To invite or not to invite? These little wedding guests can really go either way when it comes to attending your wedding. They can add a joyful, playful, carefree spunk or they can be somewhat difficult and disruptive.

So how do you decide whether to invite children to your wedding? Some wedding planners say it depends on the style of your wedding. For semiformal or informal, afternoon affairs, children would be a great addition while formal late afternoon or evening weddings can be a bit much for children to handle. But what happens when the wedding is considered a family affair? A family that includes many children? Some options to consider:

Limit children to those in the bridal party Make a cut-off age, say 13 and older Attend the ceremony but not the reception Or vice versa (reception but not ceremony)

If you do decide to invite all children, that’s great too! To make sure your wedding is enjoyable for all your wedding guests, including younger ones, here are some tips to make your wedding kid-friendly (parent-approved):

1. For mothers with babies, be sure to arrange for an area free of distraction for those occasional (or frequent) diaper changes or feedings at all the venues (aka ceremony and reception)
2. Before the ceremony starts, ask someone to hand out a little “wedding bag” to each child guest. Fill it with a puzzle (those maze ones are good, but nothing noisy) and candy (again nothing noisy), something like raisins or gummi bears. Make sure you have enough for each child and keep extras around just in case.
3. For children in the bridal party, rehearsals are key. But a sure-fire way (albeit a bit on the bad side) to make sure kids remember their places and stay there, tape a dollar bill to the floor where they are supposed to walk to or stand. Tell them that if they walk to and stand on the dollar bill throughout the whole ceremony, they can have the dollar afterwards. Yes, a bit of a bribe (okay a complete bribe), but it works for kids that can be rowdy.
4. Throughout the day (but especially before the reception), the photographer can arrange for a bridal-children photo op! As we all know, kids LOVE pictures! They’ll feel great to be in pictures with the most important people of the day, the bride and groom! Bring them in for this important photo op and they’ll just love it!
5. Hired a venue with a garden? Perfect place for treasure hunts! See if one of the ushers or any of the guests wouldn’t mind being in charge of the all-important treasure hunt, matey! Just be sure to keep treasures and treasure paths away from possible danger zones such as lakes or any type of traffic.
6. For cocktail hour, serve non-alcoholic (of course) colorful beverages that are labeled “Kids Only”, gives a sense of VIP and who doesn’t love that? Go light on the artificial sugars otherwise you’ll have high-wired balls of energy running around all night! Opt for fruit juice instead. Similarly, make sure there are plenty of pigs-in-a-blanket and other kid-friendly foods available.
7. For entertainment, there are a bunch of options here. If you have enough in the budget, hire a children’s entertainer such as a balloon artist, magician, cartoonist, face painter, etc. Of course kids love to dance so the DJ you already hired would be great but what about after they’re bored of dancing? How about a stroll outside to the carnival castle or life-size board game? Of course these all work best at a venue with outdoor facilities.
8. Remember how boring it was sitting with the adults while they chit-chat and ignore you? That’s why a Kids Only table is key! Make sure you have plenty of kid-friendly food, especially if the menu includes items that are odd looking or completely unfamiliar, which would translate to uneaten food (which means waste of money), so be sure to have food kids would like. See if the caterer or reception hall can offer an action station just for kids or those children-at-heart types. As for watching these little guests, see if you have a willing volunteer anywhere.
9. For the lulls in the dinner reception, supply the kids’ table with plenty of activities, goodie bags even! Suggest a “gift” that the children can each give to the newlyweds: custom, irreplacable, one-of-a-kind drawings of the lovely couple created by the kids! Like with the uber-valuable wedding rings, the Best Man could also be in charge of these irreplacable works of art. By the way, remember to lay down a sheet of paper or some sort of disposable tablecloth to protect the table and to avoid fees.
10. When all else fails, ask the parents! They know their children the best so see if they have any suggestions or ideas to keep their children entertained and having a good time. It will be well-received inquiry!

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