Kids at the Wedding

You could maybe look for someone who is not a common babysitter, but a person who will organise the activities for kids, occupy them, play with them, do something creative...?

If you don’t want kids there, don’t invite them. Parents will figure out childcare, even if they’re from out of town. If they can’t, then they’ll decline. I wouldn’t expect most parents to leave their kids with a sitter they haven’t met/vetted before so I don’t think that’s a realistic plan.

This is one of those things you will have to just make a decision about, and then stick to your guns, even if people decline. Some people may be ok with a sitter for a group of kids, but most will prob prefer their own sitter, and will arrange for that.

We aren’t doing kids at the wedding except for the ones in the wedding party. We hired a baby sitter who will set up in another room with activities at the venue. The parents are okay with it because the kids are so close by. We found the sitter at https://www.weddingsitter.com/


I agree that people will figure out child care or they won’t come. If you don’t want kids don’t have kids.

I’m not having children at my wedding. And I honestly don’t care if they can’t find a babysitter, because I didn’t decide that yesterday. So if you’ve been vocal about it for a while they’ve had time. So don’t stress it. And stick to what you want. Cause I know I’m not having children because food is about $30/ person. And I’m not paying for a plate for children for them to not eat if.

Its completely up to you, I don't think you need to provide childcare, because as a parent, I would just find someone myself. But keep in mind there will be people who decline because of it, so you have to weigh if having them there is worth having kids there or not. For us, we have too many kids in our families and we'd rather celebrate with all those family members than have them decline because we chose to exclude kids.

We've considered going that route (finding a local babysitter), but then we've actually talked to some of the parent's we've invited and they all told us that they would not leave their kids with an unvetted stranger and that they will be leaving the children at home, usually with the other set of grandparents.

It's not your responsibility to find someone to watch other peoples' children. Full stop. It's a nice thought, but agreeing with PP above - most people wouldn't leave their kids with an unvetted stranger. I have a cousin who asked if her kid could come, kinda sneakily, I might add and I just PM'd her and said no. No kids. It's your night off, I hope you and your husband can still make it.