You’ve finally said ‘yes’, you’re engaged and going to be married, and you’re in a huge panic about everything, even the engagement part! Don’t worry, most couples have the same reaction, it’s quite normal and will pass.

If you have friends who will be coming with their young children, you are going to need plenty of distractions for them. We’ve found the perfect app packed full of games for 5 year olds.

These are learning games, so not only do the 5-year-olds have fun, they will go home happy, they will also have learned something new. Here are a few examples of games that will be perfect at a wedding reception:

Candy Match is a game that increases visual attention and counting skills.

Spot the Difference is a development game that expands visual attention, visual scanning, and comparison skills.

Match-Up involves memory games that improve short-term memory, visual attention, and naming skills.

Dwarf Giant is a development game that improves reaction control, focusing, and divided attention.

There are so many fun games, like spelling and word-finding. It is not just verbal intelligence games. There are also math intelligence games.

Most venues offer free WiFi and it seems everyone has some kind of device suitable to play these games on; so there shouldn’t be a problem getting the kids fully involved.

Just got engaged? Relax, here’s what to do.

Give yourselves a little time together to be happy. Then tell everyone. Starting with your parents and the rest of the family, then your friends.

Don’t feel pressured about the big question “when are you getting married?” It’s a decision only you and your partner can make.

When you’ve finally decided the time has come to do this amazing thing, then move to the next steps.

Be gentle with each other, big decisions can get heated.

Give yourself some leeway on the date of your wedding. Three that would work is the best strategy.

What is your shared vision of the wedding? Small and intimate with family and close friends? A huge bash with lots of guests? Something in-between?

The budget is probably the most important consideration. Agree on what you want before you do anything else, this will be the crunch on how much it’s all going to cost. Can you afford what you want, or do you have to save up? How long will that take?

If parents are going to be paying for anything, make sure they can afford what you have in mind. Be careful and tactful with this conversation. People can be sensitive with how much they can afford and could even agree to far too much just to save face.

Can you afford a wedding planner? Do some research, perhaps ask married friends who they used. Then find one that suits you both in temperament and budget. And start enjoying the process, it can all be great fun if you let it!

Tips on what to do with children at your wedding

Children get bored easily and they will complain – loudly and long. We’ve found a few things your child minders can do with them in a special designated play area that you have arranged beforehand.

Newborn babies should remain with their parents. This may be unwelcome, but I will encourage guests not to come if they have newborns. But if they do come, arrange sterile changing stations for them.

Hire Professional Childminders

It’s a good idea to appoint a trustworthy childminder or keeping an eye on the children so no one gets hurt or tried to investigate what the wedding cake tastes like.

The babysitter can be in charge of the kids. You only have to setup the room and give them encouragement to try out the games.

Arts and crafts station.

Supply pots of crayons, playdough and stickers. Have wedding themed crafts like decorating a cardboard cake or making wedding type masks.

Mini photographers

Get a whole pile of disposable cameras and recruit the children to be mini wedding photographers. Give them a list of photos that you want and set them free.

Photo booth.

Photo booths are great fun and can keep children entertained for hours. A basket full of dressing up goodies, masks and fun props will give everyone a laugh.

Kids wedding tables for food.

Make a special place for the kids to eat and have child friendly food. Not too much sugar, kids on a sugar high can get out of hand. Make the tablecloths out of paper and get the child minders to encourage them to decorate the tablecloths.

Age-appropriate goodie bags.

Make the goodie bags interesting. You can add coloring books with crayons and colored pencils. Find some fun toys from a novelty shop. A few sweets, some age-appropriate printed jokes. Plastic moustaches and novelty glasses. Let the children have fun and have something to take home with them.

Hire an entertainer

If your budget can stretch that far, hire professional entertainment. The professionals have lots of ways of make sure that children enjoy themselves and they’ll bring everything they need for hours of fun.

Naptime

If you’re expecting very young children, there’s a good chance that they’ll be asleep before the event’s over, but you may also have some tired-out kids who can get grumpy and over stimulated. Set up a quiet room where they can rest after a long, exhausting day.

Wedding albums.

Plan what you will do with the final photographs and video. You might want to set up your YouTube channel for everyone to view the video. If you have created your own wedding site, then that’s where you want to publish your pictures with a link to the YouTube channel.

Just a word of caution – if there are embarrassing pictures of your wedding guests, don’t put them up on the site you may never be forgiven for it.