How to Survive a Wedding with a One Year Old

A family wedding is something that you just cannot get yourself out of but then again why would you? It’s a lovely excuse to get out and enjoy yourselves!

But when you have a baby, a one year old in my case, you don’t spend much time thinking about the actual wedding itself or the scrumptious food you want to endulge in. All that you can think about is how on earth are you going to get through the day with the little one.

I’m no expert here giving you advice as well I’ve only attended one wedding with Little A last month but here are a few things that helped us stay sane at the wedding reception.

H I G H C H A I R

There’s no harm in asking whomever is organising the day that will there be high chairs available for children. This worried me a lot because Little A is at that stage in her life where she refuses to sit in your lap, she much prefers her independence.

The Hotel where the reception took place was family friendly so high chairs were available. So Little A got to sit in her own chair and pretend to be a grown up like the rest of us. Yes, there were times where she got moody and actually wanted a cuddle (when I was just about to dig into the food) but majority of the time the highchair acted as our saviour.

That being said, don’t worry if highchairs aren’t available there’s always the pram.

P R A M

I debated with the idea of taking the pram with us but I am glad that we did even though we didn’t need it. Sometimes, when the little one is whiney you can just put them in the pram and go for a stroll and fresh air to change the atmosphere that might be causing them to get stressed.

More importantly, the pram can be used as a makeshift bed if your little one wants to nap.

F O O D

Pack your own food and snacks for the little one. You may not know what type of food is being served and it may not be suitable for your child. Little A had her lunch just before we left so I knew she wouldn’t be hungry for a while.

However, when she sees others eating she wants to as well so for that I made peanut butter sandwiches which she happily ate herself and I got the chance to eat my meal too.

There were boiled rice available which were suitable for her so she munched on those as well or really she just made a mess with them – at least she was kept busy!

E N T E R T A I N M E N T

I cannot stress enough how important it is to pack with you all the items that keep your little one entertained and happy. It is particularly important when you’re in a ‘strange’ environment to have something familiar so the little one feels confident and safe.

C H I L D R E N

If there are children of similar age then why not get them to sit together? Children’s are each other’s best company. There was a little boy at the reception only a month younger than Little A and we had their highchairs together.

It was absolutely amazing to see them both interact with each other, he kept kissing her and Little A returned the kisses with a slap in the end… but apparently babies only hit those they feel most comfortable with, so that’s good then!

F I N A L T H O U G H T S

I honestly was panicking for no reason, I had no idea how we would manage but in the end even though Little A began crying because she was tired (only had a 30 minute nap in the morning and missed the second one) and didn’t want to get in the car seat – I am so proud of her! She was absolutely amazing!

So if you’re having an occasion coming up that you’re worried about then have no fear, just relax and enjoy as much as you can. And even if it does not go as smoothly as you had hoped, that’s not a problem but only the most natural thing when you have children.