Wedding in northern Scotland - what to do with the DCs in the evening?

[circlesquare]

I've been invited to a friend's wedding in the north of Scotland in August. DD will be 4 and DS 18 months, and I'd love to take them. There are people there I'd like them to meet and a few days in the area would be lovely.

The wedding venue isn't a hotel, so the question is what's best for them in the evening. They're not good at staying up late - we tried that at the last wedding and DH ended up going to bed with them before 8! While that's an option again, it would be good to get time in the evening for grown up catch up. We'd ideally like to stay in a hotel or B&B and wondered what people's experience was of hiring baby sitters while away from home. How do you find one you're happy with? And if it's a hotel, do sitters actually sit in the room with the children? Does that not bother them?

Thanks.

Bump.

Where exactly is the wedding??

Deeside - I think it's about 90 minutes away from Aberdeen.

How long are you there for? If its 2 or 3 nights then perhaps you could hire a cottage, I don't know whats available round there but there are lots of good websites.

Sitters.co.uk generally gets good reviews on here, if it was a cottage then they could sit in the living room rather than in the hotel room.

We have used babysitters through agencies before and they have been fine, but other people on here would think this is not an acceptable thing to do, so your call really.

Have a great time at the wedding.

Where abouts on Deeside? Are you north or to the West (Balmoral way)?

You say the venue isn't a hotel but where are they holding the reception? We attended a wedding up there (my DH is from Deeside) and the hotel was v good (but we had to bring in an outside babysitter that they arranged). She sat with kids for afternoon and evening.

On another occasion, we took kids with us and they fell asleep on big comfy chairs at the venue and it was fine.

Do your friends have any family/friends in the area that you could call on for babysitters - teenagers/students home for summer? Lovely place for a wedding - our home is on Deeside.

Could you take one of the childrens' grandmothers with you?

you could perhaps get in touch with the Aberdeen branch of the NCT who might be able to point you in the right direction.
Might the children fall asleep in their buggies if you get them ready for bed and out for a walk between the meal and dance?

Thanks for all the ideas everyone. It's near Balmoral, I believe. The wedding and reception are being held in an NTS property with very limited accommodation on site - I thought it would be polite to leave it for close family and we'd have to be quite vigilant with the children! Nearest family are Inverness and grandparents are a very long way away - they probably would come, but I suppose I'd like to use the granny "credits" for something more urgent, if I could find another solution.

The cottage idea is a good one, if I could find one for a short let. We might even be able to share with other guests.

I've not had any experience of sitters.co.uk - what's it like and why are people unsure about it?

I'd get booking now if you want a cottage. Places round Deeside go fast in my experience especially in August. Some NT properties have cottages on site. Maybe you could do some nanny sharing with the residents of Balmoral (I bet they bring a few with them)

Not strictly related to babysitting www.thebabygurus.co.uk/ is run by an school friend of mine in Banchory on Deeside. It's possible they have contacts with local nannies etc. and might be worth a try if getting no joy.

I got a Registered Childminder to come and look after my dd's when i got married.

You could look at the website CM's are on and maybe phone a few round?

Worked really well for us.

Hi circlesqure, my comment about sitters wasn't related specifically to them, it's just that from some other threads its become apparent that some people are uncomfortable with leaving their children with people they haven't met before even if those people are fully certified and checked.

I have to say I don't share those concerns, and provided you are ok with the concept then I believe that sitters has a great reputation.

Waswondering - your scenario would be our perfect one. DH in particular has a hankering to dance the night away with DD! It's just not happened yet - we expected her to throw a few shapes at a wedding last month but she just flaked out, which is what has got me thinking.

It's just such a treat to actually have them invited that I want to find a good way of doing it.

The NTS property is a no-no, really - as I say, it's limited accommodation and I don't want the mother of the bride to be homeless because we've booked it. The Craigendarroch is fully booked for that weekend .

Apparently the August residents of Balmoral don't really need a nanny-share.

I see what you mean about sitters - great service if you're happy to leave children with someone they don't immediately know. I think I would be - they don't actually wake up anyway.

Good idea about the registered CM, and thanks for the link twotimestrouble.

You've all certainly given me plenty to think about.

Whatever we do, I'm sure we'll have a ball. It's going to be one of those lovely politics-free weddings where you can walk round all day with a silly grin on your face and do whatever suits you best.

You could even try a nursing agency?

Friends of mine hired an agency nurse to spend the evening with 90 year old granny in the cottage they rented whilst they were out dancing the night away at the wedding reception

Fair point, and I haven't phoned, no. Good tip - I'll try it, because it looks great.

As an aside, hard to imagine at the minute that it will be light that late. Isn't summer in Scotland wonderful?

Wow. I can see this turning into a whole holiday...

Just a point about the Craiggendarroch - they have a lot of timeshares which operate under a different website to the hotel (but I think reception could tell you what it is). Owners frequently rent their weeks out to members of the public. Might be worth a try.

Another thought: you will probably have difficulty finding a cottage for a short break in August, they tend to want folks for a week at that time of year.

A B&B might be an idea. Some might offer babysitting.

Look atguide.visitscotland.com/vs/guide/5,en,SCH1/objectId,RGN377vs,curr,GBP,season,at1,selectedEntry,home/ home.html