Last week my kindergarten students celebrated a very special event… the Wedding of Q and U! If you are not already familiar with this event, let me fill you in! It is a silly, fanciful, wonderful way to teach students the spelling pattern of "qu" in a way that is truly memorable. The wedding reinforces the idea that every time we write a word with a q in kindergarten, we always follow the q with a u.
We have celebrated the Q and U wedding for several years, but this time I pulled out all the stops and "Kinder-Crazed" the event! Keep reading to discover creative ideas, inspiration, and printable party accents available for purchase in my TpT store.
Just like an actual wedding, our celebration consisted of two parts: a wedding ceremony and a reception. Our wedding ceremony was held in the gym, then we moved down the hall to an extra classroom in my school for the reception. I stayed at school EXTRA late the night before to set everything up. The pennant banners and printable goods are from my Q and U Wedding Party Printables pack. All of the table coverings, lanterns, and napkins are from Party City.
The large Q and U figures are also available included in the printable pack. I took my image of the bride and groom to a local printing company and had them print two 24x36" posters of the image. One poster was cut apart to create props for students to hold during the wedding. The other poster was cut apart to create the large party decorations that you see on the table.
I purchased black and white photo boxes and decorative ribbon at Michaels for the reception gifts. The pink ribbon was hot glued onto each photo box and lid (separately). I also printed and laminated the Q and U figures and hot glued these atop each of the boxes to add a little decorative flair. This created a coordinating set of gift boxes that can be easily opened during the reception and are durable enough to be used for several years.
I'll fill you in on more of the reception details later. Let's get back to the wedding!
Preparing for the Event
Although the wedding is a quick event, we work hard to make it a special event for the Kindergarten students. Invitations are sent home to each students family, informing parents that they are welcome to attend. Four students are selected to have a special role in the event: one bride, one groom, and two flower girls.
A few days before the wedding, the class worked together to create a special "white carpet" just like in a real wedding. We unrolled a long sheet of butcher paper and each child decorated the carpet by writing Q and U with a dot marker. Here you can see the completed carpet as the kindergarten students anxiously await the wedding.
Each student in the class also created a special hat for the event, which can be found in my Q and U Wedding pack on TpT. The girls' hats were made with white construction paper bands and the boys' hats used black construction paper. I loved the traditional wedding color scheme of black and white.
Q and U Wedding Ceremony
The moment finally arrived! The bride, groom, and flower girls waited in the hallway while the other students took their seats in the gym.
The bride and groom each carry a large character print down the aisle. Doug from Printing by Johnson, a local print shop, met with me and helped me find the perfect paper quality and heavy laminate for the character prints. The bride and groom pictures were secured to yardsticks covered with black and white duct tape. It was important to me that the printed characters not flap around while they were carried. The laminated prints remained tall and rigid during all of the festivities.
The school principal performed the wedding ceremony. It was very short and very sweet.
An Q and U Wedding Reception with Adorable Elegance
Very few young children get to actually attend a wedding and I wanted this reception to seem every bit as special as the real thing. My students mouth's dropped when they saw the transformation of the formerly bland, empty room into the elegant reception hall for the wedding.
A gift table was set up in the front of the room. The students gathered in front of the table and sat on the floor while they watched the bride, groom, and two flower girls open the wedding gifts.
Each child opened one box. The boxes contained items beginning with "qu"… a quarter, queen, question mark, and (or course) a quilt. If you don't have physical objects to place in the boxes, images for the gifts are included in the Q and U Wedding Printable Pack. Simply print, laminate, and wrap!
A closer view of the treasures at the treasures on the gift table...
What's a wedding without cake? After the gifts were opened, it was time to eat!
As you can imagine, I don't have a lot of spare time for cake-baking. Fancy Cakes from Little Debbie were the perfect treat. Just the right size for my kindergarten students, pretty much mess-free, and (of course) they were fancy!
Little Debbie actually has a product locator on their website. Check to see if Fancy Cakes are available at a store near you!
The students had so much fun at their little reception and their parents enjoyed the sweetness of the experience!
Invitations, bunting, student hats and MORE can be found in my Q and U Wedding Party Printables pack. Check it out in my TpT store!
A huge thank you goes out to Doug at Printing by Johnson in Mt. Clemens. He was great to work with and didn't even bat an eye when I told him I needed decorations printed for a Q and U wedding. Once the posters were complete, he actually emailed me and said that "Q and U are printed, laminated, and ready to get married!" How sweet is that?
