Maryland Wedding - Should We Have Kid Friendly Food?

When planning your Maryland wedding, you have a lot of decisions to make. One of those was whether or not to extend an invitation to children. Once you’ve decided to have kids at your wedding you then have to decide whether or not to have menu items tailored to them.

We are a Maryland Wedding DJ serving Frederick MD | Washington DC | Northern VA. Our passion is helping couples have the best experience possible and to be an asset in all facets of wedding planning. 

This article is one in a series of articles intended to help not only the wedding couples we serve from Washington DC to Lancaster PA; but to help anyone who is planning their dream wedding.

You have been thinking about your wedding for a long time. Likely much longer than you have been planning it. If you are anything like most couples, we work with you to have a vision of your guests smiling, laughing, dancing, and interacting until the last song of the night. That likely will not happen if you don’t take care of the “Two B’s”: Boredom and Bellies.

These two things are party killers!

No guests leave during the ceremony or the cocktail hour. If they are going to take the early bus it will be during the reception.

The first “B”, boredom; starts with having a great Maryland Wedding DJ. Notice I said wedding DJ and not simply a Maryland DJ. You want someone that not only knows the formalities unique to a wedding but someone with lots of recent experience entertaining groups comprised of diverse ages.

A Sweet 16 specialist is not likely to keep your older guests entertained. The guy who typically plays at a backyard pool party or BBQ is likely not the person you want to MC one of the most important parties you will ever throw.

Having a solid entertainer is crucial to ensuring that all your guests are engaged and enjoying themselves until the very last dance.

Needless to say, the kids won’t be on the dance floor and food will only entertain them when they are eating. A photo booth is not only a great way to keep them occupied, it is a fun way for all guests to interact and capture multi-generational shots that will become treasured in the years to come!

The other “B” is for Bellies and if you want your guests to stay you must make sure that they are not hungry and that means the youngest of your guests as well. If you’ve ever had to deal with a fussy, hungry child you know what a party killer they can be!

Whatever you do, don’t make the mistake of assuming the kids will eat what the adults are being served, because you’ll be wasting your time and money on that idea.

The easiest way to fill the bellies of the little ones is to have kid-friendly food that is as easy to serve as it is to eat: chicken nuggets, grilled cheese, hamburgers, French fries, and cut fresh fruit.

No, these are not the healthiest of dishes to serve up to kids, but let’s be honest, you’re not trying to combat childhood obesity, you’ve got enough to worry about. Focus on filling those bellies with foods they’ll devour and move on.

You’ve done your part and their parents will love that they are able to celebrate with you instead of hearing “When can we go to McDonald’s? I’m hungry!”

Consider providing bagged snacks for the youngsters to grab and go after dinner. You don’t want tiny, dirty fingers digging in a bowl of chips throughout the night, so do everyone a favor and purchase bagged snacks for the evening. Have your wedding coordinator or a friend be responsible for putting the snacks out after dinner, so the kids fill up on their meal and not a bunch of empty calories.

Offer desserts that are easy to eat and don’t have frosting all over them such as bite-sized cookies, fruit kabobs, pretzels, rice crispy treats, and fruit roll-ups. You can keep it super simple and just as appropriate by serving the kids milk boxes and cookies, because what kids don’t like that special treat?

If you’ve got a lot of kiddos coming to celebrate, it’s a great idea to have some kid-friendly food and snacks for them. You can even have a little nook of the reception set up for them to have fun and be comfortable.