Eight Ways to Involve Young Children in Wedding Planning

Whether you and your soon-to-be spouse have children of your own or you're close with a young niece, nephew, or the child of a friend, you may be wondering if there's a way to get kids involved in the pre-wedding excitement. According to wedding planner and designer Jacin Fitzgerald, getting the little ones you love interested in the big day is a great idea-and it's easier than you'd think. "Kids love to get involved in the big day to feel like they're helping in some way," she explains. So, go ahead and bring on the activities.

From useful tasks to activities that are just plain fun, here are eight ways to involve young kids in your wedding planning.

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Fitzgerald recommends setting up a watercolor activity for kids with paint stations for each child to create their own works of art using the wedding color palette. She's even done this with the actual paper place cards-once dry, Fitzgerald had a calligrapher write guest names atop the watercolor-painted cards the little ones created. "The kids love seeing their artwork on display on the big day!" the pro explains.

If your little ones will be seeing cousins, friends, and family members they don't get to see regularly at your wedding, a countdown calendar is a great way to ramp up their excitement levels. Plus, making the calendar is a sweet activity to get the wedding conversation started with them.

Kids have such a playful attitude towards color combinations, so their opinions might come in handy as you select your wedding color palette. If the kids you're including are six or older, it could be fun to sit down with them and a whole group of paint chips to see what their top three or four favorite colors are. Or, if you're involving multiple kids, maybe each gets to pick their favorite. From there, you can find ways throughout the planning to include each child's signature color in some way. Maybe it's incorporated into their wedding outfit, the table linens, or in the colors used throughout the wedding.

Wedding planner and designer Jessica Sloane recommends using a child's artwork for the invitation suite or programs as a way to celebrate the joining of family. You could use an illustration on the backside of the invitations or work them into the cocktail napkins at the wedding.

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We've never met a child who didn't love cake. Getting their take on favorite cake flavors is a great way to ask them questions about the wedding without having an overwhelming task. You could make this into a fun afternoon at home tasting homemade flavors and getting their input on what cake they think all the kids might like.

Depending on the ages of the children you're involving, they might be able to help with assembling welcome bags. This tends to be a time consuming task the week of the wedding and a few extra hands, especially if they're a little older and more responsible, can go a long way.

At a Colorado wedding, children were given musical instruments to play while walking down the aisle to announce the bride's arrival. By gifting the instruments to the kids at Christmas, they had a couple of months to play with the sound makers and talk about being wedding musicians prior to the wedding day.

No better helper than a child to determine what kids will enjoy at the wedding reception. If you're considering having a special table or area for the little ones, it's helpful to get their input on what toys and games they'd like to have at the wedding. You might ask a few nieces or nephews what their favorite game is or who their favorite action hero is and throw in a few surprises based off those ideas.