If you’re inviting more than a couple kids to your wedding, you might want to consider hiring a wedding babysitter to help out. But how do you hire them? And how much does a wedding babysitter even cost?
If you’re having a destination wedding at a hotel or resort, they will usually have a pre-approved list of babysitters that can watch the children that are in attendance either at your reception in a separate room, or in a suite at the hotel.
If you’re getting married locally and are close with the parents of the little ones that you invited, you can also open up the discussion to them. First, see if they’re comfortable having their children watched by a babysitter, and if so they might even have a suggestion for a pre-school teacher looking for extra work, or one or two of their normal babysitters or nannies might be available as well. If you do hire a babysitter for the children at your event you’ll need a designated play area where kids can do arts and crafts or watch a movie. Talk to your venue about what your options for this might be.
SEE MORE: 15 Times Kids Made Us Laugh at Weddings
If you’re hiring someone the children’s parents already know and pay, then they’ll be able to share the going rate with you. Typically you can expect to pay around $20-$40/hour for a qualified babysitter, and can arrange for an hourly fee if you expect to stay on schedule throughout the night, or even come up with a flat rate if your wedding might go over. Trusted online resources for babysitters include Sittercity.com and Care.com. You can expect to start looking for a babysitter 2-3 months before your wedding, though you can often find a reliable one with less notice. Once you have a babysitter arranged, be sure to connect them with the parents ahead of time so they can share any allergies or other notes they should be aware of.
Not crazy about having kids at your wedding? Another option is of course to have an adults only wedding. Read more about how to tell guests you’re having a child-free wedding here.
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