Since we are both lucky enough to come from relatively large families, as well as enjoying a wide circle of friends, it was impossible to include everyone that we wanted to in our day of celebration. Particularly since, being well into our 30s, the next generation is growing rapidly!

One way to make sure we could include all of our own generation of relations was to ask our cousins (who tend to have slightly older children than our friends) to come without their children – if that were at all possible – but to bring them if it would otherwise preclude them from coming. We would like to extend our gratitude to those cousins for being both understanding and flexible.

There will still be plenty of children around: in particular, Rachel’s bridesmaid Ali’s son Jack (pictured below) will hopefully join them in walking down the aisle, as will Ben’s niece Cleo (Ben’s nephew Jude will also be among the guests).

We have prioritised the limited number of rooms in the Falcon Hotel for those bringing young children, in the hope that this provides greatest opportunity for their parents to join in the evening celebrations. We will be providing a babysitter (perhaps two, depending on demand) so that little ones can be put to bed and their parents can relax and enjoy the party, reassured that their children are safe and that they will be alerted if one of them wakes. We realise we are not parents: if we’ve forgotten anything that would make it easier, please just let us know.

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