Entertaining Your Littlest Guests - The Kids | Part Four

Today is our last installment of how to entertain kids at your wedding. We've already discussed so many different ideas and options for how to keep little fingers busy! In parts one, two, and three of this series, we talked about the use of food, music, and, the ever so obvious, toys to keep your littlest guests entertained.

Today, we're going to talk about those who are, arguably, the most important kids at your wedding - the ones in your wedding. Many times throughout this series, I've focused on weddings that have a large amount of children in attendance, but today, this applies to not only those scenarios, but to all weddings that have children in the bridal party, whether 1 or 10 (like me). They need entertainment, especially if they are the only kids at the wedding!

Mike Landis Photography

For our wedding, my husband and I went temporarily insane and had five flower girls, four ringbearers, and one Junior Bridesmaid. I say it again, temporarily insane. Mark and I chose not to have the difficult decision of who should be in and who should be out. We love all of our nieces and nephews, and it wouldn't have been fair to either of us to make each other pick. As a result, we chose to include all six nieces and four nephews. So, then the big question was, "What are we going to do with all of them?" We decided to answer this with their gifts. Instead of buying them something cute to commemorate their participation in our wedding, we went the completely opposite direction - we bought them guns... nerf guns. 

When we bought them, we thought it'd be funny and that the little boys at least would enjoy them. We had no idea how much all of them would love them. We asked some of their moms to help them open them once they were announced at the reception. What happened next we didn't predict, but it certainly made for some great pictures and some happy kiddos.

Mike Landis Photography

The moment my husband and I were announced... the very first thing we were greeted with was a bunch of little kids shooting us! It was hilarious and perfect. We spent our entire first dance laughing over what had just happened and the faces on some of the kids!

Mike Landis Photography
Just tell me he isn't the most adorable ringbearer ever!

For the rest of the night, the kids had something to do. A little non-traditional, but it worked. When choosing the gifts for your flower girls and ringbearers, while it's great to be cute and buy a ring or earrings, try to also give them something they will actually enjoy - even at their present age. After all, they are some of the most important kids to you! Obviously, you don't have to go as far out as we did. But be creative! Give your flower girl a bride and groom set of Barbie and Ken dolls. If you're driving away in a limousine, give the ringbearer a matchbox limo! There are innumerable ways for you to make it your own, keep the cute, but let them have fun. 

As we end this series, I want to thank you for reading about some of my ideas for your littlest guests. Being an aunt to thirteen, I have a sincere love for kids and want nothing more than for them to be happy and enjoy themselves at weddings! If they're having fun, the parents will be, too. And as the bride and groom, you shouldn't need to worry about your guests, you should be fully focused on your love and commitment made to each other. By using some of these ideas during the planning, you can make sure that you and your guests will have the great time that you are hoping for. 

If you have some ideas for how to keep children entertained at weddings, feel free to comment below or email them to us! 

If you're interested in having your wedding or event at Brandywine Manor House, email us at info@brandywinemanorhouse.com or call us at 610.942.2200.

As always, happy wedding planning!