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Tips for a kid friendly wedding
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Kids of all ages enjoy hula hooping!
Many Brides and Grooms will have to decide if they are going to invite children to their wedding. If you decide to say yes to the kids, there are many ways to make weddings kid friendly and at the same time allow adults to enjoy the festivities.
Here are a few ideas on how to create a kid friendly wedding:
1) For out of town guests, choose a kid friendly hotel and reserve a block of rooms. Embassy Suites, for example, has always been a very family friendly hotel offering “kids stay free packages,” indoor pools, free made-to-order breakfasts and an early evening manager’s reception that include popcorn machines loved by kids of all ages. Many of their hotels participate in their “KidsEyeView” program that has listings of local family friendly activities that have been reviewed by…kids! Check out their EmbassyKids website for more valuable resources.
2) Consider making welcome baskets for your guests that are filled with maps and brochures for kid friendly activities. The local visitor’s bureau, hotel, or an automobile or travel agency can usually provide you with good collateral to include. Add a few munchies and a note to share your appreciation for them attending your wedding and you have started their visit in such a welcoming manner.
3) Afternoon or early evening celebrations are far better than late-into-the-night events if you plan on having lots of children at your wedding.
4) Choose a child friendly wedding location like a city park or a private home with a very large backyard. Avoid places with unsupervised water – like lakes, swimming pools and beaches. If there is the potential of water emergencies, be certain that you have blocked the hazard or have qualified lifeguards on watch at all times.
5) Hire certified nursery school teachers to supervise children at your wedding. Ask acquaintances in the area to recommend their favorite nursery school teachers in the area. Interview several of them before you make your decision. Make sure they have all the important training like CPR and the Heimlich maneuver.
6) Ask the teachers to recommend different activities for the children to play according to the children’s ages they will be supervising. Buy or borrow games that will keep them happy and well occupied.
7) During the ceremony have a separate supervised area for the children so they do not have to pretend to be adults. A church generally has classrooms you can borrow and even at a park you can set up a separate picnic/play area for the children so they are allowed to be kids. If your wedding is at a hotel you may want to rent a separate suite or conference room where kids can be kids and parents can occasionally check on them and their supervision.
8) Prepare quiet activities (for use in another room) for the ceremony time, like coloring books and arts and crafts. During the reception the activities might be able to be a little more active (depending on the venue). At my own wedding we had a kid’s area supervised by two teachers who had organized quiet activities during the ceremony and more energetic activities during the reception. Children made congratulatory cards for my husband and I, played a rowdy game of T-ball (we were in a park), made wedding dresses out of rolls of crepe paper and had a great hula hoop contest that children of all ages enjoyed! The kids also made their own desserts, adorning pre-iced cupcakes with their favorite heart shaped candies. And there were bubbles... lots and lots of bubbles.
9) If you cannot provide an entire room or area for children, do have a games table set up in your reception room. You may want to have the dining tables for families with children in this family friendly area. At a recent wedding I attended, they had set up two Wii games and believe me, that was a hit with all ages! They also had many board and card games and loads of coloring books for their pint size guests
10) Provide Kid Friendly Food – make an easy DIY Kids buffet. Include a fruit platter with a lemon or strawberry yogurt dip, veggies with ranch dressing and a cheese platter with the always-popular fish crackers that no child can resist. Make heart shaped crust-less sandwiches like PB&J and plain American cheese to add to your buffet. Include a bowl of dry cheerios or another favorite cereal to grab a handful of and your buffet will be a hit! If your event is catered or at a hotel, ask them to serve children something like this buffet or chicken fingers and fries. Finish the kid’s menu with a cupcake or a heart shaped cookie and you will have happy tummies. Any mom knows, happy tummies equals happy kiddos!
Two weeks after my own kid friendly wedding, a friend called laughing hysterically, saying they had just gotten home from another wedding. When their child was trying to sit quietly during the ceremony (truly impossible for most 3 year olds) he yelled out “Mom this is not a wedding! This is boring! Where are the hula hoops?”
If you are as lucky as we were (and planned as much as we did), memories of children at your wedding will be some of your fondest.
For more information go to Kid Friendly Weddings AND BridesKnowBest
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