Babies on board: to wagon down the aisle or not to wagon?

sarah523 · September 2010

We've got two nieces and two nephews and would love to include three of them in the ceremony. The fourth will be just eight weeks old, so she'll be a (hopefully quiet) guest. :-)

The other ages are:

Niece: 10 months old
Nephew: 3 3/4 years old
Nephew: 7 3/4 years old

My sisters-in-law would love to see the 3 year old and the 10-month old pulled down the aisle in a little red wagon (decorated w/ tulle and flowers). The thought is that the 3-year old could prop up the 10-month old while the 7-year-old pulls the wagon. I see several complexities with this situation:

1.) We'd need one of the radio flyers with high wooden sides (because let's face it, if a 10-month old is toppling over the side of a low-sided wagon, a 3-year-old will be powerless to stop it), and they're more than $100 (which seems like a lot, unless I'm able to resell it).

2.) Kids break down. It's a fact. And I'm sure being pulled in a wagon while 100 strangers stare at you and your mom is nowhere around would be terrifying for a 10-month old ... and lead to a very loud, very large freakout.

3.) The seven-year-old seems nonplussed with the idea of being pack mule to his little brother and baby cousin. (What can I say? The kid's got standards.)

Should I just ask my sister-in-law and her husband (who are a bridesmaid and groomsman and will walk down together) to carry their 10-month-old down the aisle and then hand her off to a grandparent before standing up front? Then we could have the seven-year-old (a junior groomsman) and three-year-old (ring bearer) walk down the aisle together and then sit in the front row with their grandparents.

Does this sound logical? Or does the wagon idea sound like a potential "awww" moment that I shouldn't pass up?

kjreed · September 2010

sounds too hard to make safe. I had a friend that purchased a really cool antique baby stroller and walked the baby down in that the other children should be able to walk themselves.

aerinpegadrak · September 2010

I think that having a kid who can't really balance themselves or know to hold on pulled in a wagon is dangerous in itself, and exponentially more so if it's being pulled by a younger kid, who might decide to, say, run full speed up to the altar with the infant in tow. Your worst case scenario here isn't a laugh-it-off-later instance like, "Oh, little Tina had a fit and refused to walk down the aisle," it's more along the lines of "Little Tina fell out, fractured her skull, and had to be rushed to the emergency room."

I feel that anyone under the age of 4 should just be a (hopefully quiet) guest.

jmsyroid · September 2010

Our ring bearer will be 9 months old but I practically feel as if he is my own son so it was not even a question about him being in the wedding. He will be getting pulled down the aisle in the wedding but he will have a boppy pillow holding him in place. We have already tested everything out and it works perfectly. The wagon thing can definitely work though.

trix1223 · September 2010

Can anybody explain to me the purpose, beyond," awwwww, how cute!"? of an infant or toddler in a WP?

I love babies. I love kids. I teach little kids. I had little kids. This is most certainly not coming from a little kid hater.

The baby's cute. We get it. And the pictures of you holding the little tyke will be cute. So skip the middle of trying to pretend that someone who doesn't understand what he/she is doing there, and won't care is he/she is there, and just take the pictures. They'll still be cute. And you won't have to worry about the (potentially dangerous) logistics of getting an infant or toddler down the aisle.

As for wagons~sorry. I just think it's been done to death, and is tired and lame.

tpender13 · September 2010

If the only issue you have w/this is the wagon, why not use a stroller? When a friend of mine got married, she and her husband each had a child from previous relationships, and their daughter together was less than a year old. The two older kids pushed her down the aisle in a pretty decorated stroller. It was really cute, and there weren't any safety issues.

HisCB · September 2010

IF the baby MUST be in the wedding, i would go with a small umbrella stroller dressed up and pushed by either the 7 year old, or an adult.

the benefit, is the baby would be buckeled in and can stay in the stroller and parked in the front row (leave a gap between chairs), or at the edge of the row. (this will allow parent/guardian to excuse themselves to tend to a fussy baby by slipping out the sides, rather than the middle.

every one of my 12 neices and nephews are included in our wedding, except my then 13 month old neice. my brother is going to "usher" his girlfriend down the aisle as part of the processional, and one of them will carry her, it will make for good pics but no wheels. (also this lifts the baby off of the ground for people to see as pp mentioned about not being able to see if your not seated in the aisle)

IF you MUST do the wagon, i used to nanny and we had a garden wagon that i zip-tied a boucy seat to the bottom of the wagon on one side for the infant, and the older kid was big enough to sit safely.
like one of these:www.chinafuman.com%252Fsdp%252F351131%252F4%252Fpd-1627753%252F2030605-816221.html%26size=179KB%26name=...%2bcart%2band%2bwag...%26p=garden%2bwagon%2bcart%26oid=d9eb651f707f8c67f2166c94ae823fa5%26fr2=tab-web%26no=10%26tt=12800%26sigr=125k7npip%26sigi=11mrhrrr2%26sigb=12updkd8k">

www.chinafuman.com/sdp/351131/4/pd-1627753/2030605-816221.html" width="160" height="120" /> and one of these:www.thetravelingbabyco.com%252FProductList.aspx%253Floc%253DNM001%26size=50KB%26name=Bouncy%2bSeat%26p=infant%2bboucy%2bseat%26oid=6a77e4466b78cf9b3ec90e2d510968e7%26fr2=%26spell_query=infant%2bbouncy%2bseat%26no=11%26tt=5140%26sigr=11stdcdl3%26sigi=11p3umgbe%26sigb=12i9liv4s">

www.thetravelingbabyco.com/ProductList.aspx?loc=NM001" width="160" height="160" />
both could be decorated.
but this doesnt fix the 7 year old pack mule problem, have an usher do the pulling instead.

mysticl · September 2010

I like the idea you had of the parents of the baby carrying the baby in and then having a grandparent take over baby holding duty for the ceremony and the 2 other kids just walking in.

Meagan78 · September 2010

Could the 7 year-old carry the baby? I think the wagon just has the potential for freaked-out baby screaming and/or falling. The boppy idea is a good one, though. My son didn't do the wagon thing until he was 2.

[Deleted User] · September 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_wedding-party_babies-board-wagon-down-aisle-not-wagon?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:37Discussion:c5cc208a-08ce-4492-a7ce-c079ab619f6aPost:4e4bd885-9f78-430c-9455-f70a85718026">Re: Babies on board: to wagon down the aisle or not to wagon?</a>:
[QUOTE]Could the 7 year-old carry the baby? I think the wagon just has the potential for freaked-out baby screaming and/or falling. The boppy idea is a good one, though. My son didn't do the wagon thing until he was 2.
Posted by Meagan78[/QUOTE]

Um, what?

Babies on board: to wagon down the aisle or not to wagon?

Re: Babies on board: to wagon down the aisle or not to wagon?

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