Kids in Wedding but not at Reception!

Ehh, I kind of think you have to do something for those 10 kids. Can you have a room with some babysitters or something? And kid activities and pizza?

Hmmmm.....tricky one. I would say don't invite them at all if that's the case. Parents have to figure out what to do with them after the ceremony and they probably won't bring them anyway since it seems as though it would be more of a hassle. I had about 14 kids at our wedding and it was pleasant. I made a Thank You gift bag for them that included a wedding activity booklet, s'mores kit, pencil crayons, a disposable camera and an I spy game (they had to take pictures of the things on the game card). They had a blast and didn't have issues. But if you don't want kids at the reception, I personally wouldn't invite them at all or invite only some kids but invite them to both the ceremony and the reception. It's rude not to and ceremonies are boring for kids anyway.

You need to have a kid's room and babysitter(s). Pizza and movie night in an adjacent room.ETA: Or something like that.

I would NEVER want ten kids in my wedding. I would much rather those ten children enjoy the reception, rather then stress me out by being part of the ceremony. IMO

It's rude. Either invite them or don't invite them at all. They really do not want to be there anyway.

Hmm... It seems kind of rude to ask them to be in your wedding and then send them home right after. Kind of like you're just using them.

Yeah i agree with above posters.

What we are doing is we have a RB and FG. They will sty until after dinner and a little dancing. By choice, their parents will have the grandparents (not our family/not invited) come pick their kids up so they can party. Thecouple is my FBIL and his wife, and they chose to have their kids be picked up. i would have been more than happy to have the kids stay the whole time.

Thanks for the feedback. I figured that would be the response. I only wanted 1 child in the wedding but am getting a lot of push back from the other side. I feel like I am putting out the parents of the kids if they have to come to the reception. I may look into the babysitter option too. If anyone was in a similar situation I would love to hear how you resolved it!

^^^^What everyone else said. They are not props. They are people.

Just do not invite kids. We are probably not going to invite children either because our venue warned us about how grossly irresponsible parents are at weddings. I have seen it first hand and I personally do not want to deal with someone else's kid.

If parents don't want to bring their kids to the reception that's there choice. You don't get to decide if you're putting them out or not. I promise you, any parent who doesn't want to deal with their kid at the reception will find someway to get a sitter for them

I agree with Celia that it is rude. Don't have the in the wedding if they can't celebrate after with everyone else!

Thanks! I don't want them to be a prop at all and don't want to offend anyone. Just wanted to make people happy by including them in the wedding but making myself happy by not having them at the reception!

I'm having kids at both my ceremony and reception, but more than likely only 3 will come. MY FG, RB, and their baby sister. To keep them quiet during the ceremony, I am giving them crayons, coloring books, and gummies to my FG and RB (which won't mess up their white outfits before pictures), the baby will only be 6 months old and with her mom, so she'll be fine.

I have about 10 kids in my ceremony and they are all coming to the wedding. We have an indoor ceremony room that will double as their room when they get bored out annoying at the ceremony. They will get to eat dinner with us and dance with us. If they decide not to hang out with us, they can go to the other room and play games or color or whatever. That would be rude to not include them.

FWIW, I was just at my brother's wedding in August. It was a younger crowd (he's about 30), the dance floor was packed, there were over 5 kids there (cause our big brother has 5, himself, and I saw a few I wasn't related to...) and they were no problem. Yes, they were on the dance floor, b but no more rowdy than anyone else. They behaved and were quiet for the speeches. Just thought I'd offer another perspective.

Don't think it's considered appropriate, but my guess is that it would bother the parents vs really upsetting the kids.

the kids and the parents might be fine with the kids just being in the wedding and not at the reception- the kids may not want to go. maybe you should just run the idea by the parents and see what everyone thinks, then go from there. what if you set it up with a few adults to take them to a gaming center and ice cream after the wedding instead. a special party thank you for being in the wedding that is special just for them.

We allowed kids at our ceremony and reception. They behaved really well and I didn't have anything special set up just for them. All of the other guests enjoyed having the youngsters around.

HOLY SHIT! 10 kids in your wedding?? That's not a wedding, that's a circus. The honor of being flower girl or ring bearer totally goes out the window when there are 10 kids involved!! Please re-think that.

We have a ring bearer (age 6) and flower girl (age 3). We are NOT having them at the reception and I disagree with comments that this is rude. Their parents are HAPPY to hand them off to the grandparents during the cocktail hour so that they (our closest friends, the parents are in our bridal party) can celebrate with us and enjoy themselves. I have been to weddings where the couple had their own child in the wedding and then someone came to pick the child up so the parents could enjoy their wedding.

I do think 10 kids in your wedding is awefully a lot of kids in your wedding party.

I also think its rude to have them in your ceremony and not invite them to your reception.

We are having 2 FGs(ages 8 and 3.), of course they are invited to the reception...they're coming all the way from freaking Canada!

There will also be 2 other kids invited to the wedding. (around the same ages), cousins of mine...they are both well behaved and will have fun, I don't see our wedding as a chance for people to get overly drunk. Sure there'll be alcohol, but their parents are responsible people (and both set of parents) don't even drink..... kids can enjoy dancing, don't see what the problem is?