Kids at weddings. ah, what a wonderful subject. Not for the fainthearted I tell you. They’re just full of surprises – good surpises and very, very bad surprises. They’re either eliciting ‘ooohs’ and ‘aaaahs’ from your guests as they trundled unsteadily down the aisle, or they’re bringing the entire house down with ‘look mommy, that lady is wearing a funny hat with apples in it,’ just as our gorgeous bride hits her stride down the aisle. Never ever a dull moment with the younger set around I tell you. I personally love kids at weddings – they add the very unexpected and it’s a photographers dream. I’ve seen children at weddings doing all manner of things, each time pulling off yet another masterstroke at completely upsetting the proceedings. I’ve seen them asking the minister why he’s wearing a dress, I’ve watched them asking the bride when the baby is coming, I’ve heard them shout out ‘boooooring’ (I kid you not), and I’ve watched them make speeches so amazingly full of love that it I’ve wondered why the entire world isn’t just left to them to run. So here’s the deal – if you want children at your wedding, go for it, but expect the unexpected, because it WILL happen. Somewhere, somehow during the course of your wedding day that little 3 year old is going to have a pretty inspirational moment and somebody is going to be on the very marvellous receiving end of it. But you can ‘manage’ those mini-missiles to a degree. Here’s how – I think…

Hire a babysitter. It’s not going to cost you that much is it? Almost everyone knows a lovely nanny who is great with kids. So hire her! She’ll feel a part of the proceedings and she’ll welcome the extra money. And throw in a gift as well – she’ll hold it dear forever.

Put a little time aside for kids photos. Children are naturally theatrical. Set 10 minutes aside for your photographer to capture them doing their thing during the formals and if he’s any good at his job, he’ll blow about 30% of their inherent energy package in one go. And you will seriously love the photos.

Include the kids during the dancing. When children feel an ‘expression session’ coming on best you stand back because they’re going to hit that dance floor hammer and tongs. Include them, dance with them, love and hug them. More energy gone.

Set a kiddies table. Kids are not little adults, they’re kids. And kids all love the same sort of things – bubbles, balloons, masks, crayons, fiddly stuff that will capture their imaginations. Make their table exciting for them and they’ll play themselves into a coma. Oh and try not to feed them snails as a starter – give them food that they love. Then, when it all gets too much for them, our legendary babysitter can whisk them off to a room with a… TV. The smaller one’s will hit the sack, the bigger one’s will watch TV until they just can’t anymore. Sleep tight. Job done.