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Celebrating a Q and U Wedding in Kindergarten

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.

kindergarten Q and U wedding ideas and decorations

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 the Kinder Craze store.

bride drawing with a large Q in front of her for a Q and U wedding in kindergarten

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.

room decorated for a kindergarten Q and U wedding alphabet celebration

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 24×36″ 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.

large bride and groom cutouts for a kindergarten Q and U wedding celebration

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.

wrapped gifts placed in black and white boxes for a kindergarten Q and U Wedding celebration

I’ll fill you in on more of the reception details later. Let’s get back to the wedding!

Preparing for the Q and U Wedding

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.

adorable ideas for a Q and U wedding in kindergartenadorable ideas for a Q and U wedding in kindergarten

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.

adorable ideas for a Q and U wedding in kindergarten adorable ideas for a Q and U wedding in kindergarten adorable ideas for a Q and U wedding in kindergarten

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.

adorable ideas for a Q and U wedding in kindergarten

The bride and groom each carry a large character print down the aisle. I met with someone at my local print shop who 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.

 

adorable ideas for a Q and U wedding in kindergarten

The school principal performed the wedding ceremony. It was very short and very sweet.

adorable ideas for a Q and U wedding in kindergarten
Once the ceremony was complete, the bride and groom let the wedding guests to the reception!
adorable ideas for a Q and U wedding in kindergarten
adorable ideas for a Q and U wedding in kindergarten
adorable ideas for a Q and U wedding in kindergarten

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.

kindergarten Q and U wedding celebration decorations displayed on a table with a banner that says "together forever"

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.

adorable ideas for a Q and U wedding in kindergarten

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!


adorable ideas for a Q and U wedding in kindergarten
adorable ideas for a Q and U wedding in kindergarten
A closer view of the treasures at the treasures on the gift table…

kindergarten Q and U wedding gifts and ideas for classroom celebration

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!

adorable ideas for a Q and U wedding in kindergarten

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!
adorable ideas for a Q and U wedding in kindergarten
Invitations, bunting, student hats and MORE can be found in my Q and U Wedding Party Printables pack. Check it out in the Kinder Craze store!

Do you throw celebrate a Q and U wedding at school? I would love to hear how you make the event special in your own classroom!

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Maria Gavin

Maria is a former kindergarten and first grade teacher, with 13 years of teaching experience. Her love and passion for all things early childhood is now fulfilled as a mom to two amazing kids. She loves sharing practical and creative tips and ideas that are perfect for young learners – in the classroom or at home!

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31 Responses

  1. OHMYWORD! AMAZING!! This looks like such an awesome experience for your precious kinder kiddos. Fantastic job, I’m sure your students loved the extra work you put in to make this event so meaningful.

    Kristen

  2. Maria!!! This is AMAZING! What a super fun and enjoyable time this had to of been for your kiddos. You really went all out for them and I love it! Your planning and attention to detail for everything you create and show us is just fantastic!!

    Erin
    Creating & Teaching

  3. Maria! I bought another QU wedding pack earlier this year and loved it, but I will buy yours too and really have a party next year! I love it! WELL DONE lady!!!

  4. Absolutely precious! My firsties loved our wedding back in the fall. This was the first year I held a wedding and my kiddos absolutely adored it. One of the boys said, “Wow, this is so romantic!” Your wedding is so precious and detailed, definitely more elaborate than my simple affair. I got big paper mache letters and decorated them to look like a quarterback and a queen. I also had my kids bring in “presents” for the happy couple–all items with a “qu.” Several of the kiddos actually wrapped their “gifts”! We also signed a guest register with an aqua quill (big ole feather taped to a pen). Like you, we had Little Debbie Fancy Cakes.

    Thank you for sharing your ideas; you are one of my most favorite bloggers and have given me so many wonderful ideas! Your kiddos are truly blessed to have you love and guide them. 🙂

  5. Love the ideas. I would only change the use of Little Debbie cakes, which are made in facilities that also process nuts & tree nuts, which might be allowed in classrooms (and exclude kids with allergies). If that brand will not work for your class, Entenmann’s, Pepperidge Farm and Hostess have some premade cake and cupcake options (read labels first).

  6. The QU wedding is one of my favorite activities in kindergarten. I love your forever banner! Gonna have to fet it as our wedding in April 7. Ive done this over 13 years now. I like to have the kiddos totally involved. All my girls dress as queens and all boys come as quarterbacks. They process in to pachabels canon and take seats in the front for best viewing of the ceremony. The girls carry a fake bouquet ans the boys escort the girls arm in arm. At first the boys are squeemish and silly while we oractice but they rise to the occassion and take great responsibility fir walking their queen down the aisle .I have a quarter girl instead of a flower girl who drops quarters as sge walka down the aisle and a quilt bearer instead of a ring bearer. He carries an alphabet quilt all folded up. Then two lucky ones get to carry a wooden Q and U. Our school headmaster officiates the ceremony that parents enjoy just as much as the kiddos. At the end of tbe ceremony our headmaster presents a gift to the happy couple. He unwraps a book– the Very Quiet Cricket– and reads it to the wedding guests. The kiddos arexawed by the ending. They usually end up repeating the repeating phrase after a few pages. We then have a cake and ouncg reception. Usually a parent eagerly volunteers to make a wedding cake! Parents love this day as much as the kids! Takes up sbout 35 minutes total time from start to finish. So much fun! Forever banner to be added this year! Thank you!

  7. I have wedding gift bags that 2-3 students present to the bride and groom. The first kiddo removes the tissue paper, the second takes out the gift, the third holds up a large notecard with the gift’s name and spells it with the class as she points to the letters. Some of the gifts are: a question mark, quilt, squirrel, queen, quail, and quill. I also have the kids burn off their energy from the wedding cake by dancing the honey pokey, chicken dance, macarena, and the like! I even collaborated with the music teacher this year to practice a wedding dance that kinda resembles square dancing! She was able to come to the class and have them perform it for me!

  8. I’m currently at home teaching my own littles, but when I taught kinder my teammate and I threw a wedding bash each year. We sent an invitation home and suggested the students dress as Queens or quarterbacks. Chairs were arranged much like a churches pews. Guests signed a guestbook and were escorted to their seats by “shushers”. The flower girls dropped quarters. The ceremony was performed by one of our middle school students who was into preforming arts. We ate minI cupcakes at the reception, and sent the bride and groom off on their honeymoon by blowing bubbles (the little mini bottles).
    Always such an exciting day for our kinders.

    1. All of those details are SO much fun and so sweet! I especially love that the flower girls dropped quarters 🙂

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Hi, I'm Maria.

I’m a former kindergarten teacher turned work-from-home mom. I still love sharing ideas and resources to make teaching easier, so you can focus on what really matters in the classroom. When I’m not working on the blog, you’ll find me chasing kids around the house with a cold cup of coffee in my hand (some things never change even once you’re out of the classroom!)

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