Four-year-old Grace Layman, decked out in full frilly flower girl regalia, excitedly led her smiling surprise guest to the separate kids' party she was hosting at her dad's wedding reception. Mickey Mouse wowed everyone -- grown-ups too.

''I was teary eyed,'' said the groom, Grace's 31-year-old dad, Grant Layman. ``It was fantastic.''

Layman, a Columbus businessman, said he and his wife, Jennifer, also in business, opted for a Disney destination wedding in large part because of Grace and all of their friends' children.

Nothing against Columbus, he said, but they wanted a locale where their friends, scattered around the country, would be willing to pay to fly -- and would want to bring their kids. ''I'm a family kind of guy,'' Layman said. ``I wanted it to be a place where all the kids would have a good time.''

And as it turned out, 25 of their 89 guests were children who, of course, couldn't have been happier at the choice of locale. ''The wedding was a good excuse for everyone to come down to Orlando,'' he said. ``It was a blast. We would do it again in a split second.''

From Orlando (Disney does 1,500 a year) to the Caribbean to Hawaii to cruise ships, destination weddings grow ever more popular, accounting for 16 percent of weddings every year -- up 400 percent in the last decade. But increasingly, kids are part of the equation says Milli Martini Bratten, longtime editor-in-chief of Brides Magazine. ''It becomes like a family reunion,'' she said.

Wherever a wedding is held, eight out 10 couples surveyed by TheKnot.com invite kids to their nuptials. And for couples that already have children and don't necessarily want the hoopla or expense of a big wedding at home, destination weddings prove to be an appealing option. There's the added plus of starting anew on neutral turf, said Anja Winikka, editor of TheKnot.com, which has published The Knot Guide to Destination Weddings.

JUST THE THREE OF US

''This wasn't just a marriage of two people, but of the three of us,'' said Marjorie Campbell-Kennedy, 33, the mom of a 6-year-old. She and her fiancé, now husband, Dylan Kennedy, worried Colter ''would get lost in the shuffle,'' at a big wedding at home in Arizona. Instead, the couple opted for a country they love and an intimate beach wedding at The Inn at Robert's Grove in Belize, complete with a pre-wedding snorkeling and BBQ day at a private island.

''I got ample time with everyone and for myself,'' said Campbell-Kennedy, who had been a widow. ``And it was as much fun for Colter as for us.''

The on-site wedding planners make it even easier, observes TheKnot.com's Winikka. ``You are removing yourselves from the chaos.''

''I didn't have to cook, clean or change sheets for guests,'' joked Campbell-Kennedy. ``I was really on vacation.''

So many couples with kids are opting for destination weddings that resorts are starting to take notice with special programs and packages. The four Beaches all-inclusive Sandals resorts (www.beaches.com) designated for families, for example, have initiated a FamilyMoon package complete with a special group concierge and a Unity Sand Ceremony to physically represent the union of the new family.

''We are seeing a huge trend in this,'' says Joann Delgin, Sandals' new chief romance officer, who helps guests celebrate romantic milestones -- whether it's a proposal, wedding, honeymoon or anniversary.

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