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Melissa
Beginner October 2020

Halloween wedding date - but groomsmen have kids

Melissa, on August 3, 2019 at 6:28 PM

Posted in Etiquette and Advice 44

Hello again! I feel like I'm posting constantly in these forums. Anywho, to get to the heart of the matter, my ideal wedding date is friday 10/30/2020. For spiritual reasons (it's close to a spiritual holiday but not on it) and it's on a blue moon (so romantic! At least to my cheesy nature-loving...
Hello again! I feel like I'm posting constantly in these forums. Anywho, to get to the heart of the matter, my ideal wedding date is friday 10/30/2020. For spiritual reasons (it's close to a spiritual holiday but not on it) and it's on a blue moon (so romantic! At least to my cheesy nature-loving butt). However, there's this venue I ADORE and it's part of the Massachusetts Audubon Society, but they only do weddings on Saturdays and Sundays. So to book this venue I'd have to change my date...to Halloween.

As much as I adore Halloween, I was trying to avoid having it conflict with my spiritual holiday annnnd make it so guests with kids don't have to choose between family traditions or me and my fiance. Two of his groomsmen have kids, one is a few months old at the time of this post, and the other groomsman's kids are I think 3 and 5. So they'd be about 4 and 6 I think. How do I handle this?


I know it sounds dumb but I really love this venue and really was hoping for an October wedding (October is my favorite month) if not one that has that moon...

44 Comments

  • Samantha
    VIP October 2020
    Samantha ·
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    Personally, I’d choose to take my kids trick or treating rather than attend a wedding but you don’t know unless you ask. Only you know how important your date is to you. But generally, fewer guests will be able to attend if you hold your wedding on a holiday.
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  • October2019
    Dedicated October 2019
    October2019 ·
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    During your wedding you can have candy you give out to the kids or at the reception they can go around to each table and someone can give them candy they you already provided.
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  • Gen
    Champion June 2019
    Gen ·
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    If I were you I’d do November 1 or why not the weekend before?
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  • Melissa
    Beginner October 2020
    Melissa ·
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    That would be cute!
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  • Melissa
    Beginner October 2020
    Melissa ·
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    The weekend before is my birthday weekend and I don't want my FH to hate his life every anniversary haha 😅
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  • S
    Beginner October 2020
    Suzie ·
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    I second the chipping in for a babysitter idea. The adults get to enjoy the wedding, the kiddos don’t miss Halloween, and there will be fewer kids running around getting in the way. But I don’t care for little kids so I’m biased lol.

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  • J
    Master 0000
    Judith ·
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    The very young kids, it does not matter at all. They would not care if they missed, but got to put on a costume between ceremony and reception start, and collected a couple if treats and were made much of. I went to a Halloween wedding 3 years ago with. 1 year old princess, , a 2 year old magician in a tux and top hat, and a 3 yr old fairy with a wand. They looked like kids in party clothes mostly, but we're happy to accept little stuffed pumpkins, and treats, from the wedding desserts and candy favors table. And cocoa with tiny marshmallows. As for the other groomsman, talk to him. And it depends on the time if your wedding. But lots of towns discourage parents and kids out on the streets in the dark or at twilight, and provide an earlier in the day event , like a school or library haunted house, where people go room to room in spooky lighting, and get treats and show off costumes. At 1 pm to 3 pm. It would be a shame to schedule around the guy, only to have him take the kids somewhere hours before usual trick or treating, because they are so young. A lot of parents prefer these events.
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  • J
    Master 0000
    Judith ·
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    Depends on your religion, but some guests may celebrate Nov 1 as a Saints Day, or visit cemeteries to honor their dead on All Saints Day or day of the Dead . ( Halloween is All Hallows Eve, originally, and precedes a holy day for many .). You do not say, but if you are going to Belmont Habitat, the week if Halloween about half of the time is rainy and cold at least 3 days of the week, piles of leaves are wet and blowing even if it clears up. Why they stop doing events at the end of October. I would want to do one there no later than the 3rd week in October, before rain and crisply cold nights make for half bare trees, and a need for a coat not a shawl evenings. Mid October it is often 60-65 degrees at 8 pm. Halloween, anywhere from 45- 55 in Belmont. I lived in Waverly Square a mile away. Stuff in gardens, and apples on trees, often freeze in the last days before Halloween. No bare shoulders coming and going from the tent to the old home, jackets needed. Big difference in 2 weeks.
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  • NextChapterReady
    Super October 2019
    NextChapterReady ·
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    You should check and see if Trick or Treat is actually organized on a Saturday in your town! Everywhere I've lived they have children trick or treat on a weeknight for safety reasons!

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  • Sara
    Devoted April 2020
    Sara ·
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    This is just my personal opinion/situation but I have children and so does half of my bridal party so I would personally not do it on a holiday where parents are usually involved in activities with their kids. I personally would not want a babysitter enjoying trick or treating with them instead of me. However if this is what you and FH want and there is one or two groomsmen who have kids talk with them before setting on anything to see where they stand. I’m not sure how this would effect your guest turn out but I guess that’s also a know your crowd thing.
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  • Cheryl
    Expert November 2020
    Cheryl ·
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    I just had this conversation two weeks ago with my bridesmaid whose been my bestie for 22 years. She has a son who will be 12 and I floated the idea. She wasn't thrilled. She said NOTHING for like a full minute. Her son's actual birthday is the Saturday before and she was more interested in that than a Halloween wedding. Halloween has always been a big deal in my family too, so there's that. We're getting married in Hershey, so we're having Hershey candy as our table "numbers" anyway. We were going to let the kids come in their costumes and trick or treat at each table. Our venue only allows 60 people for the ceremony November-March, which won't work. We really can't have it earlier for several reasons and the two weekends before, the venue is having a jackolantern festival. I dont want them in my pictures! So we have to talk to the venue and see. They may not even do weddings those two weekends because of that. The weekend of 10/10, the themepark isnt open and FH is adamant that he will ride coasters the next day. Halloween is ruining October! (Calm down parents, I'm mostly kidding.)
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  • Potato
    Savvy October 2019
    Potato ·
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    My FH and I are getting married Halloween of this year. We're having an afternoon ceremony, and whoever needs to leave to go trick or treating can by reception time (we're not allowing children under 12 since my sister is 12).
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  • Ivy ORP
    VIP October 2019
    Ivy ORP ·
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    I'm assuming it is Samhain you wish to celebrate in which case, there are plenty of pluses and minuses here which you seem to be aware of. The venue may seem almost perfect right now, but you do have time to find something that might be even better. I know we did. The wedding on Halloween will definitely be an issue for families with young children, and that is something to consider as well as your own preparations for the holiday. The added bonus of a blue moon makes me think it might be best to keep an open mind when it comes to the venue. I would recommend getting a must book by date from this venue and keep looking. You can always circle back if it is really the one. Good luck!

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  • S
    Just Said Yes October 2020
    Sherri ·
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    I am too, but how do u decorate when its during the day and still feel like its Halloween?

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  • Potato
    Savvy October 2019
    Potato ·
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    We're actually keeping the ceremony basic and plain. People are coming in costume if they feel like it! The reception we're attempting to decorate (the reception will be inside). Using skeletons, skulls, spiders, web, Halloween candy... dark colors and my FH is wearing skulls all over himself!
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  • Briana
    Savvy October 2021
    Briana ·
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    I've thought about this too (as far as people with kids) and fortunately we don't really have many family/friends with young kids. However, what time does the wedding start? Most young kids go trick-or-treating early anyway! It's a win win!

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  • Kelsey
    Savvy December 2021
    Kelsey ·
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    I'm getting married on Halloween. I think the approach to having children at a Halloween wedding has a lot to do with how the parents look at it. If the parents seem really upset about having to reschedule the holiday, that is going to translate to the kids. Even if the parents aren't the most thrilled, if they approach their kids with options and different but equally fun ways to celebrate, the kids will typically be a lot more optimistic. Just make sure to talk to the parents and maybe suggest celebrating the Friday or weekend before as alternatives. If some RSVP 'no' you may have to just accept it and move on, but don't let the holiday stop you from having the wedding that you want, on the day you want it.


    Out of all our invitees, there will be 5 children invited, ages 2, 2, 3, 7, and 8 at the time of the wedding. For the toddlers, the parents were not concerned at all. These children are honestly too young to comprehend looking at a calendar and being like "today's Halloween, time to celebrate". For the toddlers, the parents are tentatively planning to do something the night before with their children (we are also having a costume party for the rehearsal dinner). The children are so young that no one questions if they will understand the difference between the 30th and 31st.


    For the 7 and 8 year old, these are my FH's only niece and nephew so unfortunately their mom has had to explain to them that Halloween will have to be moved this year. They were initially disappointed, until she offered to take them to local community events the weekend before and the Friday before. Now they see it as having two Halloween's, twice the candy and twice the fun.

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  • Jill
    Jill ·
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    How do you celebrate Halloween the weekend before? You can't go trick or treating around the neighborhood.

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  • Kelsey
    Savvy December 2021
    Kelsey ·
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    I live in a city that isn't very trick-or-treat friendly, so a lot of community venues have celebrations. Our local YMCAs, youth centers and a few local churches offer events in the weeks before Halloween. Plus, while trick or treating is a wonderful part of Halloween, it is not the end-all-be-all. After all, if it were to be pouring one year on Halloween, or there was an early snowstorm, most people would consider alternatives, instead of declaring Halloween ruined and done with because of the inability to trick or treat. We are treating our wedding like this- a one time inconvenience that isn't ideal but also isn't something drastic enough to cancel our wedding for. You'll be surprised the options there are to celebrate if you look around!

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  • Jill
    Jill ·
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    My hometown has a party like that too. When I was a kid, the party was usually on Halloween. I think it's been moved to a different day now. I was definitely thinking of the trick or treating aspect when I commented. I honestly kinda forgot about all the little parties. TBH, I'm kinda astonished that people with kids would choose to miss a once in a lifetime wedding of a family member or friend to go trick or treating with their kids. They can do that every year. A person hopefully only gets married once.

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