Seems there might be a little confusion about certain details of the day (and the weekend in general) that I really hope I can clear up a bit with this post. So here we go…
I’m an auntie to 9 lovely nieces and nephews who happen to reside in California and Texas respectively. (7 of them are in California, and 2 of them are in Texas.) The oldest is, what, about 15 now? 14 at least, anyway. The youngest will be about 6 months at the time of the wedding. We have 2’s, 6’s, 12’s…we have ‘em all, dammit. Babies to toddlers to pre-teens, basically. (I don’t count the oldest among the “children” anymore, since she’s actually a young adult, IMO.)
Besides those kiddos, I have a Maid of Honor who has a 1 year old little guy named Aiden (who will be about 1 and a half at the time of the wedding), and the Best Man has a daughter named Ava of almost exactly the same age, as she was born either the week before or the week after Aiden…I can’t remember which way it goes. Anyway, I’m hoping I can make a little baby hookup at the wedding for those two.
Ok, not really, but whatev.
One of my bridesmaids and Jesse’s groomsmen (Layla and Robb) will be having their first child here in the next few months. So we’ll even have an infant hanging out at the wedding.
I also have cousins that have children who will be invited, since they live in California as well. Not sure if they’ll be able to make it out to the wedding, but I sure hope they can!
It’s going to be a regular kiddo hoopla all up in this thing, and while it’s not exactly how I always dreamed it would be, it is what it is, and I am damn happy and wouldn’t have it any other way.
Most of these folks (my sisters, my brother, my Maid of Honor and Jesse’s Best Man, and my cousins) will be traveling into KC for the wedding from their respective locals in Texas, California, and Oregon in order to help us celebrate the nuptials, and we are so very, very happy and excited about this fact, we’re ready to burst! As such, we are making plans to have baby sitters available on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday in order to help take care of kiddos and babies so that parents can have a great time while not having to completely tend to their children the entire time they are visiting in town.
Thursday night is the Parents’ Dinner night. Our parents haven’t met each other yet, so Jesse and I will be taking them all to dinner someplace (I think we’ve decided on a spot, but we aren’t totally sure yet…) so we can introduce them and chat a bit prior to the wedding. After that, the girls will be going our way (including FMIL and any of her friends that want to join the fray, and bridal party spouses – that means you, Amanda!), and the boys will be going theirs (again, including the FFIL and his buddies as well as bridal party spouses that want to go along) as a sort of bachelor/bachelorette party-type thing. This is when the baby sitters might come in handy, and I have yet to figure out how we’re going to do it, but I think we’ll just have them in one room at one of the hotels (perhaps my suite at the Sheraton…I’ll just have to lock up the dress and some of the other essentials in someone else’s room while we’re out and about) where they can order pizza and play games and watch videos and sleep and do other kiddo-type stuff.
Friday night is the rehearsal dinner night. After the rehearsal, the family and bridal parties (again, spouses are also included in this, in case anyone was wondering) will be off to our dinner to get to know each other a bit better, to hang out and pre-celebrate, and eat, drink, and be merry and all that. Baby sitters will, again, be available to help at the hotel during this time. My one exception would be for Layla and Robb, since I wouldn’t blame them one bit if they didn’t even want to be detatched for a teeny tiny second from their sweet new daughter at that point. It’s not a plan for the other kids to be invited, though. Hopefully that’ll be ok with everyone!
Saturday, kids are invited. Since I have such a large number of children-aged folks in my immediate family, we’ve planned a Kid Area at the reception (all you parents are on your own at the ceremony, though!) where we will have Halloween-type crafts, kid food to munch on, videos to watch, and comfy bean bag chairs (I hope, I hope, I hope…) to lounge on. I know that my Maid of Honor told me her mother is planning on attending the wedding (I wish the whole family could, gosh darnit!) in order to help her with Aiden, and that’s lovely of her. But I hope he’s able to hang out and have some fun with the crafty stuff, and enjoy the food we’re bringing in for them and all, too. (That way, MOH’s mom can come out on the dance floor and boogie down with us when she feels the desire!) The kids will be down the hall from the reception area, monitored by at least 3 baby sitters, and will be able to come and go as they please to that area.
The hope at this point is that the baby sitters from Thursday, Friday, and Saturday will all be the same people each time. That way, the kids will be used to them, and they will feel more comfortable hanging out with them after their first meeting. My wedding coordinator and I will be working closely to make this happen if we can.
So. There it is. Some of the basics that we’re planning for the weekend, in hopes of making things not only more fun for the parents, but also for the kids that will be making the trip to town for the wedding. I’ve asked my friends here in town if they would want to bring their children to the wedding, since there will be some there and all, and they’ve all assured me that they would prefer a kid-free night if they can have it, so I’m sending invites accordingly. I can certainly appreciate the fact that some parents might prefer a night out on the town without having to worry about their kids at all…heck, I don’t blame them one bit for that! So hopefully the availability of the baby sitters will make things a bit easier in that respect.
Really, though, I can’t express enough to everyone that reads this blog how excited Jesse and I are to share our new home town with you, celebrate our union with you, and to introduce our respective family and friends to one another. We are so deeply filled with gratitude to everyone who is planning on coming here for the event, and we want to make it as fun as we can for you while you’re here. For all of the folks that will be checking into the hotel blocks we’ve reserved, we will have information (and other goodies) waiting in your room for you when you arrive, making suggestions on restaurants, shopping, and other favorite hang outs for you to check out while you’re in town if you can. I hope that everyone’s visit here can help them see why it is that Jesse and I choose to live here as we do. Some photos below show images of some of my favorite things about the city…enjoy!
Country Club Plaza (this is the corner of Pennsylvania and Nichols Rd.)
Downtown Skyline
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