How to Include Kids in the Wedding Ceremony

Children represent purity and novelty - what better way is there to complement your wedding day?

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Musical Instruments
• Birdseeds
• Candles
• Flowers
• Wedding Programs
• Candles

1. Put younger children (ages 4 to 8) in traditional roles as flower girls (and boys) and ring bearers.

2. Ask the verbally gifted to read a poem, biblical verse or prose piece in the ceremony.

3. Get the artistic tykes involved: ask them to sing, play an instrument, create the program design, or simply turn the pages for a musician.

4. Sign on the older kids (ages 8 to 14) as junior bridesmaids and groomsmen.

5. Have children help out at the reception by passing out favors and serving cake to guests.

6. Enlist the help of kids who want to participate, but not in the limelight, to decorate the getaway car, pass out candles, or toss flower petals or birdseed for your departure.

Tips & Warnings

• When appointing children to ceremonial duties, keep in mind their age and maturity.
• Seat parents of kids who are participating in the ceremony in a convenient spot to wave them in when the time comes.
• Sew fake rings onto the ring bearer's pillow - or hand over the real ones just as he or she heads down the aisle - to avoid catastrophe.
• Keep in mind that kids will be kids: expect the unexpected, and remember - that's part of their charm.

on 8/8/2006 We are having our son (helped by grandpa) take care of the rings, and our daughter (who is 4) walk me down the aisle instead of my dad.

on 12/8/2005 Keep the mini-bar locked. Weddings are so notoriously boring for teenagers that they will probably try to drown it all out with alcohol. If it's an open bar, then have the oldest, ugliest member of the bride's family stand there and yell at anyone who comes to close.

on 11/22/2005 My daughter in law tells of a friends wedding that had small children in the ceremony. She said they decorated a child's wagon with white and other customary wedding fabric and ribbons. The 2 children were dressed in wedding attire, and were pulled in the wagon by an older child. When the small children reached the alter, they were passed off to a waiting family member from the ceremony, then returned to the wagon for the recessional. She said it was the cutest thing she had ever seen. We plan to use this for my daughter's wedding.

on 11/22/2005 I incorporated my twin 10 year old cousins in my wedding by having one be a bellringer (who announces when the bride is coming) and the other as a broomster (who carries the broom down the aisle and sets it down when it is time to "jump the broom"--an African wedding tradition). I hope these ideas help another couple.

on 11/22/2005 I attended a wedding where there were three little fairies instead of flower girls. They all wore the traditional white flower girl dress but they had wings, made from wire wrapped in tooling, sewn to the back of their dresses and carried wands, with stars and ribbons on the end. They were very sweat!