Keep young wedding guests amused with some simple and fun ideas.
Children can add a lot of joy to a wedding celebration, but they are unpredictable and it’s important to plan ahead for their needs. With some inexpensive and simple items, the youngest wedding guests can easily be entertained. This will keep them from interrupting the reception and will ensure that they enjoy themselves as well.
Give Them a Place to be Kids
- Decorate a table with a coordinating paper table cloth to avoid damage to the more expensive cloth versions.
- Place crayons, coloring books and stickers on the table for a creative activity.
- Create a colorful and tasty centerpiece with a foam base and some lollipops. Find a fun-shaped floral foam base form the local craft shop. Buy a large bag of lollipops. Round lollipops with colorful wrappers work best. Insert the lollipop sticks into the base closely together to create a lollipop “topiary”.
- Older children may appreciate eating together at their own table away from parents, especially if they already know each other.
Keep them Busy
- Make a goody bag for each child with age appropriate trinkets, crayons and snacks. In addition to keeping the kids busy in the early stages of the reception, it will help stave off cranky behavior due to hunger.
- Give older children disposable cameras and ask them to play photographer during the reception.
- Create a people scavenger hunt. Ask participants to get the signature of a member of the bridal party, friend of the bride, friend of the groom, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. Assign a family member to collect the finished scavenger hunt and give out prizes.
- Assign several children to lead the cheering when the bride and groom are introduced and when they depart the reception. They might have noise makers, bubbles, bells or special wands.
- Ask them to help other guests find their tables.
Give them Some Attention
- Invite children to dance. Dedicate a special dance such as the Hokey Pokey or the Bunny Hop to the kids and dance along.
- Ask older children to keep an eye on younger ones to keep them out of trouble.
- Make sure the children have been introduced to one another. Another child or family member can take responsibility for this.
- Take a moment to thank each of them for coming.
Cater to Their Needs
- Make sure they are fed in a timely manner with age-appropriate food choices.
- Create a kid-friendly “cocktail” so they can participate in the toast and have a fun drink.
- Give them special favors that will keep them busy such as customized wedding coloring books, toy cars or bubbles.
Anticipating the needs of the children attending a wedding reception allow for a more pleasurable event for everyone involved. Make sure that someone takes responsibility for looking after their needs and the bride and groom can relax and just have fun.
Related Articles:
Weddings With or Without Children
Creative Wedding Centerpieces
The copyright of the article Entertaining Children at a Wedding in Wedding Planning is owned by Christy Matte. Permission to republish Entertaining Children at a Wedding in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
