When it comes to planning the biggest day of your life there are a lot of fundamental decisions that need to be made pretty early on. Indoor or outdoor wedding? Religious or civil ceremony? Kids allowed or not allowed?
When it comes to planning the biggest day of your life there are a lot of fundamental decisions that need to be made pretty early on. Indoor or outdoor wedding? Sit down meal or buffet style feast? Religious or civil ceremony? Kids allowed or not allowed? That’s right – a lot of couples will make the decision to not allow children at their wedding and as the stars of this show they do have every right to (even if we don’t always agree).
A lot of weddings, however, are extremely child-friendly and the couple wouldn’t have it any other way. A lot of these couples tend to be parents already. They want to have an amazing day but a very big part of that is making sure that their children are happy and catered for too. Others may have a close circle of friends whose children they simply want to extend the invite to.
We know that we have quite a few readers who are planning their wedding and we would love to share some really fun ideas that we stumbled across when researching child-friendly weddings. We would love to know if you end up using any of these.
- A kids table. It might sound simple but we think it’s a lovely idea. Colourfully decorated. A really appealing place for kids to sit together and feel really special on the big day.
- Kids Favours. It can be as simple as a couple of colourful crayons tied with a ribbon and it might be the very reason that their parents can eat their meal in peace.
- For outdoor weddings a simple wicker basket full of bubbles with a sign saying “help yourself, kids”. It will feel really exclusive and will encourage the children to play together.
- Child-friendly dining options. Four-year-old Daniel may not appreciate the rare rack of lamb as much as his parents do. It doesn’t take much to decide upon a separate kids menu with two or three options for each course.
- A “make your own dessert” table. Plain cupcakes and little bowls with icing and sprinkles. There will be a lot of mess but that’s OK because the photos have already been taken right?
- A cheap disposable camera for each kid. They will feel super important and you will be able to look back on your big day through the eyes of a child (there will always be one camera with 27 photographs of a fork).
- A “Kids Only” zone. Some even go as far as adding a “no adults allowed” sign. There’s a box of dress-up clothes, games like Twister and some sneaky treats!
- When its time for the party food for the adults – offer something time appropriate for the kids. We’ve seen some adorable ideas involving milk and cookies. Think a cup of milk with a large cookie sitting on top of the glass. Simple, inexpensive and adorable.
- A kids entertainer. So you’ve splashed out on music for the ceremony, drinks reception and post-dinner celebration. What’s €100 for a clown or magician to pop in for an hour? It will break up the day and keep the kids happy.
- “Make a card for the bride and groom” is a lovely sentimental way of giving the kids an opportunity to congratulate the bride and groom.
Written by Tracey Quinn staff writer at Family Friendly HQ.
