H: "Just relax and have fun,honey, Mommy and Daddy are going to get their groove on." Part I

Like so many other couples who have come before us, we had to make the decision of whether or not to include children at our wedding. There are several schools of thought on this. Those that have children at their wedding typically do so because they like kids or come from families that like kids, they see children as a part of the life process and therefore want them at their wedding, they don't want to anger anyone or have someone not show up either because of childcare or out of protest, or any and all of the above. The opposite school regarding not having children at weddings typically is facilitated by wanting a more adult atmosphere where the guests can leave the kids at home for a bit and enjoy the evening, but also stem from the notion that because of the time/location/etc it may not be appropriate to have children present. In some cases, it's a matter of cost; how much it costs to have children present vs. whether or not they'll remember it/have a good time. Space does have a factor. If, for example you only have a small number of slots, you then need to decide if you're going to invite a friend, or your 2nd cousin that doesn't know you from Santa Claus but is nevertheless family. It's tricky.
For us, because we like kids and respect and appreciate both schools of thought, we wanted to find a happy medium.

We've opted to have some children at our wedding, and in so doing our goal is to ensure that all of our guests have a good time, be they 5, 25, or 50 (um...this is not to say that those over 50 won't have a good time...*ahem*). We wanted the adults to not have to worry about watching their kids or having to rescue them from the tempting clutches of mischief, and we wanted the kids to not be bored out of their poor little gourds listening to their parents "drone on" about something completely uninteresting to them. We kicked around all sorts of ideas; kids table, separate pizza party, scavenger hunt, babysitters.....wait a minute, go back one....
Babysitters. Yes!
I mentioned in my last post that we had met Jenny from The Special Event Nannies. What they do is set up the upstairs as a child haven and staff it with one nanny for every five children, or 1 nanny for two children under the age of 2. They set up age appropriate games and projects and parents can then drop off their kids and go downstairs and shake it without having to worry about who is watching their children and if they're behaving or not. Meanwhile, little Jimmy is playing and laughing and having a grand old time doing something that interests him. It's a win-win!

In my next post, I'll comment on our other little project for the wee ones: a separate bouquet and garter toss.
Here's a sneak peek:
Because of the tradition of the next one to catch the bouquet/garter will be the next to get married, we thought including children under the age of 17 would be grossly inappropriate. We've heard too many horror stories of 20 somethings putting a garter on a 5 year old to which we say "no sir!"
Instead, we're hearkening back to the days where people on floats in parades threw candy to youngsters. Because we next remembered that said youngsters occasionally got hurt in the ensuing stampede and the last thing our parents want is zipped up kiddies in the backseat on the way home, we've opted to throw toys and have enough on hand to throw a little adorable something to each wee one.
This is something I'm extremely excited about! We haven't decided what exactly we'll be throwing, but we do know it will be appropriate, fun, and absolutely adorable.