Weddings With Kids: Tips & Attire

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Our kids have been in quite a few weddings over the past few years. We have another wedding later this summer that the whole family will be in and another next year. It’s always so special getting to see them involved and it’s also fun picking out the outfits. Below are some tips I’ve come up with for having kids in weddings along with some favorite attire.

1. Consult the Bride: Be sure to consult the bride on how involved she wants the kids in the wedding day. Remember it’s her big day. Even though she wants a flower girl or ring bearer, she may not want them involved in everything. It’s best to talk to her in advance to see what she would like.

2. Leave Them Out of Some Photos: There will be A LOT of photos on the wedding day. For the kid’s sake as well as the bride and groom’s sake, let them skip out on some of the photos.

3. Skip the Reception: My kids have been in 3 weddings and have never been to a reception. By the time the reception gets into full swing, it’s late and they are ready to get in pjs and relax in a hotel room with a babysitter. The wedding day will include: getting ready with the wedding party, photos, a ceremony, more photos, a cocktail hour, meeting tons of people, etc. Not only will the kids be worn out before the reception, the parents will be too. There’s no shame in having the kids skip out on the reception so you can have a blast at the wedding yourself!

4. Bring Toys: A wedding day (and sometimes a whole wedding weekend) can be long for kids. Bring some fun little toys, stickers, etc to entertain them. I try and find a few new things that can act as a special surprise and something fun to keep them busy. We’ve done sticker books, Wedding Barbie and toy animals. Skip the coloring sets! I learned that after one of my girls got marker on her white wedding tights.

5. Well Fed: No matter what the occasion, hungry kids are grumpy kids. Plan ahead with meals and snacks for the kids before the ceremony. There will be hours of wedding prep and festivities before dinner is served, so plan to feed them on your own. Snacks that won’t dirty their wedding attire are great too. Have some on hand for the typical “I’m starving” minutes before they have walk down the aisle!

6. The Attire: Be sure to try on all of the clothes and shoes ahead of time. They are probably not going to be as comfortable as the clothes they are used to playing in. Have them wear them long enough to find out if there are “itchy parts” or if the shoes slip off.

Speaking of wedding attire, here are some of my favorites:

Boys: For boys, my favorite suits are Appaman. They have a great selection, are well made and comfortable too. They come as small as 2t. Tommy has the Mod Suit in Navy Seersucker and actually likes wearing it. It’s so soft. Appaman also has great button down shirts and bow ties. We’ve used the seersucker pants on their own for an event and later this summer, we’ll pair the navy jacket with red shorts for Tommy to be the ring bearer in my brother’s wedding. The suit is really well made. We got it a touch big and took up the pants and sleeves so we can let them out and he can get more use out of it. Right now there’s a great suit sale on the Appaman site.

Girls: The girls have had quite the assortment of flower girl dresses. We found Maggie’s first flower girl dress at Gap Kids. It was part of their dressy holiday collection and was perfect for a winter wedding. We just added a black sash to match the wedding party. It was great because it fit like her other Gap Kids dresses and she was really comfortable. Mini Boden also has great special occasion dresses now. For another wedding, my mom made the girls flower dresses, which was really special. For the wedding they’ll be in late summer, I needed a navy flower girl dress. I searched Etsy and couldn’t believe how many cute options there were. We ended up with dresses from the shop, Sweet White Peony. They came out great and the price was awesome. Stay tuned for photos!

The wedding the girls were in most recently (all the pictures in this post) are from my cousin’s wedding. She is the most fashionable person I know and created the most beautiful wedding. She thought of having the girls wear leotards and tutus. They were so comfortable and looked adorable. She presented them with giant boxes the day of the wedding and they were ecstatic when they saw what was inside. I’d highly recommend leotards and tights for flower girls. They are simple, comfortable and you can find any color.

Shoes: When selecting wedding shoes for kids, make sure they are comfortable. Sometimes fancy kids shoes can look adorable, but not fit their feet well. We’ve had great shoes from Babychelle. They have a whole wedding section. Another place that has great special occasion shoes is Stride Rite. A plus there is if you’re kids are used to Stride Rite shoes, you can probably find a similar fit. For the wedding my girls were in this past spring, the girls wore ballet shoes. These were perfect because they looked so pretty but were also super comfortable for the girls. They got them the morning of the wedding and I presented them as a “special surprise”. They were thrilled to get real ballet shoes and then eager to wear them down the aisle. You can get ballet shoes in pink and white and sometimes other colors too.