjoy themselves without running after their kids. What is everyone else doing??? Any tips? I was thinking of having a babysitter in the bridal suite but I don't know if that's strange.
I have a 6 hour gap between ceremony and reception and I am not having any kids at my wedding either except for the FG and RB. My reception ends after midnight. Both the RB and FG are 3 years old so If their parents want to leave them home for the reception that is fine with me. I will leave it up to them.
shelby34
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Re: Children at reception
I think the children who are in the wedding should be invited the the reception. You can leave it up to your sister and cousin as to what they want to do, but let them know that you want them to enjoy themselves, so you don't mind if the children don't come.
Cpt2007
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Re: Children at reception
We are allowing kids at our reception. On the invite list right now are about 18 kids ranging from ages 1 to 9. These are all the kids of our close friends and cousins, and since everyone is coming from off the Island (and as far away as New Mexico and California), it just wasn't feasible for us to say no kids. We also love the little guys and we want them there to have fun with us.
We will be getting an 'activity pack' for each one of them: coloring book and crayons, glow bracelets and necklaces, I found some cute lobster hats the other day that I might get for the 2+ y/os, etc.
There are definitely ways to have them there and to not worry too much. Babysitters are one option, and then also if you have older kids there that can be 'minders'...kind of like mother's helpers.
Good luck! I'm sure it will work out fine!
ksl268
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Re: Children at reception
my FG and RB (both are 5 yrs. old)are heading back to the house after the church. We have lined up 2 babysitters for the night to keep them entertained. Both sets of parents did not want to bring them to the reception.
AeroJenn
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Re: Children at reception
My MOH's brother and wife had a NO KIDS rule at their reception. Basically, they could come to the ceremony, but they werent allowed at the reception. Even her flowergirls and RB had to go back to the hotel.
Here's the thing: My MOH said it was the best wedding she's ever been to. She said that all the family that normally doesnt drink and stuff because they have to watch their kids, were up and having an amazing time. So, moral of the story -- she felt it was a great idea to not have kids at the reception.
