We all know blended families – families with a stepparent and stepchildren. We have all attended weddings where at least the bride or groom faced more than just becoming a husband or a wife, but also becoming a parent. It is also glaringly obvious when the children involved are happy about the situation. So potential marrieds: when planning the wedding, include your kids. You can’t blend a family if the kids aren’t included in the family’s inception.
Make Vows for the Kids
When you marry a person who already has children, you make a commitment beyond that of spouse. You pledge to the children as well. So why not write and convey vows to those children during the ceremony? Find some time between planning the reception and booking limo service DC. Make the commitment meaningful to the children and create the feeling of inclusion children in newly blended families need.
Who Gives this Bride or Groom?
If you are a parent ready to remarry, we assume you have taken the time to incorporate your future spouse into your family’s life and that your children welcome the change. If this is not the case, this idea is not for you. However, for those children who welcome their new stepparent, allowing the children to walk their father or mother down the aisle during the ceremony allows the kids to make clear their stamp of approval and provides them with the assurance that their feelings really do matter. Travel with the children in the vehicle provided by DC limo service. Encourage their inclusion from beginning to end.
Perform a Sand Ceremony
The best idea to celebrate a blending family during the wedding is a sand ceremony. Instead of a candle ceremony that celebrates just the bride and groom, a sand ceremony includes the children. The ceremony requires sand in as many different colors as members of the future family and vessels or vases with one more than all of the different colors of sand. During the sand ceremony, each of the children, the bride, and the groom will all contribute a small amount of sand from their vessel into the one empty vase. When finished, the vase with all of the differently colored sand symbolizes the new family and serves as a great memento for the family.
Give each kid a job; include them in the event. Children can take photographs, make decorations, escort guests, decorate the car (get permission first from the Washington Dc Limo Service). If your children don’t feel welcome throughout the wedding, how will they feel welcome in the family?
Message to all future stepparents – focus the wedding on the family, not the couple. Do the work necessary for acceptance prior to the engagement. Don’t wait until after the wedding to blend. Blending is too important an element to risk it not working. Make your way to the limo from Dulles limo service with a family who is blending, not ready for war.
