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Adoption

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Weddings after placement

24 replies

TwinklyNavyMaker · 09/07/2025 14:50

Hi everyone we are currently linked and have matching panel in August and hopefully transitions in September. We have been invited to three weddings in November on consecutive weeks and I'm not sure what to do and people want us to RSVP in the next few weeks.

The first one is DH boss and the whole family are invited to the whole day. It's pretty close to home. Potentially DH could go on his own.
The second one is my brother's brother in law if that makes sense. We are only invited to ceremony and evening. We definitely won't be going to the evening but not sure about the ceremony.
The last one is the last weekend in November and is a very close family friend and it's adults only. It is also three hours away from home but close to my in-laws. Considering traveling to my in-laws for the weekend. DH will stay with the children with his parents and I will go to some of the wedding.

I just wanted to see what people would do in my situation and whether I am being silly to even attempt to go to any of the weddings and travel.

OP posts:
Arran2024 · 09/07/2025 14:57

Hi.

Congratulations on the placement.

Tbh whatever you do will be whatever it is. I adopted 24 years ago and they were much less bothered about what anyone did. We were advised not to do much travelling, see people, but I know plenty of people who just ignored it.

Partly you have to look after your own mental health.

My advice would be for one of you to go.

Emog21 · 09/07/2025 14:59

Honestly, I would decline all of the invitations to make life easier for yourself! The settling in period is really unpredictable and I wouldn't want to be giving myself or my child any added pressure.

AmusedCat · 09/07/2025 16:26

I don't think I would go and people will understand. The priority is settling your child into their new home and there will be anxiety on both sides. Everyone needs space and time to adjust.

Honon · 09/07/2025 16:35

3 weddings in as many weeks is quite hardcore at the best of times!
I don't think I'd want to take the kids to a wedding so soon after transition, it might be fine but it might be really hard, you just can't know yet.
Does wedding 2 require travel? I'd be tempted to give that one a miss, then DH goes to 1 and you go to 3.

Oshaghennesey · 09/07/2025 19:01

Its worth noting you have to seek permission from your agency/LA for any over night trips, and on the basis of the trip not benefitting the child they may so no.

Ted27 · 09/07/2025 21:07

@TwinklyNavyMaker

Congratulations on your new family.

You don't say how old the children are?

It may be that I turned 60 last week so obviously old and past it 😉 but I think I'd find three weddings on the trot hard going and would need a holiday to recover.
The first one- How well do you know the boss and his work colleagues. There will inevitably be a lot of interest in the children, would you be feel able to tell people to back off in they became intrusive? I missed a party a few weeks after my son came home on the basis that I didnt really know most people going and I didn't want to have to deal with questions or people whispering about him - even if the whispering was a figment of my imagination. I'd send DH off on his own.
Second one I wouldn't go. Its not a close relationship and I wouldn't want the stress of trying to keep children I barely know contained during a ceremony, and again because of potential unwanted interest.
The third one is a bit more difficult. Kids won't be there so that's not an issue. You might quite like a day off at that point. Good chance for the grandparents to get to know the kids. Only one I'd consider to be honest.
Remember that you are about to have your life turned upside down. The children do need routine and stability so personally I feel being disrupted three weekends in a row so early is too much. Would be too much for many kids I think.
And you do also need to think about yourself. Do you want all the faff of getting sorted out for three weddings when you are still trying to adjust to being a mum?

tonyhawks23 · 09/07/2025 22:05

Yep id be skipping all 3,it's a really difficult time and you have all your energy used up just in cocooning.i definitely wouldn't travel the kids around and you need permission to until adoption order is through which it won't be by then,so you have very fair reason not to go.I can imagine how stressful it would be with everyone asking you all about them,in front of them,as you try and manage their behaviour from being overwhelmed/scared etc.everyone thinking it ok to hug them,help them etc.Nope it would be a no from me.

Arran2024 · 09/07/2025 22:12

Just to add, my husband went to a wedding in Poland a few months after we had our girls placed. The wedding had been planned for years and he was best man and we decided he should still go.

It was fine.

I don't see why one parent can't go to these weddings. Not the children but one parent? Why not? Imo it is unrealistic to stop normal life. Attachment is a marathon, not a sprint.

Jellycatspyjamas · 10/07/2025 06:40

At this stage early in placement it’s not so much about attachment as it is about safety and routine. These kids have been moved from everything they know, and within weeks they’ll have disrupted weekends 3 weeks in a row. Like @Ted27 id pick one of the three to go to though honestly that early in placement the very last thing I wanted was a formal whole family event of any kind.

Arran2024 · 10/07/2025 07:27

Jellycatspyjamas · 10/07/2025 06:40

At this stage early in placement it’s not so much about attachment as it is about safety and routine. These kids have been moved from everything they know, and within weeks they’ll have disrupted weekends 3 weeks in a row. Like @Ted27 id pick one of the three to go to though honestly that early in placement the very last thing I wanted was a formal whole family event of any kind.

How disruptive is it for one parent to pop out for a few hours on a Saturday? I am not suggesting they take the children to the wedding. But presumably one parent will be going to work - it's not like the children won't be used to the absence of one of them?

I think the parents' mental health matters too and that it will help to get out for a bit and do something different.

TwinklyNavyMaker · 10/07/2025 08:52

Thank you all for your comments and advice! On reflection, I think taking the children is a no go and wedding no2 is not necessary. DH is going to ask his colleagues who is going to wedding no1 and I think he might go on his own, even if just to the evening.

Wedding no3 is still the most difficult and I hadn't anticpated having to ask for permission for the overnight trip. I think it could be good for the children to meet their grandparents but also might just be too early on. I think I will ask when is the absolute latest we could let them know and then discuss with my SW.

Someone asked how old the children are and they are both under three if that makes any difference!

OP posts:
tonyhawks23 · 10/07/2025 09:06

My thoughts would be that a wedding would be the wrong place to meet grandparents,it would be meaningless for them amongst all the other wel wishers.ime it would be better by far for the children to miss it and just one of you go.

TwinklyNavyMaker · 10/07/2025 09:15

tonyhawks23 · 10/07/2025 09:06

My thoughts would be that a wedding would be the wrong place to meet grandparents,it would be meaningless for them amongst all the other wel wishers.ime it would be better by far for the children to miss it and just one of you go.

Neither the grandparents or children would be going to the wedding, just me!

OP posts:
tonyhawks23 · 10/07/2025 09:30

Oh I see, apologies!

Arran2024 · 10/07/2025 09:49

TwinklyNavyMaker · 10/07/2025 09:15

Neither the grandparents or children would be going to the wedding, just me!

Tbh I would think it would be better to take the children to the wedding rather than leave them with people they don't know.

I know I am a lot more laissez faire than most posters but I definitely wouldn't leave them at that point.

We took our two to a bar mitzvah early on. We aren't Jewish, it was a colleague of my husband's son's. We had no idea what to expect. Both girls loved dressing up and it was fun for us as a family.

I believe in supporting everyone's mental health and making memories and having good times. Being stuck at home doing routines isn't for everyone. My younger daughter was extremely avoidant - staying home either me was extremely difficult for her. Going out was more tolerable for her in those early days (her alternative coping strategy was to sleep).

Every family is different. You won't really know til the children are placed tbh.

Ted27 · 10/07/2025 10:37

@Arran2024

The op said that the third wedding is adults only. She would go and her DH stay with the children at the GPs

mumof2many1943 · 10/07/2025 14:06

Oh dear how times have changed, our beautiful boy was placed with us in the June, he was deafblind and cerebral palsy. Our youngest birth son was getting married in Northern Cyprus in the August. SW was brilliant and rushed like lunatic to get him a passport! All was well until we got on the plane his surname was different to ours and was seated in a different part of the plane. It was sorted. We all had a brilliant time and he met all the family!
Don’t think it would be allowed today!

Jellycatspyjamas · 10/07/2025 19:18

TwinklyNavyMaker · 10/07/2025 08:52

Thank you all for your comments and advice! On reflection, I think taking the children is a no go and wedding no2 is not necessary. DH is going to ask his colleagues who is going to wedding no1 and I think he might go on his own, even if just to the evening.

Wedding no3 is still the most difficult and I hadn't anticpated having to ask for permission for the overnight trip. I think it could be good for the children to meet their grandparents but also might just be too early on. I think I will ask when is the absolute latest we could let them know and then discuss with my SW.

Someone asked how old the children are and they are both under three if that makes any difference!

You don’t need permission for an overnight stay that you’re both going to be there for overnight. You popping to the wedding with your DH caring for the kids is fine - I’d introduce the kids to their grandparents ahead of time and make sure they direct the kids back to your DH for care.

onlytherain · 11/07/2025 00:32

My children would not have coped with a wedding so shortly after placement, and they are both extroverted. My kids were placed in July and we went on a UK based holiday in October. The first days were so difficult that we considered going home. That was just the four of us, 4 months after placement with a 5 and 6 year old to whom we could explain that this was a holiday. They still didn't fully understand.

Taking the children on a 3 hour car journey two months after placement might remind them of their journey to yours from the foster carers, which will have been a traumatic experience. They will stay in a new room in a new bed and the (new) routine will go out of the window. They have just moved families and don't understand that they will stay with you forever. And what for? Where is the benefit for them?

I would skip all three weddings.

tonyhawks23 · 11/07/2025 06:03

for my daughter it would have been too much staying with grandparents for it,it would have felt like transitions again and they assume they are being left with grandparents.for a long long time after placement my daughter would treat all visitors as assumed new parents and it was really sad to see.i would still skip this wedding for their sake,maybe you go and leave the kids at home with DH if anything as it will be good for you to have a break maybe? It's such a tough time for the kids and is so much work trying to make them feel safe I wouldn't want to put more stress on.

Torvy · 13/07/2025 07:44

I agree with everyone above! There is also the fact that kids can be a huge unknown quantity at public events. Even now my eldest gets severe anxiety and acts the goat as a result. He won't sit on a chair, makes random noises, shouts at his brother.... Fromthe POV of the person getting married, would I want a co workers kids potentially disrupting the ceremony? Maybe not 🤣

you will be so soon into placement you might not have any realistic idea of how they might behave, and whether or would be over and above the scope of what is normal for kids that age, and it might also be difficult to know what sensory stuff they will need. Don't underestimate a two year olds ability to be incredibly and consistently disruptive to the point of stopping any enjoyment!

It's hard to feel like you are missing out, and I agreed that one of you popping off to a wedding won't make much of a difference to the routine in the long run, but I wouldn't be taking the kids on any long journeys or public social events for a few months if they are mobile/capable of causing chaos, if only for your own sanity and social standing. Nobody wants their kids to be the one who toppled the wedding cake or ran in front of the bride and groom as they said their vows, especially if you are not particularly close to the couple getting married. If it was your own brother or a birth child or something like that, there is the problem they might be missing out on a key family occasion, but if it was more distant I would be less inclined to bring them.

I would also be wary of wedding 3 being the first time DH is left on his own with the kids for any extended period of time, in a different, possibly non baby proofed place, on full parenting skills display with people who are probably lovely but may not truly understand therapeutic parenting, with kids who are away from their new home for the first tim, with new and interesting people to tantrum in front of, and one of their new attachment figures having just left, and for a whole wedding. There are a lot of moving parts there, and I would be more tempted to say DH can keep them at home on his own, then if he really wants to meet the grandparents that weekend, have them come to yours for a little afternoon out, back home and bed in the normal way. The memories of transition will still be quite fresh anyway, so they might find it tricky. Plus, packing for anything and everything the kids will need is an absolute ball ache, and really stressful when you have kids who still need loads of stuff for consistency. We went away to visit my parents for 2 nights(we stayed in a hotel the first time because my parents find it hard not to offer unsolicited opinions and our kids are buck wild, so we knew everyone would need a break from one another) and the car was straining at the seams with teddies and spare clothes and safe foods and bottles and nappies and prams and weighted blankets and night lights because we just had no idea what we would need. Now we don't need half that stuff, but that's because we spent ages doing trial and error in emotionally neutral places like hotels and slowly increased the length of short daytime visits to relatives houses. The initial planning so that those visits could be successful was quite a lot, and for us it was important that we set the kids up to be as successful as possible because it formed the basis of their future relationships. But it is stressful and so early into placement it might be just one thing you don't need.

Overall, I would be saying DH, the children are yours for the weekend of wedding 3, you go ahead and have a lovely time sticking to the bedtime routine, I'll be over here dancing the night away and having a blast 🤣 it builds DH confidence and allows you to let your hair down a bit.

Whatever you decide, enjoy!

Oshaghennesey · 13/07/2025 20:18

Jellycatspyjamas · 10/07/2025 19:18

You don’t need permission for an overnight stay that you’re both going to be there for overnight. You popping to the wedding with your DH caring for the kids is fine - I’d introduce the kids to their grandparents ahead of time and make sure they direct the kids back to your DH for care.

You do with my LA, any overnights need to be approved.

Jellycatspyjamas · 13/07/2025 23:27

Oshaghennesey · 13/07/2025 20:18

You do with my LA, any overnights need to be approved.

If one of the parents are there, there’s no legal basis to require permission for an overnight, they’re in the care of person responsible for them, even if staying somewhere else. I’m not doubting you’re right in saying the LA want you to ask, but there’s no requirement legally. Might be one of those different in England things mind you.

Oshaghennesey · 14/07/2025 20:20

Jellycatspyjamas · 13/07/2025 23:27

If one of the parents are there, there’s no legal basis to require permission for an overnight, they’re in the care of person responsible for them, even if staying somewhere else. I’m not doubting you’re right in saying the LA want you to ask, but there’s no requirement legally. Might be one of those different in England things mind you.

Yes I'm in England. It was part of the agreement I had to sign, along with no say in medical treatment, haircuts and baptism/christening.

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