preparing the flower girl

I just got an email from The Knot telling me I’ve got 4 months to go. As if I wasn’t aware…they just reminded me that things should start getting crazy around here. Transportation, invitations, alterations…and all of those other little details that aren’t going to do themselves should be up at the top of my to-do list.  While I’m not exactly on the ball with all of those things, there is one area that The Knot forgot, and I’m all over it: that’s flower girl preparation. Whether my sassy niece is going to walk herself down the aisle tossing petals or refuse to set foot on that red carpet is likely to depend on her mood, but I’m doing everything in my power to increase the chances of it happening.  Leighton is going to be a flower girl in three weddings this year, so we’ll get plenty of opportunities to see how this turns out!

Here’s what I did:

1. Make wedding paper dolls. Every bride-to-be has wedding magazines lying around. This simple project (if you can even call it a project) required about 5 minutes, 3 wedding mags, some scissors, glue, and card stock. The only hard part was finding a groom in the magazines, but we made due with one who’s on the shorter side. With a little input from the flower girl herself, I flipped through the pages and pulled out a bride, a flower girl, a couple bridesmaids, and a groom. I glued the pictures down on cardstock to make them sturdy then trimmed them down. And just like that, you’ve got wedding paper dolls.

 

2. Create a personalized book. As a pediatric occupational therapist, I’ve made social stories for all sorts of different scenarios. I can whip up a corny little tale about anything from using the potty to getting a haircut. This allows the kids to read or hear about themselves performing various tasks, and often helps build routines and assist the child in better understanding the process of an activity. At work, I encourage parents to make social stories too, and stress that anyone can do it – they can be handwritten and illustrated with stick people!

I decided to make one for Leighton after ordering the Pinkalicious flower girl book from Amazon. It’s cute, but it just wasn’t getting the point across as well as something that’s personalized for her. It also didn’t address the things that could be scary for a 2 year old – like seeing a crowd of people and being expected to walk through them. I drew the pictures with colored pencils, scanned them in then put it together with Microsoft Word. I tied this one together with twine, but any ribbon, yarn or string would work just fine. I uploaded the template with Leighton’s story and also a blank one for any engaged ladies out there who have a timid flower girl and want to make her a helpful little book. 

Flower Girl Book

Blank Flower Girl Book