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I went to a wedding in the spring when I was EBF and stayed all night (we're talking like 10 hours!) I had a pump available but I didn't end up using it... I wore lilypadz but at one point toward the end I sprung a leak when someone hugged me and it was kind of a disaster LOL. Anyway if you don't have any big supply problems I'd say just tough it out and hand express in the bathroom if you need to for the 5-hour wedding.

I didn't go to any events where I couldn't take my lo....attachment parenting much?

Big purse, manual pump and mini cooler bag for the expressed milk!

I feel like I'm a pro at this now!

I've done a bridal shower (4-5 hours away), a bachelorette party (an evening and night away), and a wedding (2+ days away)!

For the bridal shower, I brought my cooler and hand pump, and just pumped in the bathroom to relieve the engorgement and then stored the BM in the cooler in my car.

For the bachelorette party, I brought my electric pump, cooler, and power adapter for my car. We spend the evening/night in a rented house, so while there, I pumped in the bathroom every 3 hours and stored my milk in the fridge. But then we also went out to a bar, so I brought my pump and pumped in the car. I stored the milk in the cooler in the car and put it back in the fridge once we got back to the house. Then I transported everything in the cooler back home the next day.

For the wedding: I sent frozen milk to daycare every day for 4 days so that the milk I pumped at work could be used for the weekend while I was gone. I brought a larger cooler filled with ice to transport the milk to grandparent's and then transport any milk I pumped at the wedding. We had a hotel room in the same building as the wedding, so I just went back to my room every 3 hours to pump. I brought storage bags to store the milk, and kept the milk in the fridge all weekend. When it was time to go home, I refilled the cooler with ice and put all the milk in there for the ride home!

It was a lot of work, but it was worth it to me to be able to celebrate with my friend, and actually, pumping every 3 hours wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Just plan ahead so that your baby has enough milk while you're gone and figure out how/where you'll pump and store everything!

ETA: For the bridal party/bachelorette party, I had my mini cooler and ice pack - it fits 4 bottles, or 2 bottles + pump parts. For the wedding, we brought a larger cooler that could fit many many bottles and storage bags - it was larger than I needed, but I needed something bigger than the mini cooler.

I came back between the ceremony and reception to nurse LO, and I came home from the reception earlier than I otherwise would have pre-baby. I brought a manual pump and wore breast pads and didn't have any issues. By the time I was engorged enough to need to pump to relieve, I would be home soon enough that there wasn't a need to bring a cooler or anything.

I'd probably just try to nurse in between ceremony and reception (LO doesn't take a bottle) but if she did and had a bottle at home, I think I could go 5 hrs without nursing with no issue.

I would say if you are still EBF and no solids, you would want to pump to protect your supply while you are away. And any opportunity to have baby do the milk removal (like at the first wedding) is better yet, since your body typically responds best to nursing your child versus pumping. Good luck! And have fun.

Bring your pump and pump in the bathroom, or better yet, a private room before the reception. Lots of people have done that ! LOL

I pumped in the airport bathroom before boarding! My friend pumped in the bathroom in the middle of a concert.

@Pepper: I asked a lot of ladies on Hellobee for advice to figure out all the logistics!!!