Guests - young and old

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The arrival of a wedding invitation can be a source of great delight and also panic. Happiness that friends or family are marrying and want you to be there, and concern that it involves a fair bit of effort and expense.

Make sure your guests know if there is a dress code - and especially if there isn't as it could save them money hiring an outfit. Some couples want women to wear hats, or men to wear suits, or a particular colour.

Unless the happy couple is planning to disappear alone to a beautiful beach or even Las Vegas for an exclusive wedding, the question of children is going to arise.

As with everything, it’s their day and if the couple does not want children at the ceremony or reception, that is a choice to be respected. But if it’s a family affair and little ones are welcome, the next step is to consider how to look after them.

It can be as simple as asking the hotel or caterers to provide squash and a paper tablemat and crayons at their place settings.

Or if there are likely to be several under 10s (older ones can fit in) how about a bouncy castle, clown, children’s entertainer, Lego table, nanny, children’s menu and party bag (given after
they’ve been good during the ceremony) which is full of puzzles, dot to dot books, crayons, simple origami kits and so on.