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If you’ve chosen to have children at your wedding, that’s awesome. Children love weddings too (I mean, there’s cake!) and their excitement is contagious and uplifting.
Now you want to keep them entertained and out of their parents’ hair while the adults enjoy the wedding.
Before you give in to nightmares about a little tot toppling over your cake, don’t worry. There’s so much you can do to keep them happy and well-behaved.
- Include them in the Ceremony
Most of us fondly remember playing little bride, flower girl, page boy or ring bearer for some aunty and uncle. Was it a responsibility we took seriously and didn’t we behave? Exactly. You can include the kids in the ceremony, and you’re pretty much covered for that part of the wedding. This especially applies to kids you are related to or with whose parents you have a close relationship.
- Have a Kids Table
On to the reception. Dedicate a big table to the children and cover it with kraft paper, e.g. brown paper instead of a tablecloth. Keep them busy with activity books; colouring books; plain paper for drawing. Give them lots and lots of crayons. Crayons are best because they won’t stain the little munchkins’ smart outfits.
- Play Kid-Friendly Music
Imagine the uproar when you have the DJ play Frozen’s Let It Go. That’s a viral Instagram video waiting to happen. Also, have a kids-only time on the dancefloor. Let them wear themselves out, and soon, they’ll be taking naps while the adults get jiggy.
- Naptime Tent
Who didn’t love building forts with bedsheets as a kid? Set up a tent and cover the floor with lots of pillows. You won’t have to convince them to get in and take a nap. In fact, you might have to kick a few adults out of this one.
- Kiddy Champagne
Let the kids toast too! Fill their little champagne flutes with non-alcoholic ginger beer or sparkling apple juice and let them feel grown-up for a minute. That’s when kids best behave.
- Game Room
Fill up this game room with hula hoops, jump ropes, a ping pong table or air hockey. If you can, make it a video game room, but then half the groomsmen will go MIA. If you’re having a more relaxed outdoor wedding, a 3-legged or sack race would be so much fun for the kids.
- Hire Help
To give the grown-ups a chance to relax and enjoy the event, hire a babysitter to keep an eye on the kids, especially the very little ones. The babysitter(s) will also help the kids out with the restrooms and will put them down for their nap.