Entertaining Kids on Your Wedding Day

You’re sitting at your table preparing invitations. In your mind you’re picturing your wedding day. You’re just about to kiss your spouse after a toast — suddenly fourteen kids skid across the dance floor. You open your eyes and prepare for reality. You love your little cousins, nieces, and the children of your friends. But you will not let ANYTHING ruin your big day.

The reality? Kids get bored. Don’t expect them to sit still all night in their pretty little dresses and bowties. It’s not going to happen. The solution? Give them something to do. They need to be provided with kid-friendly events. This will keep you, your guests, and the kids in the best state of calmness.

What can you do to keep the kids entertained? Glad you asked.

Hire a Professional to Entertain Children
Whether you hire a clown, magician, comedian, face painter, story-teller, or mascot (think Barney, Mickey Mouse, etc.), they have to be affordable and professional. Make sure that this person has previous experience entertaining large groups of children in a similar environment. Shop around for comparable rates.

Hook-Up a Hang-Out for the Teenagers
When you have a large group of teenagers stuck together, they may not ‘get into’ the festivities like adults do. After all, teenagers as polite as most are, don’t like “our music” or “our idea” of fun. Why not create a “lounge area” for them? A separate room for them to ‘rock-out’ to cooler music. Provide magazines, board games, plenty of soda, and a member of your wait staff for them. They’ll never want to leave!

Consider renting a Hall with a Recreational Facility Attached
If kids have a gymnasium accessible, you won’t see them all evening. Start thinking: Basketballs, Nerf Balls, Volleyball nets, Jump ropes, and Hula hoops. If they have the right equipment, they’ll have a blast.

Make them ‘superstars’
Give each child five minutes of ‘microphone time’ to sing their own rendition of a favorite song. Let all the proud parents laugh and soak up the applause given to their child. Everyone will be tickled and the child will feel like a star.

The ‘Crash Room’
During such long days, small children need a place to ‘crash.’ They’ve been running all day and it’s inevitable that they will get cranky and need a quiet place to nap. Make sure you have several mats and comfy blankets in the ‘quiet room.’

Jen Carter is owner of My Wedding Blog, a website devoted to weddings. You may publish our articles on your website only if you do not edit the article in any way, and include all html as direct links to our site. Visit us at www.my-wedding-blog.com