family wedding -- no kids

[samssugarmomma]

What kind of kid-friendly activities would be helpful? We'll both want to cater to kids and families of kids.....what would make things easier/more fun for them?

Hmm....for us.....an area where the kids could play/sit without the chance of being stepped on by people that weren't expecting a short person to be there! Maybe a little section that is designated the "kid section" with a few floor pillows or a blanket and books? Or crayons and paper or bubbles? We brought all of that stuff for DD and it did help....
Maybe a cheap-age appropriate craft that doesn't involve anything like glue or glitter - like using pipe cleaners and tissue paper to make their own flower bouquet - or something else that fits into the theme of your wedding. We got married around Thanksgiving and had the stuff for the kids to make Indian-stle headbands and turkeys...

I'll stop now!

[Vishenka69]

We didn't specify "no kids" and I wish we did. Originally it was only suppose to be 2 of my distant cousins, one of whom was my flower girl. They are pretty well behaved and I knew I could trust the parents to keep tabs on them. But because we didn't specify "adults only" one my of MIL's co-workers decided to bring her 6 year old. The kid was annoying me the entire reception and is all over my video. She constantly had to be shooed away from the cake, decided to dance in the middle of the room during the toasts and in general did whatever she wanted.

Opening the invite to everyone, also opens the door for all kinds of kid situations, which are easily avoided by a kid-free event.

[SuzySunshine]

Opening the invite to everyone, also opens the door for all kinds of kid situations, which are easily avoided by a kid-free event.

You shouldn't have to say no kids - if the child's name or and family isn't on the invitation - they're not invited. That is one wedding pet peeve that REALLY bugs me. If we invited two from your family, there is a reason and no you can't bring six!

[samssugarmomma]

You shouldn't have to say no kids - if the child's name or and family isn't on the invitation - they're not invited. That is one wedding pet peeve that REALLY bugs me. If we invited two from your family, there is a reason and no you can't bring six!

ITA!

[alison]

You shouldn't have to say no kids - if the child's name or and family isn't on the invitation - they're not invited. That is one wedding pet peeve that REALLY bugs me. If we invited two from your family, there is a reason and no you can't bring six!

ITA!

I agree.

Agree with all of ya'll. Our wedding was totally out of control. We had probably close to 350 - 400 at our reception!!! This was not planned. DH and I didn't invite some of our closest friends so that we could save money. However, this didn't stop my sisters from inviting all of their college and high school buddies.

And... my stepmother has 8 siblings, all of whom were invited with guest. They chose to also bring along their kids, kid's spouses, and grandkids. I am not joking- this added probably 60 extra people to our list!!! The wedding was after 6 in the evening, so it was black tie, and these kids were in shorts- not the cute suit jacket and short combo, more like backyard play clothes. The caterers worked their tails off to accomodate. Uh, did I mention this was at a museum, so we had to hire guards to watch the priceless artifacts- well, these poor guards earned their pay that night!!! I was so embarassed DH and I paid for most of the wedding, but when things got out of control, I left my dad with the remaining $15,000. tab for all the extra crap!!! AUGHHH- this was over 6 years ago, and I am still pissed!

[SuzySunshine]

I truly and seriously think they should require an etiquette class sometime in school. People have completely lost their marbles on what is appropriate these days and what isn't in social functions.

[Flynn]

I truly and seriously think they should require an etiquette class sometime in school. People have completely lost their marbles on what is appropriate these days and what isn't in social functions.

ITA.

If there is any question of the proper intention of an invitation or wedding I just ask. In this particular case the "invitation" was so informal people threw it away as junk mail. After seeing what they couple viewed as an "invitation" I just started asking questions to my aunt (MOTB) so I would be following the bride and groom's wishes. I'm not going to assume anything with this wedding!

When I became a hard-ass about the head-count for our American wedding (we had two: American & Indian), my MIL un-invited her friend / their family (the ONLY friend who had been nice to me and I really wanted them there) so that her 3 aunts could come. They would be coming to the Indian wedding 2 days later, and the women didn't speak English ... but MIL made sure they were there.

And one of dh's cousins brought his MIL. We didn't even know until we were looking over the photographers proofs and said "who the hell is that?"

[DCJenn]

My husband's step-brother wanted to bring his mother. Needless to say, my MIL, the actual wife of the step-brother's father didn't think that was such a great idea.

What sucked was that they were such weenies about it that it of course fell to my husband to call his step-brother and tell him that he couldn't bring his mother.

I don't even know why the step-brother even thought that was a good idea but this is the same guy who just broke both elbows drunk-skateboarding because he didn't want to drink and drive. (smart but yet so, so dumb.)

Jenn

[Vanquisher]

After my wedding, I wished we would have said "no kids," but now I don't think that would have worked. With the large number of kids in our families, I think more than not, people would have been insulted, and it would have left a far more lasting impression with them and my relationships than the fact that Chad's cousin screamed during my ceremony and her mother would not remove her. If your kids are screaming, please remove them!

My kids have often been the only kids at several weddings. Ryan's been the ring bearer at FIVE of them. I think you get special permission to bring your kids if they are in the wedding party.

It would probably upset me if my kids were not imvited to a wedding because of the difficulty of going without them. I would just depend on my relationship to the couple getting married and how close we were.