Finding an outfit for little ones to wear at a wedding can be a total minefield. You want something that will be comfortable and affordable – as chances are they will be wearing it just once, for a very long day – but it still needs to be smart and look like they (read YOU) have made an effort. Then you throw in little ones who are old enough to have a say in what they wear, never mind flower girls who need to dress like the older Bridesmaids, but are too young for certain styles of dresses…NIGHTMARE.
So, today I’ve put my Wedding hat on to help anyone who is on the hunt for practical, stylish AND affordable occasion wear for little ones. There’s a round of the best of the high street right now, and all of the advice I’ve learned from reading real wedding reports over on Rock My Wedding.
Baby Girls
From personal experience, I would avoid any dresses that are overly fussy, layered or frilly. We took a 7 month old Elle to my cousins wedding last summer, and I think she lasted about two hours before I took her dusky pink, tulle lined dress off and replaced it with a sleep suit. It was a faff to feed and change her in and she just looked totally uncomfortable.
Opt for dresses that are simple and not too big, or better yet, go for a romper suit. My current favourites include this Gap Eyelet Two Tier Dress, this Gap Gingham Ruffle Tank Dress, this Next Gingham Dress and this Next Navy & White Spot Dress. For gorgeous rompers, I love the Autograph range at Marks and Spencer, they have some floral pieces that are just SO pretty.
Oh, and don’t forget a cardigan – this John Lewis one comes in pink too, and could definitely be worn again. (Part of the reason Elle had to be changed into her sleep suit was because I’d forgotten her cardi, I know, bad Mummy)…
Baby Boys
I think when it comes to smarter dressing, boys have it much easier than little ladies. A smart pair of dungarees or shorts, and a shirt is absolutely fine. Personally, I’m not a fan of little boys in ties and bowties, but often the little dudes just want to copy the older boys, so if you think they will keep one on, then go for it. Next have some lovely bits, like this Blue Stripe Two Piece and these Navy & White Gingham Rompers. (Which FYI I think are totally smart enough for a tiny baby at a wedding).
Also – these Monsoon dungarees – I LOVE them!!!
Older Girls
I can’t wait until Elle can fit into some of the dresses from Mango Kids – they have the prettiest clothes and for some reason, people don’t seem to realise that they do kids wear, so get in there quick before everyone starts shopping there! I also think that they get that perfect balance between not being too girly nor too sophisticated for that awkward pre-teen age. This Mango Kids Guipure Dress is lush, as is this red one. If pastel tones are the order of the day, please can someone buy this pretty dress in the palest of pinks?! It’s just gorgeous.
If you like the all-white look, which is super popular right now (see more in this article on Rock My Wedding) we love Next’s range of Lace Dresses, perfect for getting the luxe look without a huge price tag.
And to keep warm – I love little girls in ballet wrap style cardigans, and this Next one in ivory is lovely.
Tutus in darker shades aren’t in the shops very often, let alone the high street, but M&S currently have a lovely navy one in stock. It’s the perfect length and has the perfect amount of pouffiness (!) for older girls.
Also, if you have’t come across the Storm Range by Monsoon, have a look at their dresses for girls aged 8-15.
Older Boys
Boys are just as discerning over what they wear as girls, so if you’ve got an older child you need to dress for a wedding, it doesn’t really matter whether they are a girl or a boy – you may have a fight on your hands. I’ve chosen some options here that are *hopefully* cool enough for the little dudes, but still smart enough to keep you happy. Shirts and shorts can always be dressed up with shoes, so don’t worry if it feels like he’s just wearing a similar version of the outfit he’d wear most days. Gap have some lovely shirts for boys, the Gap Oxford Shirt in Blue and the
Gap Button Down Shirt Gingham are both lovely.
My love for Mango Kids extends to the boys wear too – this Textured Blazer is gorgeous and would help to dress up an outfit, while still being comfortable. Also, the animal embroidered shorts from Monsoon are both fun and smart, and I can see these being popular with little dudes across the board!
And you can never go wrong with Next or John Lewis. These navy dungarees, this super comfortable looking Herrigbone set and this blazer are all lovely.
Finally, I was very excited to discover that John Lewis do an Heirloom Collection, which comprising of gorgeous little suits for boys. The Slub Textured shorts and Linen Cotton shorts are my favourites – I’d mix them with the shirts from Gap and these sandals from Start-rite 🙂
P.S. I know that white is not, in ANY way, practical for children, but amongst the navy, and the florals, and the brights, I just couldn’t resist! Little ones dressed in white just get me every time.
Images from real weddings by Danelle Bohane | Maryanne Weddings | Chris Barber | Nicola Thompson | Therese Winberg
These are beautiful! But your little one has to be invited first! Child free weddings are all well and good when most of your friends don’t have littles, but the assumption that your child can and should be left behind with the grandparents several weekends a summer irks me. Children make magic wherever they go, and while a night off is sometimes nice this post demonstrates how special they can make a big day. Rant over ??
Love these outfits – totally with you Fern on little boys in suits and ties – I hate it!
Understand your comments Lucy but when lots of friends have more than one child sometimes it’s just not practical to invite all children to a wedding. We had close family kids and babes in arms but we just couldn’t accommodate any more children – our numbers would have been nearing 400!!!!!! In fact a few that were invited with littlies chose not to bring their children. It’s not that people think they should be left behind with grandparents.
Oh I totally get this but it needs to be a conversation, not leave your under one year old or don’t come at all which has been my experience and made me grumpy.
It’s a tough one isn’t it – I can totally see it from both sides. Agree that there needs to be a conversation, especially if the Bride & Groom are close friends! When I finally get married it will be FILLED with little ones, but must admit taking Elle to my cousins wedding was certainly tiring. But there’s no way I could or would have left her, as was still BFing. It’s an awkward one.
We’ve chatted before about this amongst the team and it’s an interesting debate! x
Fern – my advice to you would be to ask someone from Fern’s nursery to come and run something at your wedding when the time comes – much cheaper than a dedicated wedding creche. We contacted a local nursery and a crèche came to £200 all in. Best £200 we spent. We got our adults only ceremony but the crèche ended after the drinks reception and children were a part of the day after that.
I must admit that we limited children to friends and family that were travelling more than an hour or two / were staying over or young / BF otherwise we would have had close to 40 children amongst our 160 guests. Now I have a daughter, I would sulk about leaving her I think. We have attended a wedding where children were not invited but I was still feeding so my Mum and Dad came to stay in the B & B with us and I popped 3 minutes back down the road when she was due a feed. Then we had a lovely family day at the beach afterwards and made a real weekend of it.
It is hard – I don’t think the idea of “just children under one” works because some people choose to feed for longer than a year and some babies are bottle fed from the off.
Toughie.
This is a great idea!!! I think we will probably needed several minders, so a creche type set up would be ideal, plus I trust Elle’s childminders and know they’d do a fab job. Just need to get engaged now…hahaha.
Your approach sounds sensible, and I guess you can suggest to people that they might like to have a childfree night 😉
How lovely of your Mum & Dad, what a super way to get round the stress! x
Very cute selection….I hate to see little ones in overly fussy outfits when they are tiny, like you say they just look so uncomfortable.
Re kids at weddings, we didn’t invite children to ours but said to parents if they wanted to bring them for whatever reason, they could but just be aware that that the venue wasn’t child friendly.
After having a little one myself, I still wouldn’t expect her to be automatically invited to weddings as I believe you should have your wedding day exactly how you want it, including child free, but if I couldn’t make suitable arrangements for her to be looked after, I may politely decline the invite.
I do think when you have kids you do realise it’s not always as simple as leaving them with grandparents/getting a babysitter…..but like like you said Lucy, a break is sometimes very nice indeed!
We’re all off to Adam’s wedding this Sept and it’s no kids – I’m actually really looking forward to it as it will be our first night away from Elle together since she was born!!! (She’ll be 18 months by then, so I think we deserve it!) You’re right, it’s like a military operation organising child care!
I do agree with you though Jane, it should be up to the couple really, it’s their day x
Great post, So many lovely outfits. I really struggle finding a wedding outfit for our 13 month old daughter. We are going to a wedding in Cornwall next month where my husband is best man and I have just purchased this. I had my eye on it for ages but couldn’t justify the £40 price tag and the fact she would only wear it a few times before she outgrew it, then it went in the sale:)
http://www.trotters.co.uk/baby-girls/dresses/little-phoebe-dress
Xx
Ahh Hannah that dress is adorable!!! I do love a bit of navy and white, even more so when there’s nautical styling. What a bargain!
Where’s the wedding? If you need any tips on great places to go with little ones let me know 🙂
Thank you for dirty enabling haha! I hadn’t heard of Trotters before but I’ve now ‘favourited’ pretty much their entire website of gorgeous clothing for my 10 week old girl. Oops…
We’ve been lucky enough to have our kids invited to two weddings this summer. We took both to the first one but my husband will go alone to the second. Purely because it’s a 5 hours drive which with a breastfed baby will need a couple of stops and end up with 2 full days of driving which is not fair on our 3 year old.
I love seeing kids at weddings but sometimes it is fun to attend without them and treat it as a nice weekend away. When they are very little though a child free rule often means mum can’t go.
Some lovely outfit ideas here, how about a post on christening/naming ceremony outfits? For mums as well as babies!
Excellent idea for a post Kathryn 🙂 thank you!
It’s so difficult isn’t it?! I hadn’t even contemplated having to juggle more than one child! It sounds like you’ve made the right decision though.
x
Like the others above, I’m not really a fan of babies and toddlers in flouncy over the top stuff unless they are bridesmaids. We have a wedding this July and we’re going to do a playsuit. Much more practical for running around outside and she can wear it again.
Have my eye on this but its sold out in the baby sizes:
http://www.boden.co.uk/en-gb/girls-1h-12yrs-dresses/32697-ldn/girls-1h-12yrs-mid-blue-chambray-spot-pretty-playsuit
This is really cute Rebecca, love the pompoms! It’s a shame it’s sold out 🙁
Lorna sent me links to some lovely playsuits in Next x
We ummm….probably already have those #nextfan
Obviously I don’t want her to grow up any quicker but Next are NAILING the 3+ collection this season.
Ahhh I know Rebecca, I spent rather a lot in Next this weekend! I found Elle the most adorable mustard yellow sandals but I literally had to stop myself just before the till and put things down (!) otherwise I’d have left with the whole shop. And, if you buy anything in store at the moment, they give you a £10 voucher to spend online – it’s dangerous!!! x