Wedding Sitter

Our son is 14 months. My mom will be watching him the night of the wedding and my MIL will be with him during the wedding. We just got some coloring books, and I’m planning on making him a goodie bags with treats and stuff. FH will take him the night before the wedding and have him all day since I have to go get hair and makeup done, watch venue set up, etc. It’s definitely a lot harder to plan when your kids are involved!

We have a few children where we will have them apart of everything unril about jalfway through the reception. Then they will be in the grooms get ready room with a supervisor (most likely gma) with a tv for movies and recliners to start to lay down

Hey Kaila! Congratulations on your engagement!

Since your kids are quite young, I would suggest organizing some sort of activity to keep them occupied during your reception. This could be some coloring books or building blocks, just something fun that will hold their attention.

Do you have some family members that the children are comfortable with that they could sit with during the ceremony so that you can focus on getting married!

Will your children have a part in your ceremony, like ring bearers or flower girls?

We will only have my 8, 3, and 1 yo nephew and FH's 8 yo nephew. The older 3 are our ring bearer and "security" and I have been told that the 1 yo will be there because "it's likely the last time we will all be dressed up together for a family picture". Outside of that, we are not having kids. I know the baby might cause some stink but my mom wants him there so she can deal with the stink.

We are hiring a babysitter for the 3 older boys because it is VERY likely that my brother and SIL will disappear over the night and I don't want my parents to feel obligated to watch them. FH's BIL is also a terrible person and starts fight with his son for no reason so I am hoping to avoid an unnecessary meltdown there. SIL's parents (who hate my family for whatever reason) are also now coming (against my wishes but I'm not paying so I just have to accept it) to watch the 1 yo and take him back to the hotel when necessary.

We also have a small room across the hall from our ballroom so we are going to set the boys up in there with some things to keep them occupied and kind of out of the way. I also have a small portable projector that they can put a movie on the wall with later in the evening. Obviously they will be old enough to decide if they want to hang out with us in the main ballroom too, but who knows how long that will capture their attention.

We have a kid's room at our venue. It has a dozen bean bags, a TV, and a Wii. We hired a local company that works at our venue a lot, "The Nanny Brigade" to watch kids. We mentioned this on a details card we put in envelopes for families with kids, we also mentioned the kids meal that will be served.

I have a 5 year old watching this for more advice. She's the flower girl.

View Quoted Comment We were doing this, too, but I came under lots of heat from friends with children. They took offense. And this area is located where they could pop in anytime to check on their child. I thought I was doing something nice for them and their little ones.

View Quoted Comment I'm so sorry you did! I consulted 4 moms prior with small kids before the wedding. Our details card made it very clear it was optional, but the ones that I talked to thought it was a great idea. Our venue is a working horse facility so kids cannot be unsupervised walking around ever.

Hey Kaila! Have you decided what activities you will have your kids to enjoy?