LO will be over 2 years old when we attend BIL's wedding. DH is part of the wedding party so i will most likely be looking after her at the wedding. She is generally well-behaved, but i'm not sure how she will be during the reception. A lot of my friends will be there so i want to socialize with them. I know my MIL will want to show her around, but i can just imagine the protests from LO since she is still very much attached to me!!
Has anyone had experience taking their LOs to a wedding?
nectarine / 2631 posts
My LO was 2 months old when we brought him to SIL's wedding- so I am no help!
GOLD / wonderful pomegranate / 28905 posts
Not yet but there is a family wedding in Sept. I doubt I will be going so not sure if DH will bring LO or not.. I guess it depends if my ILs go for extra hands.
Does your LO do OK staying up past her bedtime? That's what I would worry about if she doesn't.
pomegranate / 3383 posts
Will there be other kids at the reception? If so, I'm sure they will keep her entertained! My LO always needs to be able to see us if we're in the same room, but when he is around his cousins he is so enamoured by them he couldn't care less if we were there!
honeydew / 7444 posts
@locavore_mama: We'll be on east coast time so her bedtime will be around 10-11pm. My sister was invited but she's not sure if she wants to go...but it'll be nice to have her there so she can help out.
honeydew / 7444 posts
@Sammyfab: I think so. I messaged DH's cousin to see if her kids were coming.
watermelon / 14206 posts
DS was 3 at my bff's wedding. He was ring bearer. He did fine and had a fun time. It was an afternoon wedding.
wonderful kiwi / 23653 posts
There were tons of LOs at my wedding, though it was a day wedding. My flower girl at the time was just shy of being 2. She was kind of confused and a little scared (of so many people and loud music) but she did pretty good! Most LOs I know at weddings are able to nap but sometimes parents have to push them around in the lobby where it's quieter.
honeydew / 7488 posts
My DS was a ringbearer last year and he was about 20 months. He and his sister spent most of their time on the dance floor with the other kids. He stayed up way past his bed time but was so delirious that he didn't care. But we did take them up to the room around maybe 10pm.
coconut / 8861 posts
We haven't yet, but have a wedding in July where he'll probably attend the ceremony. The wedding is in our neighborhood, so I'm thinking that he'll hang out with me during the ceremony, then go home for dinner and reception.
GOLD / watermelon / 14076 posts
@T-Mom: Was he able to walk down the aisle by himself? M will be a flower girl next spring. She'll be 19 1/2 months. I'm worried she's going to freak out with everyone looking at her!
pomegranate / 3791 posts
No family weddings, so I've gotten out of it so far and always leave LO with a babysitter since I do want to be able to socialize and not have to leave before his bedtime.
There were two babies/toddlers at my wedding - 11 months and 2 years. The 11 month old was fine during the ceremony, but got crabby during the reception because he was sick of being passed around and eventually fell asleep in his playpen (which is a whole different discussion...let's just say you should NOT be like my SIL and want to setup a playpen next to the head table. I was not really cool with that plan.) The 2 year old had to be walked around in a different area during the ceremony because he was being super loud, but was on the dance floor and quite hilarious for most of the reception.
blogger / wonderful cherry / 21628 posts
@lawbee11: my cousin was my flower girl when she was 2. She turned 2 the month before the wedding. My aunt walked with her down the aisle.
GOLD / wonderful pomegranate / 28905 posts
@lawbee11: DH's nieces were 3 and almost 2. We had plans of them walking down with my niece and nephews. In the end they didn't want to so my ILs each carried one down the aisle.
honeydew / 7488 posts
@lawbee11: He actually did really great. I pulled out all the stops, though. First I gave him a lollipop and he was thrilled (his first ever). He started getting antsy while we were waiting our turn, and I finally caved and gave him his paci right before he went down the aisle (I checked with SIL that this was ok in case of emergency). He was super satisfied with that and sucked on his paci and waved to everyone as he was walking down the aisle. I think your DD will be ok.. just make sure you or your DH are waiting at the end of the aisle to retrieve her 
GOLD / watermelon / 14076 posts
@T-Mom: LOL, yeah my DH was like don't worry I'll work with her on it. I can just see them rehearsing at home.
@Leialou: @locavore_mama: I'm a bridesmaid so I figure if she won't walk down alone maybe I can walk with her instead of a groomsman.
pineapple / 12566 posts
DS was 18 months at my brother's wedding and I was the wedding photographer. My DH and my dad looked after him most of the time and he was totally fine. They went back to the hotel between the wedding and the reception for a nap.
nectarine / 2667 posts
We've taken my son to 3 weddings - at 9 months, 13 months, and 18 months. He'll be the "flower" boy at one in August and go to another in October. He's done well at them so far. We bring snacks for the ceremony (two of them were Catholic mass which we never go to otherwise), so we spent a lot of time at the back of the church. He liked the cocktail time/receptions because he got to eat and walk around. We brought a stroller that can recline & took him for a stroll around the grounds after dinner. He fell asleep and we just parked him by the gifts table. He got sick at the last wedding we attended so we left early.
bananas / 9357 posts
We are taking our 18 month old to a wedding on Saturday. It's someone's backyard so I'm sure he'll enjoy running around and dancing. I plan to take some special snacks for the ceremony to help keep him occupied. Hopefully it will go ok.
GOLD / wonderful olive / 19030 posts
we took LO to a bunch of weddings last summer (6-8 months old) and will take her to a couple this year. The first one both sets of our parents will be there (she's going home with my parents since I'm in the wedding.) I'm not too worried as she's generally well behaved & if worse comes to worse we take her out the back and watch the ceremony in the cry room.
blogger / watermelon / 14218 posts
Yes!! The last wedding we went to, Wagon Jr. was 4 and LMW was just over a year old. We traveled to the wedding and stayed in a hotel, and children were invited to the reception, so we just booked a hotel near the reception hall and knew we'd just bail and go back to the hotel if the kids broke down. They did GREAT!! We brought our tablet so WJ was watching it and playing games for most of the reception, and LMW did great and then fell asleep in the umbrella stroller. We didn't leave the reception until after 10pm!
hostess / eggplant / 11068 posts
Is leaving her at home an option? Last summer when R was 23 months, she was the flower girl and DH was one of the groomsmen. With a 6pm bedtime, there was no way she'd survive at the reception so after she walked down the aisle, I took her home (missed the rest of the ceremony), and when she went to bed, I went to the reception.
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