Having kids in a wedding can be adorable or awful. While we all know kids are not 100% predictable, there are things we can do to help prepare children to be a part of this special day. If you are a bride I hope you take these suggestions to heart and share them with the parents of your smallest wedding party members.

8 Tips for Preparing Kids to be in a Wedding

1. Choose responsible kids. Don’t choose kids who you know do not obey. They are not going to miraculously become perfect children on your wedding day.
2. Choose kids who are old enough to understand what is going on and what their job is. Kids under age 3 may be adorable but they aren’t able to focus on one task for a long period of time.
3. Prepare them for their role by watching wedding videos and reading books. A few good books are: The Best Ever Ring Bearer: All the Best Things About Being in a Wedding, Ring Bearer A to Z, One Little Flower Girl and Will You Be My Flower Girl?
4. Practice, practice, practice. Help them practice walking slowly and help them practice standing still and quiet for increasing periods of time (if they will stand throughout the ceremony). Also, especially of they are not used to stilling quietly through a church service, this will take practice too.
5. Try to choose children whose parents are not in the wedding party. It is much easier for parents to wrangle their own children than for someone else to try and do it.
6. Picture time! Practice smiling nicely and following directions. Doing fun photo shoots leading up to the big day is a great way to prepare kids for photo time.
7. Try and take the photos that include kids early in the photo time then the kids can go have some fun and get out their wiggles before it is time to enter the reception.
8. Kids will be kids, allow them to have fun and dance but make sure they are properly supervised.

photo courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons 2.0

Kids who are well prepared can be a great asset to your wedding. Follow the tips above and hopefully, your big day with go smoothly. Do you have other tips you would add to the list? Please leave them in the comments.

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