We've decided that we only want to invite about 60 people to our event which is a vow renewal. Keeping in mind we are mid 30's and all of our friends have children the same age as our children read ahead.
Originally I wanted to include my friend's children, however once I started the list the kids ate it up and we could only invite about 20 friends. Yikes! So we decided no children was a better bet. We changed it to "circles" so only our own children who will be part of the ceremony, and my niece and nephew would be in attendance. However we then realized there are quite a few friends that live out of state we'd like to extend an invitation. We honestly don't expect anyone out of town to fly in since this is NOT a wedding but we honestly think a few people we are very close with will.
But on top of that is the "ulterior motive" acceptance. If we lived anywhere else these people might be willing to come in and not think twice about the invite leaving their children out. But of course since we live in Orlando the majority of our friends from out of state are going to decide "Hey, perfect chance to get in a Disney vacation!". Everyone wants a chance to justify coming to Disney
So I decided to come to a compromise. With our venue we get a bridal suite which is really just a small house next to the banquet hall. I thought we could hire two of those professional baby sitters/nannies from a licensed/bonded website, order pizzas, included some games and movies and provide a free babysitting service. There is also a huge playground since our venue is at a public park.
This way guests in town and out of town can make their own decision whether they bring their child or not. In town they can either get their usual sitter (or Grandma or Sister) to watch their kids OR from out of town make the decision on whether they want to bring their kids for a vacation or not. They can stroll over and check on their child at any time so it isn't too mysterious and everyone feels nice and safe. Children under 2 can stay with mommy because I think that is usually a rule or else in my circles it is. My kids will like this because they will get bored with the party very quickly so as soon as the ceremony part is over I'm sure they'll be like "What, kids are over there playing on tablets and watching a Disney movie...see ya!"
How does this sound? Am I doing the right thing or should I just not worry about it and leave my invites as just the adults and not worry about making people upset by not including their children.