Weddings are a time of celebration and commitment, they are joyous moments that bring together couples, family, friends, and community. However, for parents of little children, it can also be a dreaded affair. From the moment they receive those gorgeous invitations, their minds immediately race to how they are going to keep the kids quiet and seated during the wedding or reception. Afterall, nobody wants to be THAT family who ruined your special day.
 
We all know planning a wedding can be time consuming and stressful. There are a million things to accomplish on our to-do lists without compromising our work, family, friends, and relationships. Thankfully, while planning our ceremonies and receptions, there are simple steps and accommodations we can add to ensure our big days are successful and even the youngest guests are included and entertained. With a little luck and careful planning, we can keep everyone happy and enjoying the wedding.
 
Scroll through the following 10 tips to include and entertain children during your wedding:

Design wedding BINGO cards. It’s no secret that sitting quietly through wedding ceremonies can be tough for children. On a sheet of paper, create a BINGO game featuring people, items, and parts of the ceremony and hand copies out to the children as they enter. During the wedding, if children notice or find an item, they mark off the square. At the end of the ceremony they can hand in completed game sheets for a small prize.

Give children a job. Kids love to help and are often eager to escape the confines of mom and dad’s watchful eyes. Give them a part in the wedding by assigning them a role in the wedding party, having them man the guest table, helping people carry gifts, ushering in family members, or passing out programs and bubbles to guests.
 
Get colorful! Provide children crayons and coloring books that feature black and white versions of your favorite photos that show your love story. There are apps online or you can use a basic paint or photo program in a word program to transform images into black and white colorable prints. Be sure to include captions or interesting facts to add personality to the booklet.
 
Encourage kids to “tag” their table at the reception. Channel a child’s inner artist and cover the kiddie table with butcher paper. Provide crayons, markers, or stickers to decorate the paper to occupy their interests until dinner is served. For added fun, consider supplying simple craft kits the kids can easily assemble on their own.
 
Make them glow! Most children love glow-in-the-dark items. Purchase a variety of bracelets, balloons, necklaces, glow sticks, and more to light up the night or dance floor.
 
Bring on the games! Encourage guests to mingle and interact by placing a variety of board or card games on a centrally located table. All guests, even children, can enjoy playing simple games between events or during the reception. For an added twist, rent or build large versions of classics like Jenga or Kerplunk.
 
Provide kid approved snacks to curb their hunger until the meal or cake is served. There are often lulls between the ceremony, reception, cocktail hour, or dinner while the couple take pictures or travel to the venue. This can be hard on kids, especially hungry ones. Avoid meltdowns, by making sure there are snack mixes, veggie trays, meat or cracker platters, and drinks readily available to tide them over.

Hand out swag bags filled with the couple’s favorite childhood items. Add a personal touch and a bit of nostalgia to the festivity by filling goodie bags with your favorite childhood candies, games, or trinkets. Children will love the gift bags and the guests will enjoy taking trip down memory lane with the bride and groom.
 
Give kids a camera. Children love to take photographs and are eager to snap photos at the reception. You can purchase disposable cameras or use a hashtag so they can upload digital photos onto social media sites to help document the big night. For added creativity, provide a selfie station complete with props and backdrops. This is a great way to get one-of-a-kind shots and keep the kids entertained for hours.
 
Consider providing a sitter. Give parents an opportunity to enjoy a kid-free evening by hiring a sitter to watch younger children in an adjacent room. The kids will be entertained and safely cared for, while your friends get a few minutes of adult time. Supply the babysitter with games, movies, snacks, inflatables, and activities to crank up the fun.
 
How will you be including and entertaining children during your wedding?

Ladies My Big Day is proud to share the hottest and trendiest new bachelorette party!

The custom is to go out on the town for the famed Last Night Single. As we are all well aware there are a few obstacles to a night out on the town with the ladies. It can be tough getting everyone together for a night out. Finding a D&D or paying for a taxi, unfortunate mistakes.

"Stay in" bachelorette parties are becoming more popular for these reasons. Trending is the best drinking game we have laid out for you below. Stay in, get a baby sitter, and have the best night in EVER!  All your ladies can meet in one place, stay the night so there aren’t any unsafe drivers and not have a care in the world about rude people out an about.  The best perk is the drinks are way cheaper!

The True American Drinking Game is a blast to play at any party. For a bachelorette party you can stick to the questions meant for the game or have you all ask questions, quote or find the common link all based off you and your guests! Having an event planner or just your gals planning your last night single, this is one of the hottest and fun games trending for your night to remember.  My Big Day is happy to help you plan your party!

True American Drinking Game

In Summary
Players take turns trying to win moves in order to navigate the tables, chairs, and cushions which are your only escape from the molten lava floor. At the center of the game is a castle made of a bottle of alcohol and many beers. As players traverse the game area, they remove beers and drink them. Once all of the beers have been removed, the first player to reach the bottle of alcohol, finish their beer, and take a swig from bottle, wins the game.

The Castle
The Castle is made up of one bottle of liquor and many cans of beer (you decide how many based on the number of players). The liquor is the King and sits in the middle of the Castle. The cans of beer are the Pawns and the Soldiers of the Secret Order. The Pawns are lined up in four lines radiating outward from the King. These lines of Pawns also signify the barriers between each zone. The game ends when all of the Pawns have been removed and a player drinks from the King.

The Zones
There are four zones, each with five spaces where a player can stand. The center space in each zone is the only space where the Pawns can be taken and thus it is the closest space to the Castle. There are a total of four of these spaces. The spaces at the beginning and end of the zones are the farthest away from the Castle.

Setup
Before the game starts, determine how many beers total should be consumed and setup the Castle with those beers as the Pawns. Using the lines of Pawns as barriers between the zones; designate each zone, making sure to have 5 spaces in each zone as described above. Teams are optional.

Starting the Game After setup is complete, players may have a shotgun contest to determine who has the first turn. If no player wisher to shotgun a beer, play rock-paper-scissors instead. To start the game, the winner of this contest yells "One, two three, JFK!" at which point all other players yell "FDR", grab a Pawn from the Castle, and retreat to any space.

Gameplay Players move around the game area in a clockwise direction. The player whose turn it is always moves one space; however, the other players must "win" their moves. This player has three ways to provide the other players with a way to win their move.

• The Count: All players yell "One, two, three" and then hold a number of fingers, between one and five, against their foreheads. Anyone holding a number that no one else has chosen wins. Winners may move one spot.
• Complete a Quote: The player may slowly speak a quote from history or pop culture. Any other player that is able to jump in and complete the quote in tandem wins. Winners may move two spots.
• Something in Common: The player may yell out two people, places, or things. Any other player that can reply with what these two things have in common wins. Winners may move three spots.

Players must always have a beer in their hand and may not have more than three at any one time. Players may only take a Pawn from the Castle when they are in one of the four center spaces.

Winning
After all Pawns have been removed, the King is vulnerable. The first player to land on one of the center spaces, finish their beer and take a swig from the King, wins the game!

Losing
If you are caught without a beer or with only an empty beer, you lose. If you step in molten lava, you lose. To enter back into the game, drink one full beer and start on a space that the other players decide.