Children at Your Wedding: Meals, Highchairs and Seating

To plan for children at a wedding, decide early whether they are invited, ask your caterer about a children's menu, tell them about any babies who will need a highchair, and seat families together. Counting children properly, for meals and for seats, keeps your caterer's numbers right and your day relaxed.

This guide covers each of those, with what to ask your caterer and how to record it.

Decide if children are invited

Invited, not invited, or only some. Whatever you choose, state it plainly on the invitation and the wedding website, and apply the same rule to everyone. If only some children are invited, such as family only, say so kindly and in advance.

Ask about children's meals

Ask your caterer whether they offer a children's menu or smaller portions of the main meal. Then decide how strict to be:

• Children's dishes only, if the caterer has a separate menu.
• The whole menu for everyone, with the children's dishes marked so parents can find them.

Tell the caterer how many children will eat and roughly how old they are. Collect dietary notes for children in the same way as for adults, because allergies matter just as much.

Babies and highchairs

A baby, or a child who will not eat a meal, still needs a seat and may need a highchair. They count in your headcount but not in the plate count. Tell the caterer separately, so a baby does not show as a missing meal and a highchair is ready.

Seat families together

Seat young children with their parents. Older children can enjoy a children's table, placed where parents can see it, with a responsible adult or an older relative nearby. Debrett's advises the caterers be given a full seating plan, highlighted for guests with special dietary needs, (source)

Doing this in Fizz

On Fizz, a party is everyone on one envelope, so a family is invited, replies and is seated together. Children are listed with their party and do not sign in. A parent replies for the party, and the reply records each child's answers. Children still count for meals and seating.

• Tick "For children" on a dish, and it is labelled "Children's" for everyone. Add a children's menu note such as "Children's menu: 12 and under". Fizz does not ask for an age.
• On a menu where guests choose, everyone sees the whole menu, so older children can pick adult dishes too.
• Mark anyone who will not eat the caterer's food as "No meal needed", and tick "Needs a highchair" for a child who needs one. They keep their seat and count in your headcount, and your caterer sees No meal and Highchairs lines.
• Children count towards your plan's guest limit, like every other person on your list.
• A dietary note and an allergy tick sit beside each child's name, so the caterer reads allergies first.

The wedding menu builder page has the screens, and the help centre's menus guide has the steps. Our guide to wedding menus for several meals covers multi-meal weddings.

Your children checklist

• Policy decided and written on the invitation.
• Caterer asked about a children's menu or portions.
• Number of children eating told to the caterer.
• Highchairs ticked for the children who need one, and told to the caterer.
• Families seated together.
• Allergies noted for every child.

Disclaimer

This article is general guidance for planning a wedding, not legal or medical advice. Allergen rules and caterer practice differ, so confirm details with your caterer.