A Kid-Friendly Wedding

Flower girls and ring bearers are adorable. There's no denying it. Not only do they provide a cuteness factor to the wedding, they also create perfect photo opportunities.

Image via Lover.ly\ / Photo by John Schnack

Image via Lover.ly\ / Photo by J. Shipley Photography

Although we love kids and I even love the look of kids in weddings, having a flower girl or ring bearer was not for us. The wedding participants are entirely family members, with the exception of the officiant, who is a family friend. If any of our siblings had kids, we wouldn't hesitate to include them. However, Mr. Lemur has just one married brother and neither of us have nieces or nephews. We decided not to include a non-family member in this role but to simply not have a flower girl or ring bearer.

When it comes to kids at the wedding, however, we're very open. I think the wedding lends itself to being a family affair. Both of us are very family-oriented and are friends with a number of families from our churches and communities. Also, we're getting married in a simple lodge and a casual setting. It's a morning wedding with a brunch, which makes it easier for kids to attend than an evening or late wedding.

We indicated kids were invited by including their names on the invitation and we've made it clear to families that we know that we'd love to have their kids there on the big day. I know this may cause some problems...kids crying during the ceremony or a less than immaculate reception. That's ok. If we were getting married in a formal cathedral I might be more uptight about it, but I'm willing to sacrifice some things to have the families we love celebrating with us.

I want to have something for the kids to do while they're at the wedding, however. It's not necessarily a long reception, but I have no doubt they'll get bored. Remember the Scrabble tiles I talked about? I've thought about spreading some of them out on the tables, or on one table just for the kids. I've also bought crayons and started working on coloring pages for the kids. Maybe something like this?

Image via Disney Stationary

I loved Cinderella when I was a little girl, and I could include some other Disney princess wedding pages for the girls. Maybe something a little more masculine for the boys who didn't want to color Ariel and Belle!

What else could I include to keep the kids occupied? I know a lot of brides have included bags for the kids...what did you put in them? I want to make this fun for them!