Babysitter offered at wedding

I don't have children, but I wouldn't want my children being allowed with someone I don't know or who hasn't watched my children before even if I was in the same building. We had an adults only reception and those that have children had someone they know watch their children. I trusted them to do it themselves rather than me hiring someone that they might not even want to watch their children.

I think it’s nice to offer, but shouldn’t be a requirement. If you don’t want kids at the reception, don’t invite kids.

I think it’s a nice offer, but as PP said I think most people would be hesitant about leaving their children with a stranger. Most people that have small children have babysitters they use & trust and can feel comfortable about leaving their children with for the evening. I feel like having an adult only wedding and reception is just the same as asking friends to go out for drinks and dinner, etc. - it’s an adult only evening and parents know to find a babysitter to watch their children while they are out. I don’t know why weddings would be handled with a different set of rules/etiquette. 🤷🏼‍♀️

I was thinking of doing the same thing but then I had a friend that told me that the guest will figure that stuff out themselves. So I dropped that idea and decide not to worry. I think you should do the same.

I personally think it's a very nice gesture and if it is in your budget then go for it but like most people said I think many parents would rather not leave their child with someone they do not know. Maybe you can ask in Advance if anyone would be open to allowing a sitter to watch their child but I think that you can still stick with the theme and state on the invitation that it is an adult only reception. That way if most people decide to find a sitter because they don't want to leave their child with someone they don't know that is fine. Ultimately if you want to have an adult-only reception there is nothing wrong with that. Most receptions people want to let loose and personally for me I don't feel that having kids around alcohol and adults feeling the need to be filtered is necessary.

I just think this is going to be more hassle than it’s worth. How will you prohibit parents from bringing their kids into the reception room from the babysitting room?

I think this would mostly be useful if you have a lot of OOT guests, who don't have local babysitters in your wedding location. It is typically not that hard to find a babysitter for an evening. But it's much tougher either a) to find a babysitter in your home town willing to take the kids for a weekend, or b) to find a babysitter in a strange city. There are agencies that provide babysitters that have had criminal background checks, etc. For one evening, with the parents close by, that should be enough. But of course, it's a know your crowd situation; some parents would rather stay home than leave their kids with a stranger, even under those circumstances.

I agree with the pp who mentioned the possibility of parents bringing their children from the babysitting room into the reception room. (They go check on little Susie and she's throwing a fit, so they figure, "we'll just bring her down to sit with us." And once someone brings one kid, others may follow suit....) I think it's awesome you want to help, but I'd think this through before you decide to do it. Personally, when we had a young child, I only used my own babysitters whether that meant having someone at our home or making arrangements to leave daughter with my parents when we went to an out-of-town wedding.