I think everyone loves seeing how adorable the flower girls look walking down the isle, the cute kids dressed up in adult clothing, a little boy running around with a tuxedo jacket, top and his diapers because it’s just too hot in the wedding hall.  Too freaking cute, and makes for great photos.  Who doesn’t love kids when they are super cute at weddings!  Just look at this:
Yes, they look so cute all dolled up with flowers in their hair and curls, but then what happens when they get hyper on the sugar, restless during the ceremony, or extremely bored during the long speeches at the reception?  My mom would probably kick my ass if ever did any of these things at weddings!! She was ruthless, and most often, the weddings my family was invited to would exclude me and my four siblings, and my mom NEVER brought us along if we weren’t specifically invited.

One of the touchiest subjects is whether or not to invite young children to wedding, because to be quite honest, who wants this in the middle of your ceremony:

I know, ADORABLE kid, but you can’t control their moods… and for that reason I get so concerned when young kids are invited to weddings, or brought without invitation.  I have many cute kids in my family (my cousins all have kids, and they are all SUPER CUTE) and I really have no issues with my family’s kids being at the wedding, or my sister-in-law’s ADORABLE daughters being at my wedding, but those kids are my family so I love them, know that the majority of them are well behaved, and I also know that their moms will eat me alive if I suggested leaving them at home.  Plus, I am Pakistani there is no excluding any of my family from my wedding, and I wouldn’t want them left at home.  It’s for the other people whose children I do not want at my wedding, and it’s definitely a touchy subject either way.  I’ve seen some kids behave extremely well at weddings, but others make it their own personal playground.  They might be running around, crawling under the table, messing with the cake, or touching the expensive flowers or knocking down the floral arrangements.  Gives me nightmares thinking about it.

Here are some things I’ve seen at weddings that drive me crazy:
-child crying during the ceremony (Muslim ceremonies are only 20-30 minutes long too, mind you!)
-child screaming during ceremony
-14-year-old playing Nintendo DS during ceremony…. with the volume TURNED UP
-children running around at reception
-children running around in the hotel lobby during reception
-children breaking apart floral arrangements
-children trying to dance at the mehndi during the choreographed performances, that girls have practiced tirelessly for and do not need a kid joining in
-children running around the stage that the bride and groom are seated at

So this is all behavior that I’ve witnessed that drives me insane.  In all honesty, weddings cost a lot of money per person, so why invite someone who has no interest in being there?  It doesn’t cost less to have a child invited than it does to have an adult invited there… so how to tackle this subject.

There are a few tactful ways of addressing this issue, and the first is writing:
-“Adult Only Reception” on the card or insert
-“No Children under the age of 16, please” on the card or insert
-indicating how many seats have been reserved for the family on the response card, and being sure to exclude the children, so say “2 seats have been reserved”
-or, having a “babysitting room” with a nanny, pizza, and crafts/movies to keep the kids entertained..

Obviously, the last option costs money to execute at weddings, but at the same time, Pakistani people love to bring their kids even if they aren’t invited, with the notion that their “cute” child is not a nuisance at the wedding, and justifying their behavior by saying the child will be seated in their laps the whole time.  Not true, never once seen that happen.