A note to those having small kids at a wedding reception :-)

No offense but people don't plan their weddings around a few child guests! Lol. For example not having centerpieces and favours I want because of children. Don't mean to sound harsh and I'm sure many will disagree with me, but just my opinion. You can't be annoyed with a bride or the venue if things are 'annoying' for those with children.

Ooh no, def have table centres! They are stunning! But just please don't put them were your small guest can grab them if they are a choking issue :-) If you do want to put them all over the table please don't get upset if I push them back from my Childs place (this was with table crystals)

And favours, great do them as well. But would you really give something that a 4 month old physically can't use etc then get upset when they don't use them? (Went to a wedding where a colouring kit was left for my 4 month old. I thought it was super sweet they included him and took them home. The bride got very upset that he hadn't coloured like the other kids. I tried to explain he couldn't even sit in a high chair but she said I was ungrateful for not making him colour. I'd like to note I didn't bring this up, she asked to see his picture. He also slept through the meal so had no need to even see his favour pack).

Thanks Snowbride - I find this really useful the seating bit and glasswear element - we have teacups on our tables hadn't crossed my mind not to put it there - we have a 3, 5 and 9 year old coming along. We don't have any spready table glitter or anything - it drives me mental - we have decorated stones including for the children but will place them out of reach so the parents have them but not in reach!

What would you do for the smaller ones (3 & 5) for plates? We have smaller china ones would we be best with plastic instead for them?

I'd class yours as older ones so they can all eat off normal plates :-) The teacups won't be an issue either.

Its when you give the full silver service to an under 2 (the plates will become drums... Lol)

This is a great thread, we dont have children and i find these tips helpful!

Good thread! Nice to have input from parents. I want to accommodate as much as I can for our little guests. So will be keeping an eye on here for any more advice :-)

Thanks! I think this is great, my friends have children but when I ask them if they need anything etc they tend to say it will be fine and I think they are just wanting for us not to stress or for them to be treated differently (the parents that is).

Great idea for a thread!

As a wedding photographer I see exactly what you mean!

Points from me are

If you have a family with a very young baby they often want to bring the pushchair/pram into the room for it to sleep in. Seat these guests on the outer edge of the room, against a wall so that the pram can be placed against a wall and out of the walkways. I have seen first-time parents insist on placing their pram right in the centre of the room, blocking the path of staff because it MUST be right next to their seats at the table!

If you have a family with "lively" kids seat them away from the top table so that the noise they make is not picked up on the videographers microphone.

Paula, good point on the pram!

At my brothers wedding last year my youngest (5 months) was soundo in her car seat do I asked if I could swap her highchair for a chair and put the car seat in it. The venue refused saying it was against H & S?! My choices were sit her in her highchair, hold her or take her out of the room. Me and OH ended up taking in turns holding her. Nothing the B & G could have done but wasn't impressed with the venue!

Ooh good post, thanks for this. Will take note of comments re place settings, buggies and favours.

I am going to give colouring books as favours for the 3 and 5 year old with non toxic crayons. Was thinking that for the older ones, 8, 10 and 13 that i would give them a cheap disposable camera with a list of "i spy" things to take pictures of- does that sound ok or will it drive their parents mad? Was thinking that as they are older they can walk around the room with their list and camera, taking pictures of the bride, cake, first dance etc so they don't get bored. I've seen bibs with bow ties and braces on so thought these would be cute for the 10 and 13 month old boys. Not sure if the two year old should get a colouring book or bib??

I really want to include our friend's children in our wedding as they are all important to us. Xxx

Mrs Loyd - Potentially both :-) My 2 year old is pretty messy! Lol.

Why didn't you just switch places with one of your kids so that you had at least one parent by each of them? I'm sure the seating plan wouldn't have imploded.

We only have a few younger children coming to our wedding. The youngest is 2 1/2. Our favours for children are mason glass drinking jars that their drinks will be served in (hopefully reducing spillages) and will have a tag on with their name and a message saying take me home. I asked the mother of the youngest child and showed her the glass. She said yes to give it her daughter and they would supervise, she also said not to order her a meal as she wouldn't eat it and they will feed her bits of their plates. I think if you're unsure it's worth talking to the parents, as all children are different.

I agree with the point about centre pieces etc. I'd much rather place them out of reach than have a child pull them over, I'd also not use scatter crystals anywhere near young children as they are a choking hazard. This isn't planning your wedding around children, it's being considerate of differing needs of different guests - just as we have arranged a small private room for a seriously disabled niece who may need changing (she's 18). As for favours, yes we're having them but we're trying to give guests favours that suit so they don't go to waste - children getting the glasses, adults alcohol favours, adult non-drinkers scottish butter tablet. There are endless comments in other threads about favours going to waste, this is more likely if you give everyone the same thing - we have a perfume atomiser for our disabled niece as she is tube fed.

These are the glasses in case anyone is interested.

Think you've missed the point Mrs B88, it's just a few handy hints to help your guests who happen to be parents have a slightly easier time thus improving the experience of other guests. Snow bride isn't suggesting that you arrange your wedding around children.

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This is helpful. Not having kids at my wedding so doesn't apply to me for that however I may be taking my baby to a cousins wedding when he's about a month old and whilst she said he is more than welcome and will be one of 30 children(!) I'd like to know how best to handle this. Like having the pram out of the way! Is there anything else I should be mindful of? Obviously if he cries during the ceremony or speeches I'd remove myself and little one immediately!

This is useful stuff, thanks! I have nothing to contribute but wanted to post so I can come back to it.

This is very useful! Great idea for a post. We have a 16 month old and have lots of children coming to our wedding so great pointers. We have a couple of small babies coming so great shout about seating them on the outer tables for access to the usual paraphernalia

I kind of support this, we had two babies at our wedding and I just left their parents to it. They were grateful their babies were invited as they knew we had a no kids rule and had made an exception for them, and it meant they didn't have to find babysitters. There's no way I would allow the fact babies are coming to dictate our centrepieces, favours or anything else. I did facebook message both sets of parents beforehand asking them to let me know if there were any special requests but they both said not to worry, they knew we had a billion things to organise without worrying about their kids!

We didn't have assigned seating so people could choose where they wanted/needed to sit. Also, our friends/family with kids would rather work around others than have special arrangements.

That being said, I think the tips are helpful so people without kids or experience on these things can consider them.

Baby wipes are brilliant, just a packet in the loos works wonders on grubby hands and faces!

We got married 10 days ago and had 16 children ranging from 2-12 for the day, including our own two daughters aged 5 & 9 - we made activity bags for the kids for during the meal, there was a giant inflatable obstacle course outside to keep them entertained while guests arrived and before we went through for dinner, and then because it was an enclosed area that most could see from the barn, the kids had free range and popped out during the meal if they got tired/bored/restless etc.

We had the kids meals bought out first - as a parent, there is nothing more annoying than having your dinner in front of you going cold while you sort the childs one out, or a whingy kid because they don't have food!!

It is useful to see all of the ideas on this thread. I think I fit somewhere inbetween the two sets of views on here to be honest. I can understand that it is important to cater to the children if you have invited them, but also wouldn't want to organise my decor around them. From my point of view, it is the parents' responsibility to ensure that they don't choke on anything that is on the table!

Some really good ideas on here too. I will be adding baby wipes to my toiletries basket in the toilet!

Seating plan - Move seats

Table decs - move them

Table settings - get the venue to take them away

Favours - Hide them

Kids boxes - move them

^ that.

This thread is so weird. I'm a parent but still think it's unnecessary. Seriously, talk about making people overthink things/worry! As a mum it's quite simple- if your child is seated between you and you want them on the edge, or vice versa, move. If there are grabbable things within your childs grabbing distance, move them. If you think the favours are unsuitable for your child, move them.

^ exactly this!! im a mother and wil be having a fw children also to my wedding ut i fully expect their parents to take responsibility eg watch their baby doesn choke on my crystals n take the cutlery of them so they cant bang it on a table lol!! though i see where the OP is coming from in a roundabout helpful way

Seating Plan - I would have done, but we were followed directly by the bride and groom and the speeches then started. We were sat in a corner so had to ask others to stand to get to our seats. To have been able to swap my chair for a highchair I would have had to lift them up over each other during the speeches.

Table Decs - I did, I then got told off for ruining the 'symmetry' of the table.

Table Settings - I did, but it was annoying for them as they were serving food.

Favours / Kids Boxes - I did, but as my child joined me at the table at the same time he'd seen them. There's also the time the bride was 'upset' my 4 month old hadn't drawn her a picture using the crayons. I nicely explained he'd actually slept through the whole meal, plus wasn't using crayons etc yet and she wasn't impressed.