just four short months are left until we walk down the aisle. most of our wedding planning is now fueled by lattes, panic-induced bursts of creativity, + working together to do things like refine our menu or figure out our escort card situation (still up in the air...).
another thing on our minds is keeping our friends' kids entertained during the reception. our younger cousins + our friends' children (ranging in ages from 2 to 12) are such a source of joy for us, it never occurred to kristie + i to have an adults-only wedding -- although i totally get why couples choose that. (quick story: my younger sister was 3 when our aunt + uncle got married. she stood up on a pew mid-ceremony and started the theme song from barney -- you know, "i love you, you love me..." an adorably appropriate choice i think! everyone laughed as my dad towed her out of the church.) anyway, we're trusting our friends + family members to distract their littles during the ceremony if anyone decides to chime in, + take them away from the ceremony area if necessary.
during the reception, we want to make sure everyone has a good time -- including parents -- so we're putting together little activity packs for kids under 10 to explore during the reception. here are a few that remind me of my childhood + will definitely make it in.
yup...cootie catcher! i was obsessed with these as a little girl (weren't we all?) + these are extra special wedding-themed templates. just download from ruffled blog + print!
this is a cheap + easy diy that kristie + i will be tackling soon. we got the idea from alison at the knotty bride (who is absolutely hysterical + i secretly want to have be my friend) but instead of tiny wooden squares, we stumbled across blank puzzles at our local art store + will paint those with our initials instead.
remember this guy? when we were small, my parents used to bring these along to church or wherever they thought we'd have trouble controlling our inner obnoxious jerk.
i love this idea for three reasons: a) it's customizable, b) it's cute, + c) it'll keep kids busy during the reception. with this wedding-themed "i-spy" checklist + a disposable camera, children will have a blast running around trying to get a shot of everything on the list.
here's another childhood favorite i can't let go of: fortune teller miracle fish.
kids who are a little bit older will enjoy this fill-in-the-blank story of your relationship (reminds me of madlibs, no?). luckily the template is customizable, so you can add your names + change the genders if yours is a same-sex wedding like ours.
i love these pinwheels we found from magpie + max on etsy. the map paper is too cute + i can only imagine these'll offer some pretty great photo ops.
what do you think should go in wedding activity bags to keep kids busy?
*Etsy is an affiliate sponsor of the Homesteady, and affiliate links are used in this post. All opinions are my own.
