Wedding Creche

We had one at ours and it worked a treat. We chose to have one as we had a lot of kids there due to it being our wedding and our daughter's christening...and we wanted her to have as much fun as possible, it being her special day as well. Where do you live? If it's Hampshire/Surrey I can wholeheartedly recommend the company we used and give you more details about them.

They based the number of nannies on the number of children (3 nannies for 15 kids), we had a seperate room which they set up with colouring books, pens, stickers, ball pool, cars, train sets, board games, TV and DVD's - it was all tailored to the children's ages and all the toys were immaculate. The children LOVED it! One of the nannies also babysat our daughter for us once she'd gone to bed (none of our usual babysitters could do it as they were all having fun at the party!). I'm so glad we chose to do it. Weddings can be horribly boring for children which is why a lot of them just run around getting under everyone's feet. I'm happy to say this didn't happen at ours...the kids had a ball...and so did their parents knowing their children were being well looked after and having fun!

Two words....DO IT!

Thanks Babybee, the wedding is in Yorkshire.

The hotel will give us a room that we can put kids in, the idea would be for parents to drop the kids off before the ceremony (the whole thing is in the hotel) and then the hotel will serve the kids food after that, so that parents can be with the kids if they wish whilst we're having a drink / photos. Then the weding breakfast and then kids can join us once that's finished, I think about 3 hours in all. At the moment we haven't really sorted the guest list so I don;t know how many kids will come, but the ages could range from 1 year to 12. Do you think that a Creche could work?

Thanks for the advice, much appreciated x

Hello! Shame you're so far away and the company we used was excellent! Sounds a bit similar to our set up, although we had the children eat with us and the creche was open from 6-9. The older children could come and go as they pleased (they ranged from 6mths to 12) and we thought they wouldn't use it...but they did! I was worried that the children wouldn't want to use it and the nannies would have a wasted trip, but it was really popular. The parents loved that their children were having fun and they could relax and enjoy the reception. All the nannies were qualified (either as teachers/nursery nurses/child minders etc), although we did have the option to have non qualified. We only had to give them a rough idea of numbers when we booked and confirmed all the names and ages a week before the wedding. They were very thorough and wanted to know of any allergies, special needs etc.

It certainly worked very well for us and I would recommend it. It sounds like you've really thought about it and certainly think it would work for you. Do you have children of your own? If not, perhaps ask a friend or relative who has what sort of things they'd want to know before leaving their child with someone (or they could phone any potential candidates for you!). As soon as we met the lady who ran our set up, we had great confidence in her, she was genuine, seemed caring and was highly organised and efficient but not in a scary way!

Good luck in your search.

Surely it's the responsibility of the parents to keep their children well behaved - or take them outside if they can't be - if they want to bring them to your wedding?

I don't think this question is about whether or not the parents keep their children well behaved or not. I'm not having children to mine but if I did, and it was alot, then I would certainly consider it. I think there's a lot to be said for having something to keep the children occupied and happy through the day, plus then the parents can relax a little too knowing where they are and that they are having a good time.

? surprise!

Surely if there are a lot of children going, organising a creche to keep the kids entertained is only the same as organising something for the evening to keep the adults entertained?

Very good point indeed!! Never thought of it that way before!

AJ - yes, indeed it is the responsibility for parents to keep their children entertained, but I think if the offer of a creche was there, then most parents would jump at the chance. I know the parents would appreciate it hugely and the children will love it. Happy parents + happy kids = very happy bride and groom. We had so many grateful parents (and non-parents!) thanking us for the thoughtfulness of the creche, thought it was a great idea and enabled them to have a very relaxed time.

I think you'll probably find that the majority of parents would jump at the chance! We canvassed opinion from all the parents coming and they all said yes please, but it might be worth checking with a handful first to see what they think. They could always phone and speak to the creche company if they needed reassurance about anything. The to-ing and fro-ing is a good point though. But you'd have to weigh up whether having umpteen children having dinner with you would be more disruptive than a few adults discreetly popping in and out every now and then. We had all the children eat with us and join the creche later and they were all so well behaved you didn't know they were there!

Thank you for all your replies.

I don;t have kids of my own, I would be quite happy to have a 'no kids' wedding, but due to close family pressure we have to allow kids (long story). We both have large extended families, so are quite pushed for space, and I don't wish to sound rude, but I'm not willing to not share my day with some very close friends and pay full whack for kids just to please family, so the only alternative is to offer the creche. However, I'm not that insensitive (although realise the above might sound it) and realise that some people might be a bit funny about leaving their children with strangers, so just wanted to make sure that I've covered all angles before booking.

(Hope the above doesn't make me out to be a miserable cow!)

We are seriously thinking of having a children entertainer to keep them amused.

That may be another alternative to think of?

We considered a creche as we have several children under 9 as guests. It might be a bit too costly for us as we have a lot of children coming, but we are looking into maybe a face painter or balloon modeller during the speeches. At most weddings, I'm getting a bit restless by the end of the speeches, so I imagine children would be too. Our venue has a conservatory just off the room where we'll be eating, so they wouldn't be too far from the parents.

I thought of this as i have 40 children coming to my wedding! I have a massive family! But essentially, i wanted them all with me. Aot of my neices and nephews are old enough to appreciate the day and I do want to look out at my reception and see them there...

On the flip side, I have been to a wedding with a mobile creche and i went and had a look and it was AMAZING. They were playing games, making things for the Bride & Groom and at one point they even went outside on a nature hunt (it was summer!)....it was a fab way to keep them entertained. I think an entertainer could be a good idea, alternatively if there are a few of them then activity boxes could be way of keeping them oocupied at the reception without seperating them from their parents.

x

can you let me know the company name.. I have about 20/30 kids and am in surrey/berkshire/hampshire!

Thank you

It was 'Little Sweeties' and the lady is called Philippa who is absoultely wonderful. She's fairly young but she's incredibly switched on and helpful and will make you feel very welcome if you ring her without being pushy. She answered all my questions in our first phone call without me having to ask her one (iykwim!). If I recall, we paid a £60 registration fee (which I thought was a bit steep) and then I think it was £13 per hour per nanny. Babysitting in the evening was £10. It initially sounded a lot but when I got the calculator our, it was only approx £100 for 3 hours which, for what we got, was incredibly good value. I think the child/nanny ratio is 5:1. The website is www.little-sweeties.com and Philippa's number is ****.

WOW thats fab.. Thank you!

I think it'd be a great idea to run and adult creche lol massive ball pool etc, would go down a treat ?

I've been to a few weddings where a nanny has been employed and a creche set up in another room. It has always been for the ceremony and weddingbreakfast, the times when children are expected to sit and behave....and most struggle.

One option is that when the evening reception starts and most people aren't ready to dance, the DJ gets all the kids on the dance floor for some games and action dances..... this works really well. I know of loads of DJs round the country that offer this as part of the wedding disco. There's one in particular in the East Anglia area that does a magic show for the kids before launching into the wedding disco.

Hi,

I haven't yet ( I haven't looked too hard yet though), If you can recommend any in the Yorkshire area (Harrogate) I would be really grateful, thanks

x

Most of the companies are in the south of England for some reason but there is a company called Safe Hands Creche Services. They serve the North West and East so would be ideal for you I think. You can email them on ***************@***.**.** or contact Michelle on ****. If you email or call them they can give you a quote. It is all very much dependant on how many children you have and how many hours you want. There is usually a set price for a creche running for 3 hours for six children. Anything over three hours needs registering and this means the price can go up a bit more. If you are able to keep it at three hours it's usually cheaper for you. Staffing of the creche will depend on how many children you have attending.

Ooh thank you! We hope to pin down numbers this week, so should have a better idea of how many kids. Your help is much appreciated x

Well you can always let me know what they quote if you need to know if the price is reasonable?