Kids Table?

While sipping tea and clicking through a forum, I came across a bride-to-be in destress.

She asked wether or not it was a good idea to have a kids table at the wedding. Since all the kids were all from her side, she thought it might be better to have the kids table right next to the parents table.

This sparked quite alot of different but valid points. In amoungst all the help, were a few childless couples who were trying to hammer home that children don’t belong at weddings. Needless to say… at the end of it all, the bride-to-be was even more confused.

So I sifted through the ramblings and listed the most helpful suggestions.

• Simple but important – What are the ages of the children? Very young ones may want to be with the parents or parents may want to be within arms lengths.
• Appointing a supervisor (teenager, bridesmaid or kids entertainer) will eliminate one of your guests feeling obligated to be the supervisor and missing all the fun. Perhaps two to take it in shifts.
• Keeping the kids table for after dinner has been the our-right favourite on chat rooms. This means kids are monitored by the parents during dinner time as well as cutting down the time that the “elected kids supervisor” has to be on their own with the kids.
• Have activities for the kids to do. Drawing, colouring, a goodie-bag. Nothing too complicated for the young ones and something a bit different for the older ones.
• Kids food & drinks should be readily available. The last thing you want is nagging, hungry kids. Mini-everything will go down a treat.
• For a garden wedding – games corner (football & pop-up goal posts, twister, boardgames, skipping ropes etc.) as well as a small crafts table. Most of the games & crafts can be borrowed from family and friends.
• At an evening reception with older kids, a groomsman lent his Xbox with Lips and Kinect. The kids were happily entertained for the whole night.
• A kids movie area with a few DVD’s complete with Pop-corn and bean-bags is another great idea.

The most sensible of them all, is to have a chat with all the parents and find out what they would prefer or suggest.

Having children at your wedding doens’t have to be expensive or daunting.
Bubbles, sunshine and a smile – Beautiful!

Are you having children at your wedding? Have a suggestion? Why not leave a comment below.