This may surprise some readers, but most kids will find weddings exceedingly dull. So parents need to find ways to keep them entertained and prevent them from wanton destructive behavior. Unfortunately, not all parents see this as an issue.
A wedding photographer shared one of the more unhinged experiences they had with unruly kids and, even worse, they’re just as conceded parents. The story proved so popular that OP even gave an update later. We also reached out to Lisa Pleasant at Lisa Pleasant Events, an wedding planning company to learn more about these sorts of horror stories.
Children’s behavior at weddings is a pretty effective mirror of how well their parents raised them
Image credits: David Vilches (not the actual photo)
A wedding photographer detailed an event where children ultimately caused pretty significant damage
Image credits: Sonyachny (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Wavebreakmedia (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Ottblues
Image credits: Michael Twiss Jr (not the actual photo)
Unruly children can cause a lot of destruction and these sorts of stories do influence how other couples plan their wedding
Bored Panda reached out to Lisa Pleasant at Lisa Pleasant Events to hear some professional insight on children being disruptive and maybe some stories about disruptive guests in general. “I have heard horror stories of such things as an older child (age 10) getting up during the ceremony and crawling underneath a videographer's stationary camera tripod and then digging into the cake even before the ceremonial cake cutting by the couple, I don't think I can say I have seen that first hand.” Of course, these sorts of stories do bring into focus the utter lack of parental supervision as well as basic guidelines for right and wrong. But, the lack of such stories could also be a result of more and more weddings taking place without children.
“Most couples opt to have adult-only celebrations, sometimes with only the exception of a ring bearer and/or flower girl, probably for this exact reason. :) If you want stories about unruly adult guests, however, remind me to tell you about a groomsman tequila-inspired table surfing, guests naked on a lawn, someone eating rose petals, and a man who thought it would be clever to light a barn on fire,” Lisa added. It seems kids aren’t the only ones capable of excessive destruction. However, unless you really want to scale your wedding back, a child and adult-free wedding isn’t really an option, so more and more people prefer the former.
Child-free weddings may be on the rise but are still not the norm
While there aren’t solid statistics for it, there is evidence that child-free weddings are increasing in number. However, they still don’t represent the majority of events. One survey found that approximately 16% of ceremonies between 2017 and 2018 were child-free, which puts it squarely into the minority. However, attitudes are changing and as people have fewer and fewer children, many weddings might end up relatively child-free without a rule being set in place. Costs of catering and seating also come into play, so many couples might choose to save on the cost of little guests who probably don’t enjoy the event anyway.
A more common response is to plan specific events and activities to keep children entertained and away from trouble. Some research suggests that over 60% of US wedding planning involves setting up something for kids to do while the adults go through the ceremony, speeches, toasts, and whatever else they want to do. This does come at a cost, as running a daycare at your own wedding still requires money. Of course, it’s not just kids that can be unruly, so even a no-kid policy might be ignored by a certain kind of parent.
OP answered some user questions and discussed the parent’s horrible behavior
