Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Should We Allow Young Kids at This Wedding? (Seriously)

Eeek. This is something that's had me worried.  My cousin emailed me a while back, asking if he could bring his kids to the wedding. My initial reaction is YES OF COURSE, MORE THE MERRIER! But then I stop myself...because this wedding isn't shaping up to be very...um... PG. I'd say it's more PG-13 verging on R, with a post-midnight soft-NC-17 rating at this point  Certainly not PG.  Here's why:
  1. Lots-o-Nude photography on the walls in the venue--->
  2. The Troast Contest
  3. The heavy emphasis on drinking.... hardcore drinking. Think Shots. And a Boot beer chugging contest between the bride and groom. Boxed wine, Gin n juice, homebrew, & honey wine. 
  4. Uncensored music for the dance party. Including Peaches' "Fuck the Pain Away" & Snoop Dogg's "Ain't No Fun"
  5. Foul language encouraged at every turn
  6. Party don't end til 1:30 AM 
  7. The venue is in a seedy area of downtown. There's a strip club directly across the street from it.
  8. No extra money in the budget for children's entertainment... unless you count staring at the booty shaking/humping spectacle being made on the dance floor as appropriate entertainment for kids
  9. The food. Not sure kids would necessarily like eating tofu and short rib tacos, but maybe...
  10. And last but certainly NOT least, I like to grab my crotch on the dance floor... and I ain't gonna censor that shit on my wedding day. 
So, if you were a parent, and you saw this list, would you want to bring your children to our wedding?  Seriously.  Please. I need your help.

Or am I just being overly-cautious here?

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Posted by Britt Hollenbrau at 9:00 AM
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9 comments:

  1. I would be honest, and tell her that you're not opposed to children present (you're not, right? I read that right?) but that it's an incredibly kid unfriendly atmosphere. If I were a parent and I heard "seedy area... heavy drinking...", I'd probably leave the kiddos at home. ;)
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  2. If I were a parent, I wouldn't want to bring my kids simply because I would want to be the one taking shots and joining you out there on the dance floor. Your party (err, wedding) sounds like The Sh*t; they can make arrangements to go kid-less for one night. That's my two cents! Maybe send a special e-mail or note to the parents, saying: "Please note there will be no kid-friendly events, no kiddie tables, no on-site babysitters, no arts and crafts, so please keep that in mind while deciding on whether or not to bring your kiddos. It will be incredibly boring for them but wildly entertaining for you!"
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  3. @nicole BEST. ADVICE. EVER. thank you :)
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  4. I agree with Nicole, and might go one step further (particularly for out-of-town folks who may drive in from AZ or elsewhere with the kiddies for the weekend... which won't all be R-rated festivities.) You could put the parents in touch with each other, find out about babysitting, and let them deal with it at the hotel. Coworkers with kids are good references for babysitters.
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  5. @becca yes! brilliant. i think that's a FAB way to handle this situation. 'cause seriously i really would like to see my little cousins for at least part of the wedding weekend festivities... so that is what we shall do.

    thanks gals!
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  6. Britt - re: what ALAL said, the hotel might have a babysitting service (or at least be able to recommend one to the people toting their little tots along)...just a thought! There'll be lots of kids at our wedding but that was basically unavoidable because of the cousin issue...oh well.
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  7. I agree with everything the ladies above said but just wanted to add this - you don't need kiddie entertainment. Just put a couple of cardboard boxes and crayons in the corner and they'll go to town. Kids are easy. Overprotective, overreacting parents are not.
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  8. Yeah, given the venue, the music, the food, and so on and so on...I say not a great place for kids. I struggled over not being able to invite kids outside of the family because of our growing guest list and when I asked a few friends if they would be offended, they said they prefer not to bring their kids to weddings. It's not as fun for them and it's a 'date night' thing. So I say try to encourage getting babysitters for sure.
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  9. I think your friends should get the vibe you are aiming for. I am not a parent but I already see weddings as break from the little ones.

    Although I do remember awesome parties as a little girl sitting in a lounge somewhere watching star wars and pretzels and giggling with other kids about the drunk parents!

    P.S. Yes to the babysitting idea although I would ensure they were really good and then some!
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