Going to a Wedding with a 16 month old-tips needed!

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Hi

We are going to our best friends wedding next Saturday in Devon (we live in Derby)and I was looking for some advice, tips, coping methods from anyone else who has done this. The wedding is at 1pm and ds is going to be suited and booted, this is his normal lunch and sleep time - i'm not regimented this is just the routine he has got into himself. We are then going onto the reception where I have to provide his lunch so I thought of doing a coolbag with a sandwich, yoghurts etc. Tea time I would like him to have something hot but there are no facilities for warming up food - would it be ok to heat up something at the cottage before we leave and keep it hot in a flask?
Any advice would be gratefully received!

Took dd to one when she was about 14 months . Fed her and ds (then 5) an early lunch beforehand then they sat and ate with us later on. Can the venue not serve a mini portion of your food for his dinner or give you a small plate ot share yours? You could keep hot water in the flask and then either heat the precooked food over it or add the water to warm it up a bit, but ours were used to cold stuff for such occasions like a Hipp toddler jar.

When they got restless we took them out but think dd stayed awake having dozed off in the car on the way there. The hosts provided party bags for the kids who were there (not many as officially it was a no-kids do) including bubbles and colouring so you could take along a small bag of goodies for him instead.

if possible I'd arrive at the venue way early, feed him his lunch before the service and try to settle him for a sleep in his pushchair in time for the service. I certainly wouldn't delay his lunch til after the service cos you might find him grizzling all the way through. I'd bring quite a large supply of known favourite finger food and I probably wouldn;t bother with a hot meal - two meals of sandwiches and yoghurts isn;t going to do him any harm (give him two hot meals the next day to assuage your guilt). But having said that - if you're eating then they must have facilities to heat up food.

Thanks for the tips LIZS.
The couple have caterers in to do the food and are charging £30 for kids so I said I would provide my own. Hot water idea is good, I don't think he will eat a cold jar of food - yuk!! Unfortunately entertaining him is down to me as DH is best man and won't even be sat with us during the meal. Think I will get a few new books and toys to take specially.

my 13 month old LOVES the travel dodle pro - which seems like a toy for an older child - she is really happy playing with it for a long time it doesn't cost much and will be useful as she gets older. worth a shot. Hope she sleeps through some of it for you!

TWWTSHAH, i'm not a killjoy but this is why I didn't really want DS suited up a a pageboy as feeding him early and getting him off to kip was my first thought!

tell me he's not really a page boy?? at 16 months?? no way. you are heading very quickly for the won't sleep and needs constant entertaining / supervision stage - it's quite a long haul from there to the happy (and safe) to run around and make friends with other kids stage (dds are 6 and 4 and at the last wedding we realised we'd made it through and it was FANTASTIC) so I don;t think there's anything killjoy at all about being practical - whose joy exactly will you be killing by having a happy 16 moth old who;s fed when hungry and asleep when tired, and who's joy will you be feeding by keeping him awake and grizzly. he'll look gorgeous in his suit but you'll have the whole afternoon for everyone to coo over him.

I woul ddefinitely feed him something before the wedding or you risk a screaming toddler through the service, surely? when are you having lunch? {puzzled emoticon at 1pm wedding time}
Maybe then he'll sleep (or does your later post mean he is taking part? is he really a pageboy at 16mo????)
Can't he then have the food you are all eating at tea-time? (I assume there is a reception with food for the grown-ups at 4-ish at the latest if the wedding is at 1pm?

£30 for the kids' food I agree that's -ing!
Oh give him some off yr plate.
Really, if he is a pageboy, I would certainly give him food at noon if he will eat it.
BTW mine all ate their puree food cold (but by this age were just on what we all ate - as Lizs says, sandwiches are fine, surely.)

BTW hello from Derby!

oh sorry that was twwtswah said that about sandwiches.

since you ask I think I prefer just plain old hat. I wanted to be hat but someone (who never posts afaik) has taken it.

Cool! Hat it is then!

Thanks for the posts everyone. I have decided that I am going to put my foot down and try to keep DS as close to his normal routine as possible, if he's asleep through the ceremony then that's just the way it is. Lord knows when I am going to eat lunch - think i'll grab a sarnie as I give DS his early lunch. 1pm weddings are such a pain in the ass when you've got little ones!
Hi to you too Clary