Ring Bearers and Flower Girls

It seems that over the past few months I've noticed a lot more wedding talk going on around me than I used to. Maybe that's because I'm running with a different crowd, or maybe I was just never paying attention.

Anyway, recently I've picked up on a lot of talk about flower girls and ring bearers can be "too young". I've been getting some strange looks from people when they find out that my flower girl is twelve and even a few because my ring bearer is ten. Half the reason you have a flower girl or a ring bearer is because children between the ages of zero and seven are SO DARN CUTE!!!

But you know what else they like? Attention. And you know what gets a LOT of attention? Misbehaving.

I can't tell you how many horror stories I've heard over the past few weeks. Crying, screaming flower girls, ring bearers who refuse to walk, tantrums, accidents in their pretty clothes... the list goes on. This all culminated in finding out that one of my students committed many of these offenses as the ring bearer in his mother's friend's wedding. He refused to walk, screamed and cried, even threw the pillow with the rings on it on the ground. His mother was mortified and the bride became very stressed (who could blame her?). Whatever can go wrong might go wrong right?

And so I'm actually really happy that my flower girl and ring bearer are older. I know that they're potty trained, are old enough to respect that the day is not all about them, and are mature enough not to throw a tantrum at the slightest provocation. Though the cuteness of the 5 and under crowd is undeniable, I know from experience at work that you do take a risk when you give them the responsibility of being a part of your wedding party. A risk I'm glad I don't have to take.