A Joyful Celebration! Has a lot of ideas about how to include your kids.  It really depends on how old the children are; whether they are children of the bride and groom or children being blended into a new family.  It depends on the kids personalities and relationships with the bride and groom....

Some ways to include the kids are very passive, and others invite their active participation.

When we meet, I can make several suggestions about what we can do within the ceremony to honor your children and to make them feel included; not just in the ceremony, but as your new married relationship unfolds.

Kim is Tom's older daughter.  She sang a sanskrit chant after our Empty Chair Ritual.  (Not a dry eye in the house.)

This is Amy, Tom's youngest daughter.  She stood beside Tom and she held our rings. As you can see, we let each of the girls pick their own dresses. At this age, you want to give them a lot of choices! They all looked beautiful, and their dresses expressed their individual personalities.  best of all, they will each wear the dresses again!  I gave each of the girls what I wanted (the dresses had to be black,) I showed them all my wedding gown, and they all hit the mall.

This is my daughter, Cori.  She stood with me as my Maid of Honor.  She celebrated her own high school graduation just days before.  I have a lot of family from out of state, so we scheduled the wedding on this particular weekend so all of the family would also be here to celebrate with Cori.  It was an exciting weekend!