Kids at Your Wedding

In the years that I have performed at weddings, anniversaries and birthdays, I have come to realize that an important factor in determining the success of an event is often overlooked - or, at least, not given the attention that it deserves: the age of the guests.  Should there be an age minimum at your wedding?

This is an important decision when planning your celebration, so take a moment to consider the implications carefully.

If you want unbridled, reckless abandon from your wild, sweaty guests on the dance floor … perhaps, it’s not the right event for children to attend.

There are great kids out there, and there are some great parents that get along really well with them; however, the odds that all of the families you invite to your celebration will have that kind of bond are … probably not too good.

There is a time and place for a family-oriented celebration. Usually, this is outdoors with lots of different things going on at once: like swimming, horse-shoes, badminton, volleyball, face-painting, etc.  If this is the case, then bring the kids, and everyone can have a blast together.

At the vast majority of weddings, however, the kids tend to run around the room trying to unload some of their large reservoirs of energy.  Also (and you need to know this), they are likely to beg your DJ - relentlessly - to play the terrible music, with the horrific lyrics and demonic content - from the very beginning of your cocktail hour, all the way through dinner - thus derailing your seasoned professional and taking him / her out of “the zone.”  That zone is defined as being completely focused on the bride and groom, and trying to pick up the vibe in the room, so as to pack the dance floor.

From the DJ’s perspective, when we arrive at a wedding … and we see children beginning to arrive as well … we won’t run and hide until the wedding is over, but we do know that your wedding day may not be all that you had imagined.

We already know there will not be a jam-packed dance floor.  There will be no frenzied wild time - with a sea of bodies moving up and down as one - everyone screaming at the top of their lungs; and we know that some families are likely to end up in so much conflict that the entire family will leave early.

To synopsize: if you want to provide your guests with a packed and wild dance floor, it may be best to leave the children with responsible babysitters - so that you and your guests are completely free to act like a bunch of crazy, wild, fun loving kids.

Curtis Knight
Curtis Knight Entertainment
http://www.curtisknight.com