Whether you have a handful or over 20 children attending your wedding, a key thing on your to-do list is how to keep them entertained! Here’s a bundle of ideas to keep them entertained...
Photo Credit: Little Miss Boyco
Authors Bio: Vivienne May Weddings was founded and created by Kerrie May. With over 8 years of experience in the luxury wedding & event industry, Kerrie has worked at some of the UK’s most iconic venues alongside a selection of renowned industry professionals and worked with a selection of high-net worth couples.
Kerrie is a UK Wedding Planner and has a distinctive reputation amongst her fellow luxury wedding professionals. Her wealth of experience, industry knowledge and unrivalled passion for bringing her clients vision to life is what drives her to plan impeccably designed, style-led and perfectly co-ordinated weddings, with romance at it’s heart.
Children’s goodie bags are at the top of the list!
Having these at your wedding is like a wedding miracle! They can be a bag, box or even a stocking if having a Christmas themed wedding. Within them you can add a variety of activities which can even be personalised. You can buy pre-filled goodie bags for children or create these yourselves to include colouring pages, puzzles, sweets and books. Place these bags on their chairs for the wedding breakfast, then sit back and enjoy the peace. (Bonus: It also doubles up as a favour for them to treasure!)
Photo Credit: Etsy
A Kids Zone
Just be sure to not let the Groomsmen too close! If you have enough space at your venue for a separate children’s area, you could hire some TV’s and play movies or TV shows (a PlayStation or XBOX are always a winner for older children or teenagers too).
For the younger ones, a quiet area with beanbags, throws and story books is perfect for those wanting to escape and snuggle down after a long day. You could even put up a few mini tipi’s for them to have a space where they can play hide and seek or even pop in for a snooze.
Arts and Crafts
Who doesn’t love arts and crafts? This can be something you add to the Childrens Goodie Bags as above or you could set aside a craft table where you can have a selection of activities to keep the little ones amused throughout the day. You could have colouring books, paper crowns and tiaras, , tissue paper crafts, even throw some Lego in! There are so many small touches you can add to your day that will keep children amused whilst allowing their parents to relax and enjoy the day too.
Photo Credit: Elsie Love Photography
Games Room
Every kid loves games (even the big kids!) If you have space at your venue to place some giant games (such as Jenga, Chess, 5 in-a-row) these are a great way to amuse all ages and can even be placed indoors if it rains.
You could even ask your caterers to set up a drinks station with Fruit Shoots, Capri Suns etc. to keep them hydrated and a few snacks and nibbles to keep them busy too (just try to avoid too many sweets/chocolate or anything high in sugar). (Remember to organise supervision for the children if this is in a separate room to your wedding reception).
Picture Perfect
You could place traditional disposable cameras on the wedding breakfast tables along with a Wedding Photograph Challenge – this could include taking photographs of specific parts of the day – i.e. the couple kissing, cutting of the cake, confetti shot, Best Mans speech. This is also a great way to get natural, informal photographs and a lovely conversation starter.
Photo Credit: Etsy
Treasure Hunt
Similar to the I Spy challenge, you could set out a treasure hunt for your mini guests to enjoy! This is great if you have a large venue or even beautiful grounds that have secret spaces for you to place hints and treats to guide them onto the next clue. (Bonus Tip: if you are planning to host the treasure hunt outside make sure you have a wet weather option just in case).
And at the end of the treasure hunt, you could have a bouncy castle or a professional entertainer to keep them amused for even longer!
A Kids Disco
If you have an exclusive use venue or a venue that has additional rooms you can use throughout your wedding day, why not schedule a kids disco in the early evening. It doesn’t have to be hours long, simply play a selection of popular kids songs and add some twinkly lights. They will have an incredible amount of fun and lets them burn some energy off – parents will love you for it!
Hire a Professional
If you have a lot of children attending then it might be easier to hire professionals. Did you know you can hire wedding and event nannies? These are great as they are fully trained and equipped to fit their activities in amongst the wedding schedule.
You could also consider professional entertainers. From Magicians, to Face Painters, there are lots of wedding suppliers that are ready to help you keep the little ones entertained and also provide peace of mind to any parents attending.
As you can see there are so many options when it comes to keeping children entertained at weddings and you can personalise it to fit in with your day perfectly. However there is also a lot of planning and time-management involved with creating a memorable experience for your mini guests and all of this can be managed by myself within my Full Planning service. If you would like to find out more and what else I can help you with to create the most amazing wedding day for you both, please click here.