Making decisions about your wedding is often simply hard work.
To invite children or not to invite children to your wedding is a decision often filled with strong feelings.
As a couple you may have very strong feelings, or there may be family members or friends who will attempt to influence you one way or another. You may feel pressured by both those who do not want children underfoot to disrupt the wedding. Others may be insulted if you did not give consideration to their children.
Some people are neutral about kids attending adult events like weddings, others are emphatically for the kids or against them. What is most important, however, is how you feel.
Do you dream of family or do you envision an adult event with adult activities?
Some suggest that you view all of your wedding decisions with this philosophy, It is my wedding and I will do what I please. Unfortunately: very few of live on an island by ourselves. There are real pressures. If we make selfish decisions, there will be consequences. If we bend to the whims of others, there will be consequences.
So, this can be a tough decision.
Since many children are well able to attend weddings without posing particularly big problems, you may well decide to invite children to attend your wedding. This does not require you to have children participate in your wedding party itself.
If you invite the children to attend, it is a good idea to provide for them. This may be done in many different ways: Have ushers or attendants ready to assist parents with their children as needed. Have a separate cry room or other child care facility nearby to help parents.
It may be the easy way out of the situation, just to invite the whole family and ignore the issue all together. Some parents will bring their children, but others will make other arrangements. In most cases parents are very conscious of their children and work to prevent disruptions. However, it is always nice to have help ready to assist in case of a problem.
I remember, five year old Sally. Her cousin was getting married, but you would have thought that this was her big day. She was so excited she bubbled over with smiles. Dressed in her pretty dress, she joined her mother about a third of the way back from the altar. When the bride came down the aisle, Sally could not contain herself, There she is Mom. Some might say that her enthusiasm was the highlight of the ceremony.
Weddings teach. Yes, weddings teach us about the values of companionship, commitment, and love. They teach us about what is really important in life. They teach us our family values. Certainly, we want our children to learn these family lessons, if the wedding and reception are suitable for them. Only you can decide if the wedding is right for children.
Perhaps the key to making this decision is how you feel personally about children and you wedding. The presence or absence of children will affect the wedding. If you are concerned about potential disruption, you may solve that problem with a little planning rather than excluding them entirely. If you are concerned about children feeling left out, a little planning can solve the problem too.
You must log in to post a comment.