And the preliminary guest count is...

...110.

Whew! That's a lot of people. What's interesting is that approximately 85 of them are Luke's family members alone. And not those family members that he hasn't seen since he was a child: we're talking close family here. What can I say? The more the merrier! And we're so lucky because his entire family is pretty awesome and incredibly fun. I'm quite sure our wedding will not be boring.

The other thing about that count is that it includes no children other than the 2 in our wedding party (my best friend's oldest daughter will be a flower girl, along with the daughter of one of his groomsmen, who is also his cousin). And personally, I'd like to keep the event this way. We've debated back and forth about the child issue. While we both would prefer to keep things adult-only, we also know that it could potentially be a land mine. We've also considered paying someone to watch any tag-along kids in a separate room during the ceremony and reception, but there are problems with this route: what if there isn't adequate space to do this at the place we pick? What if it doesn't work and the kids keep invading anyway? What if everyone finds out we're providing childcare and instead of only bringing 1 or 2 of their kids they bring all of them because, hey, free babysitting? And, of course, if we politely put the word out that we don't want kids there, there are going to be hurt feelings that we'll have to deal with.

You know what? I'm not sure we care if it hurts other people's feelings. I have to admit that it's going to tick us off pretty royally if someone feels entitled to bring whomever they please to a party that we're paying for and hosting. Besides, kids hate weddings. They think they're boring! And what happens when kids get bored? Nothing good for the rest of us, I can tell you that...

The other, more pragmatic concern, is cost. We simply cannot afford for everyone to bring their children. Even if we wanted to feed and entertain all these kids, financially it just can't happen. The financial bottom-line always has to be a consideration. Just for giggles, we redid the count including children. It came out to about 200.

So while I'm sure we'll go back-and-forth on the issue, I think it's pretty safe to say that our wedding will be child-free, or at least "child-lean." I certainly hope that our families and friends understand and support our wishes; if they don't, Luke and I will figure out a way to gracefully respond. And at the end of the day anyone who chooses not to come to our wedding because of it may not have the best intentions toward our marriage to begin with.