RECEPTION IDEAS

During the reception, children can be a handful. You can have several helpers, dressed as fairies, to create a special children’s section where the children can make their own special cards for the married couple.

They can use pre-cut ribbons to tie about their wrists as fancy hand ornaments. Give them squares of filmy fabric (if you used some to decorate and drape around, use this same fabric) to dance around with. At some point, have a special piece of music that the little children can come out dancing with their scarves and hand ornaments, following your pied piper fairy helpers. Announce the dance and have all adult dancing stop so as not to be bumped into by the children. Have them weave about the tables and adults as they dance to a special piece of music.

The children can be given pre-frosted cupcakes decorate them for themselves and their parents. Rubber stamps can be used, with a water-soluble ink, to stamp pictures on the children’s wrists or to use as a quick pattern for face painting. Rub on fairy, butterfly or other fairy inspired tattoos. If you do use ink stamps on the children, always check with the parents before hand. Their child could have an allergic reaction to inks.

So often the children (who want to be the center of the universe) are bored and feel left out at weddings. They can create havoc. This is a great way to keep them happy and whine free. Also, before using the cupcake idea, ask before any plans are made if any of the children are diabetic. If so, this might not be a good idea, or they can have a VERY special project only they can do if you want to keep the cake idea. Also… do not let the children wander off. If they need to go to the bathroom or return to a parent, escort them to their parent to take care of bathroom needs. Things can happen and you don’t want any thoughts of molestation (so sad to think we have to deal with this) but it is always better to CYA when it comes to childcare. Always have more than one helper to oversee the children.

A magical picture setting can be set up for the children to pose with a fairy helper. A Polaroid camera can be used (but they are pricey at about $1 per picture) so pictures can be sent home after the reception, and mounted into special cards made just for this event. Otherwise someone can keep notes as to each frame, the name of the child and whom he or she came with and after the wedding these can be made into thank you notes. These types of thank you notes are so unique and any exceptional photos can be a nice addition to the wedding album. A particularly enchanting photo can be mounted onto all the thank you notes that aren’t sent to that person’s child, with that parent’s okay. A picture of the couple, mounted onto the front of a thank you card is a very nice gift to be added to friend’s photo album.

If any friends couldn’t make the wedding, these cards are nice as a token for them. Some folks, using their digital camera, take many photos that can be made into a full-page collage of the wedding. A space can be left at the bottom of the page for a personal message and mailed out as thank you notes. On the back could be glued a letter telling the couple’s viewpoint of the wedding and any funny stories that came out of the affair.

A great photo from the wedding can be made into holiday cards, like Christmas cards, and sent out when that time rolls around. Calendars, made from the best shots, make great gifts and places like Kinko’s can turn them out for a good price.

When the bride and groom depart the reception, instead of throwing rice, you could give the guest bubble containers to blow bubbles at them (very fairy looking) and you can use dragonfly ornaments to decorate those bottles. If you are in an outdoor setting that won’t be upset by glitter dusted about it, throwing a heavier glitter is fun. It leaves the grass sparkling and very magical looking, as well as the guest’s clothes (hmmmmm…). Flower petals are make a nice thing tossing medium.

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