Ideas For Children in the Wedding Reception
Ways children participating in a second wedding or blended family wedding can play an integral role planning and hosting the wedding reception.
As you prepare for your second stroll down the aisle, including your children in the ceremony may be a breeze, but you may be struggling with how to incorporate them into the reception. You can take a deep breath and let out a huge sigh of relief because there are a myriad of important roles and tasks your children can fulfill at your wedding reception too. Children make great role-fillers for tasks you paid to have the first time around, but now someone important to you and your groom can meaningfully handle it for you instead.
Don’t forget to check out our other articles on children and remarriage.
Keeper of the Guest Book:
Children tend to be natural magnets for guests, so allowing one of more children to man the guest book is sure to draw your crowd over to leave their well wishes while happily chatting up the kids.
Greeters and Ushers:
Whether your children are toddlers or teens, it’s a nice touch for wedding guests to be greeted by the children of the bride and groom as they arrive at the reception. Guests who know the children will enjoy chatting with them as the kids escort them to their seats. For wedding guests that don’t know the children, it’s a great time for the kids and guests (especially family members) to get to know each other.
The Gift Master:
For those wedding guests that show up with wedding gifts in their hands, put the kids in charge as the Gift Master. The Gift Master collects the gifts and brings them to a safe, specified area and then packs the car (age appropriate) with wedding gifts for delivery to the couple’s home when the reception ends.
Cake Servers:
For the long-awaited moment when all the cameras come out and the newlyweds slice and enjoy the first delicious piece of wedding cake, there’s nothing more fun that including the children in this wedding cake cutting ceremony. Have them deliver slices of the sweet treat to the guests instead of having waiters do it. The kids will love it and the guests will enjoy the fun as well.
Teddy Bear Toss:
Let the kids in on the “tossing” fun. While dad/groom is tossing away the garter, and mom/bride is tossing her bouquet, give the kids their own tossing activity using their own mini-toss with this pair of cute teddies. So cute, you may have to have a bear for every kid! Either the bride or the flower girl/bridesmaids can throw the bride bear and the groom or ring bearer/groomsman can toss the groom bear to the eligible (age limitations or just say any single boys, or any single girls – kids will get a kick out of that!) kiddies.
If putting the children to work at the wedding reception isn’t what you had in mind, there are ways you can honor the children instead of or in addition to giving them duties to perform.
Toasting the Blended Family:
Blending two families into one can be stressful for all, even if everyone gets along. But you and the groom can ease this stress with a special toast to the kids. It may go something like this: “We promise, (insert children’s names), to always care for you, love you and treat you all equally. We’re so happy and proud to be parents to all of you. ”
Dance Fever:
Choose a special song where you both dance with your children (or each other’s children) on the dance floor. Pick a fun song to dance to, so the family can really get their groove on. Of course, always ask the kids if they want to dance and, if so, to which song. Never force any child to be in the spotlight.
Family Cake Top:
Make sure there is enough space on the top layer of wedding cake to hold the whole brood, so you can top off the cake with an unconventional, but appropriate family cake topper instead.
