The most amazing day of your life is fast approaching. You are ready to marry the love of your life. The never ending list of tasks are slowly coming to an end. Is childcare something you have considered for your big day? Where to begin when organising childcare for such a big event. Finding a babysitter is not always as easy as you may think and can be more difficult if you are visiting Ireland as a non-local. Here are some tips to help you organise childcare for your wedding.
#1 Ask yourself – what do you need
First you need to ask yourself exactly what you are looking for. How many hours do you need to hire a babysitter for? How many children need to be cared for? Will your guests require childcare? What is your budget? Knowing what you need is extremely helpful in finding the perfect babysitter for you and your family.
#2 Find suitable matches
In Ireland it is common that parents searching for child care have close family and friends happy to look after their children. However, as it is your wedding day, your family and friends are most likely going to be celebrating the special day with you. Fortunately this does not need to be a problem. Due to the internet and the growth in the number of babysitting platforms online such as Babysits, finding a babysitter has never been easier! Websites like this help to connect parents and babysitters and are generally a more affordable and efficient option than hiring a babysitter by going through an agency. In order to find the perfect babysitter for you, take your time and read through each profile carefully. Profiles that are detailed, well-written and include profile pictures are the most reliable. There is also feedback from other parents on profiles that have had previous babysitting jobs through the website. To give yourself more options, contact multiple babysitters at once as this will give you an idea of which childcare provider will fit best with your family!
#3 Get to know the babysitter
It is important to meet with your babysitter before the event. But due to the long list of tasks every bride and groom faces this may not be possible. Alternatively, to make your life easier you could arrange a video call with your babysitter. Meeting with your babysitter in some way always helps to ease any worries you may have. It also helps you decide if this babysitter is right for you as you can ask more in-depth questions. For example, specific requirements, fees, hours etc. Make the rules and responsibilities of the job clear from the get go.
#4 Question the babysitter
Be prepared, just like an interview for a job have a list of important questions you want answered. By doing this you get to know your babysitter as much as possible and you wont leave anything out. Examples of good questions to ask would be about their experience, and how they cope with emergencies. It’s also a good idea to ask some light hearted questions at the end so they can learn a bit more about your personality and vice versa.
#5 Do your research
As suggested before, time may not always be on your side in the upcoming weeks to your wedding. Therefore references are an extremely good and reliable way to learn if your babysitter is suitable. You may also wish to run an informal background check. This usually consists of checking the candidate’s social media platforms whilst a formal background check usually involves utilising Government sources. Services like Babysits provide feedback and reviews from other parents on babysitters profiles and can act as a very dependable form of reassurance.
#6 Trust your judgement!
If you are still hesitant after following these tips, trust your gut instinct! If you are not feeling 100% about your babysitter then trust that instinct. Only hire a sitter that doesn’t raise any concerns or set off any alarms. There are many babysitters to choose from don’t decide in haste. You don’t want to be worrying about your children on your big day so trust your judgement and enjoy your wedding day!
If you need a babysitter, check out Babysits a community of over 1,400,000 members in over 28 countries! Babysits can help relieve some of your wedding day nerves and allow you to focus on the many other considerations that go into making your dream day a reality.
