Children change the room, the timings and the catering

Ages, not a number

Under two, under five, under twelve and teenagers are four different planning problems: high chairs, a children's menu, a seating decision, and guests who eat an adult portion and drink nothing. Asking for a count of children is the question that produces a useless answer. Asking for ages, in bands, produces the catering numbers and the equipment list in one go.

What the venue provides, and what it will not supervise

High chairs, a bottle warmer, a quiet room for a nap, a space where children can be noisy without ending a speech - these are facilities and they are publishable. Supervision is not, and this is the line to state before anyone assumes otherwise: the venue is not responsible for watching anybody's children, and saying so in advance is kinder than discovering the misunderstanding during a toast.

The timing conflict nobody plans for

Small children leave before the part of the evening the client has planned most carefully, and the parents leave with them. A venue that has run four hundred events knows this and the client has never seen it. Saying it early - that speeches before a certain hour keep a quarter of the room that would otherwise be in a car - is the kind of advice that gets a venue recommended.

Safety facts, stated rather than implied

Which areas are unsuitable, whether there is water, whether a terrace is enclosed, what the fire arrangements assume about guests who cannot evacuate themselves. Parents read this carefully and ask reluctantly. A venue that publishes it plainly is chosen over one that answers "it's very safe", which is not an answer to any of those questions.