Adult Reception

theartistformerlyknownas

hnbright2010 said:

lolo883 said:

hnbright2010 said:

One of my coworkers actually told me a good idea. She said at her niece's wedding that her niece hired a baby sitter to watch the kids and keep them entertained at the wedding. She said it worked out very well and the kids had a blast. She said during the reception while the parents were walking around and talking the baby sitter had the kids down in the field playing games and having fun with them. Just thought I would offer this advice to you as an option

There are quite a few threads on this topic, and the overwhelming majority of the moms here would not be comfortable leaving their kids with a stranger.

It was mostly a suggestion if she was wanting to have an adults only reception and te girl she hired was highly recommended and works as a kindergarden teacher during the school year. She told the parents about it on a seperate card when sending her invites and they also stayed in the same area as the wedding.

I get that, and yes it's an option. But you still can't count on people to use them, no matter how qualified and highly-recommended. It's a personal choice that the parents are personally responsible for making, so nobody should fully depend on that scenario working for everyone because it could bite them in the ass.

Jen4948

lolo883 said:

hnbright2010 said:

lolo883 said:

hnbright2010 said:

One of my coworkers actually told me a good idea. She said at her niece's wedding that her niece hired a baby sitter to watch the kids and keep them entertained at the wedding. She said it worked out very well and the kids had a blast. She said during the reception while the parents were walking around and talking the baby sitter had the kids down in the field playing games and having fun with them. Just thought I would offer this advice to you as an option

There are quite a few threads on this topic, and the overwhelming majority of the moms here would not be comfortable leaving their kids with a stranger.

It was mostly a suggestion if she was wanting to have an adults only reception and te girl she hired was highly recommended and works as a kindergarden teacher during the school year. She told the parents about it on a seperate card when sending her invites and they also stayed in the same area as the wedding.

I get that, and yes it's an option. But you still can't count on people to use them, no matter how qualified and highly-recommended. It's a personal choice that the parents are personally responsible for making, so nobody should fully depend on that scenario working for everyone because it could bite them in the ass.

Certainly parents are free to make other arrangements for babysitting or to decline the invitation, but I don't think that that in and of itself makes it wrong to suggest a babysitter that no one is required to use.

theartistformerlyknownas

Jen4948 said:

lolo883 said:

hnbright2010 said:

lolo883 said:

hnbright2010 said:

One of my coworkers actually told me a good idea. She said at her niece's wedding that her niece hired a baby sitter to watch the kids and keep them entertained at the wedding. She said it worked out very well and the kids had a blast. She said during the reception while the parents were walking around and talking the baby sitter had the kids down in the field playing games and having fun with them. Just thought I would offer this advice to you as an option

There are quite a few threads on this topic, and the overwhelming majority of the moms here would not be comfortable leaving their kids with a stranger.

It was mostly a suggestion if she was wanting to have an adults only reception and te girl she hired was highly recommended and works as a kindergarden teacher during the school year. She told the parents about it on a seperate card when sending her invites and they also stayed in the same area as the wedding.

I get that, and yes it's an option. But you still can't count on people to use them, no matter how qualified and highly-recommended. It's a personal choice that the parents are personally responsible for making, so nobody should fully depend on that scenario working for everyone because it could bite them in the ass.

Certainly parents are free to make other arrangements for babysitting or to decline the invitation, but I don't think that that in and of itself makes it wrong to suggest a babysitter that no one is required to use.

Of course. Again, I acknowledged that it's one option. I made my comment as a caution to OP and to lurkers that hiring a babysitter shouldn't be seen as the solution to all child concerns at a wedding, that's all. Just a "keep in mind a lot of people wouldn't go for that" warning.

cantwaitforthefuture

Thanks all. We got back to our friends and they seem to understand.  We are not planning on hiring a sitter for any children. It's a nice idea, but to be honest, I think it goes above and beyond a bit. If our friends cannot attend due to their children, so be it.

Jen4948

lolo883 said:

Jen4948 said:

lolo883 said:

hnbright2010 said:

lolo883 said:

hnbright2010 said:

One of my coworkers actually told me a good idea. She said at her niece's wedding that her niece hired a baby sitter to watch the kids and keep them entertained at the wedding. She said it worked out very well and the kids had a blast. She said during the reception while the parents were walking around and talking the baby sitter had the kids down in the field playing games and having fun with them. Just thought I would offer this advice to you as an option

There are quite a few threads on this topic, and the overwhelming majority of the moms here would not be comfortable leaving their kids with a stranger.

It was mostly a suggestion if she was wanting to have an adults only reception and te girl she hired was highly recommended and works as a kindergarden teacher during the school year. She told the parents about it on a seperate card when sending her invites and they also stayed in the same area as the wedding.

I get that, and yes it's an option. But you still can't count on people to use them, no matter how qualified and highly-recommended. It's a personal choice that the parents are personally responsible for making, so nobody should fully depend on that scenario working for everyone because it could bite them in the ass.

Certainly parents are free to make other arrangements for babysitting or to decline the invitation, but I don't think that that in and of itself makes it wrong to suggest a babysitter that no one is required to use.

Of course. Again, I acknowledged that it's one option. I made my comment as a caution to OP and to lurkers that hiring a babysitter shouldn't be seen as the solution to all child concerns at a wedding, that's all. Just a "keep in mind a lot of people wouldn't go for that" warning.

If they don't go for it, all they have to do is say no.  There might be enough parents who do go for it that it's a worthwhile suggestion.

mysticl

lolo883 said:

hnbright2010 said:

lolo883 said:

hnbright2010 said:

One of my coworkers actually told me a good idea. She said at her niece's wedding that her niece hired a baby sitter to watch the kids and keep them entertained at the wedding. She said it worked out very well and the kids had a blast. She said during the reception while the parents were walking around and talking the baby sitter had the kids down in the field playing games and having fun with them. Just thought I would offer this advice to you as an option

There are quite a few threads on this topic, and the overwhelming majority of the moms here would not be comfortable leaving their kids with a stranger.

It was mostly a suggestion if she was wanting to have an adults only reception and te girl she hired was highly recommended and works as a kindergarden teacher during the school year. She told the parents about it on a seperate card when sending her invites and they also stayed in the same area as the wedding.

I get that, and yes it's an option. But you still can't count on people to use them, no matter how qualified and highly-recommended. It's a personal choice that the parents are personally responsible for making, so nobody should fully depend on that scenario working for everyone because it could bite them in the ass.

The other caution is that it can send the message that children are invited. When you include stuff about activities/meals for kids the parents may interpret that to mean their child is invited and that the sender did not know they should have included the child's name on the invite.  The guests may perceive the childcare to be optional and something they can decide to use if their kid gets bored at the wedding.  So they show up fully expecting their child to be welcome and then are upset when they learn they have to leave their child with a stranger because they did not plan to use the optional child care.