Advice on Adult only weddings

TJ Your Mobile  DJ advises that many brides and grooms face the dilema of deciding whether or not to invite children to their weddings. Should you or shouldn’t you that is the question?

There are many factors to be considered and at the end of the day it is down to personal choice – it’s your special day so why not have it your way?

If you are a bride or groom facing this decision here are a few factors to consider if you are deciding on whether or not to make your wedding an adults only affair.

– Some of your adult guests may not have easy access to childcare – if they cannot bring their children along they may well not be able to attend your wedding.

– Some parents do ‘everything’ with their children – if their children cannot be part of the day then the parents will not attend.

– Are the children you intend to invite ‘well’ behaved? Bear in mind that your definition of well behaved might be vastly different to the views of parents who are more ‘free spirited’ when brining up their children. Not many people want to be around kids that are running around, screaming and fighting. Little Johnny knee sliding across the dance floor during your First Dance might not be part of your plans.

– Weddings traditionally are multi generational – a picture of granny dancing with their granddaughter will be treasured for a long time – they are family events.

– If you are inviting children along it’s usually a good idea to provide them with something to keep them occupied – maybe set up a table in the corner of the room with colouring pencils and books, bubbles, toys etc. If they get bored they will find their own things to play with, playing hide and seek behind the venues valuable curtains might not be ideal.

– If inviting children TJ Your Mobile DJ  advises to take that into consideration when choosing your venue – having grass lawns for the children to play on is going to be more preferable to them playing around in the car park.

– Inviting children along will add to your costs, and possibly more importantly they take up a place setting that an adult might use – if space/place settings are restricted at your venue this is another trade off situation to consider.

– The age of the children that you might invite should also be taken into consideration. As the parent of a new born child would you like to be separated from your new bundle of joy? Will the guests with children be leaving early to get the kids asleep? Will your guests enjoy themselves by having to keep an eye on their offspring as they wander off to make new discoveries in this new playground? If there is a group of kids there it’s quite often the case that they will keep themselves amused. Some children will not be old enough to recognise the fact that there is a difference between a playground and a Church or Wedding Reception Venue and act accordingly.

– Think about providing a creche facility at you wedding – particularly for the ceremony and wedding breakfast – most toddlers can’t be still for long.

– Weddings and similar celebrations give children the chance to learn about rituals/manners – if they are not exposed to such events they lose out.

– If you do not want children at your wedding make this clear on the invitation – your guest can then decide early if they wish to attend or not and let you know as soon as possible to enable you to invite another guest who would love to come along and be part of your special day.

– Some of the most memorable moments of any wedding will involve children – it’s not uncommon for wedding photographers to keep a sharp eye open for what they are doing to capture that golden moment.

– Maybe book a separate room for children at your venue for them to play in – TV, DVD, Games machine, children’s entertainer, magician – they won’t stay in there all of the time but it can help keep them occupied.

– Many adults will look forward to an event/party/date night without the kids. Many parents will enjoy dressing up and going out without taking nappies with them or worrying about vomit over their shoulder!

– Maybe get your Function Centre to run a few games to keep the children occupied during the afternoon or early evening.

I hope this gives you some guidance to help you decide on whether or not to have an adults only wedding. Using an experienced  DJ such as myself during the wedding  can help occupy any children invited, you can make other provisions for children attending but at the end of the day (it gets dark!) it is your special day and it should be as you want it. Children can be a handful at weddings for you and your guests, but they can also add to the proceedings as well – the decision is yours!

Contact David on 0410313089 or by email through the website.