Kids at the Wedding?
It's a question all brides and grooms ask and it's a valid one:
Should we invite kids?
It's possibly the most important decision when it comes to putting together your guest list; you don't want to hurt anyone's feelings with a cutoff age or by playing favorites, you don't want to put people out by having to hire a sitter, you don't want to pay full price for a plate that probably won't be touched and you don't want the little ones running around wreaking havoc during your perfect day. There will be different deciding factors for each couple, so I'll share with you what we did (EVERYONE was happy!!!)
Because we had a beach wedding that was less than a day's trip away for our guests with children, we agreed that having the kids there was a wonderful idea. There was a small playground on the site, a beach and large grassy grounds - perfect for children to play on a sunny, happy day. Once we decided to invite the children, the next logical idea was to have all the little girls in our families, ranging in age from 4 to 12, be in the bridal party. Not wanting to put too much expense on the parents' wallets, we asked them to dress the girls in summery dresses of their choosing, in whatever color and style they liked. A terrific idea! They were adorable walking down the grassy aisle in their colorful frocks, all looking like pretty princesses.
We told the parents they could pack bathing suits and towels in case they wanted to swim. We provided two tables as a kids area and had an array of activities on hand for when they were indoors. Lots of coloring books and crayons, Play-Doh and glass bottles with buckets of colored sand to create a layered work of art to bring home as souvenirs. They also had little buckets for collecting shells or building sand castles and ribbons, paper, sparkles, colored markers and glue to make a masterpiece.
Our menu was simple too. We had the "grown-up" food in one area and a buffet table of kiddie treas in another - hot dogs, burgers, barbecued chicken fries and salad were all part of the menu and the children ate heartily!
Our guests couldn't tell us enough of how appreciative they were that their children could be part of the day and were thrilled that we had provided fun things to keep them busy. Even the guests without children thoroughly enjoyed their presence and there was not one sad, screaming or crying child during the whole event. All I can say is that I remember being bored beyond belief going to weddings with my parents when I was a child and so we tried to come up with fun things to keep the little ones busy, while their parents could enjoy our wedding!
Hmmm...now that I think about it, I remember an awful lot of guests OVER 5 feet tall playing with colored sand too!
Should we invite kids?
It's possibly the most important decision when it comes to putting together your guest list; you don't want to hurt anyone's feelings with a cutoff age or by playing favorites, you don't want to put people out by having to hire a sitter, you don't want to pay full price for a plate that probably won't be touched and you don't want the little ones running around wreaking havoc during your perfect day. There will be different deciding factors for each couple, so I'll share with you what we did (EVERYONE was happy!!!)
Because we had a beach wedding that was less than a day's trip away for our guests with children, we agreed that having the kids there was a wonderful idea. There was a small playground on the site, a beach and large grassy grounds - perfect for children to play on a sunny, happy day. Once we decided to invite the children, the next logical idea was to have all the little girls in our families, ranging in age from 4 to 12, be in the bridal party. Not wanting to put too much expense on the parents' wallets, we asked them to dress the girls in summery dresses of their choosing, in whatever color and style they liked. A terrific idea! They were adorable walking down the grassy aisle in their colorful frocks, all looking like pretty princesses.
We told the parents they could pack bathing suits and towels in case they wanted to swim. We provided two tables as a kids area and had an array of activities on hand for when they were indoors. Lots of coloring books and crayons, Play-Doh and glass bottles with buckets of colored sand to create a layered work of art to bring home as souvenirs. They also had little buckets for collecting shells or building sand castles and ribbons, paper, sparkles, colored markers and glue to make a masterpiece.
Our menu was simple too. We had the "grown-up" food in one area and a buffet table of kiddie treas in another - hot dogs, burgers, barbecued chicken fries and salad were all part of the menu and the children ate heartily!
Our guests couldn't tell us enough of how appreciative they were that their children could be part of the day and were thrilled that we had provided fun things to keep them busy. Even the guests without children thoroughly enjoyed their presence and there was not one sad, screaming or crying child during the whole event. All I can say is that I remember being bored beyond belief going to weddings with my parents when I was a child and so we tried to come up with fun things to keep the little ones busy, while their parents could enjoy our wedding!
Hmmm...now that I think about it, I remember an awful lot of guests OVER 5 feet tall playing with colored sand too!
posted by ChezShea | 12:47 PM
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