The do's and don'ts of having children at your ceremony

culled from:http://pulse.ng

While most couples would rather not have children at their wedding for several reasons, sometimes it just can't be helped especially if you have guests with small children and no nanny.

So how do you ensure your ceremony runs smoothly with your "little guests" in attendance?

Read on to find out the do's and don'ts of having kids at your wedding:

• DON'T stress out: This is your wedding, so nobody expects you to have a full-blown area that's all about kids. These are just a few ideas to help keep them occupied and quiet for your big day.
• DO communicate with your guests: Weddings are expensive and kids count toward your headcount. If you're paying up to N1,000 or more per plate, that adds up fast. If you don't want to invite kids to your wedding, that's ok (don't feel bad!), you just have to be very clear early on so your guests can make arrangements.
• DON'T assume anything: Just like everything else when it comes to weddings, you'll feel much better with a plan. If you don't want to chance any unruly kids around your ceremony and reception, plan now to prevent that situation later.
• DO help keep kids occupied: If you expect a lot of guests with small kids, a growing trend is to provide them with some quiet activities for the ceremony and reception. This kind of goes with "don't assume anything" above, because you don't want to assume that all parents will do their part to keep their kids occupied. You could also hire a babysitter or two to watch kids in a room nearby. It's an extra expense, yes, but it's most likely cheaper than including them all in your catering headcount.
• DO something hands-on: If you opt to have a room or separate area with some hired adult supervision, you can have kids make paper flowers. Equip the grown-ups with some different-sized cupcake liners, glue and popsicle sticks. Glue the paper liners together, cut the edges to look like petals, glue to the sticks and you've got a cute wedding bouquet.