What to do with the children? And what not to do.....

You can ask people not to bring children; many couples do and most people understand and are happy to comply (it means they can relax too!).  Every child will cost you to feed and each one will take adult attention. Being child free may not be possible though if you have lots of close family children; it is, after all, a family occasion.  But be aware these children will become increasingly bored and tired and will be desperately seeking escape as the day wears on. Of course, how much help you need depends on how many children of what ages you include in your list.  Unfortunately, the oft heard exasperated suggestion from parents that their children should go and explore, is not allowed at Priory Hall for safety reasons.  

Which is why we have developed a child friendly system at Priory Hall with a quiet, shoes off DVD room available with the proper supervision. You can hire in child supervisors or entertainers who can make sure the children have a good party too.  Priory Hall grounds can also be used effectively for supervised fun, such as treasure hunts, nature walks and outdoor games.  

Help with the children will cost extra but you may feel it's a price worth paying.  You could pass some of this cost onto parents who may be hugely relieved they can have a night to party. The quiet room is also useful for feeding mothers, or even older people needing a bit of quiet.

However, it is not available for children without qualified supervision.  

NB: I'm not blaming the children for this (I would have done the same) but we've had to make the knot garden out of bounds to children.  It's just too tempting to try and jump the maze hedges - and inevitably fall right in the middle of them.  This takes years to put right and spoils other wedding photos.  So we finally banned children from this small part of the garden except where they are being used for group photos with the younger guests. (Any damage is the responsibility of the bride and groom, so it's really better to make sure this doesn't happen.)