Our wedding favors are keys with heartshaped bottle openers on the end... not child appropriate. My mom wanted to do bubbles, but I thought that was kind of juvenile. I wanted to do little candy bags, but dad's not buying the idea (and he's paying). There are about 13 kids ranging from 3-14. Any suggestions?
What about t-shirts? You could do them reasonably and find some cute saying to put on the back...
"Rachel and Rob got married on the James River... and all I got was this t-shirt!" or something way cuter than that!
Add to it a bottle of bubbles for the little ones and a candy bar for the older ones and you're all set!
For the younger kids why not coloring books and crayons? Inexpensive and will keep them entertained. Although I am all for Bubbles too...who grows out of bubbles? They sell them in tiny wedding favor bottles.
I like Krista's idea about t-shirts... but sizing might be tough to figure out ahead of time...
I'm gonna keep thinkin'...
I'll second the coloring books and crayons, at least for the younger kids. They (and their parents) will appreciate them having something to do at the reception.
For the tweens and teens, maybe a puzzle book of some kind.
ewww, not tshirts.... no no no!
I like the bubble idea... and the candy idea.
Maybe something like a little puzzle they can color. Micheals sells wood cut puzzles for like a dollar. Tie on pretty colored crayons in your wedding colors with a ribbon and you have a fun, functional and cute favor.
For the younger kids, Oriental Trading Company sells wedding place mats with a small box of crayons. They have wedding coloring books, too, but they are really cheap and small. The placemats are nice, though. For the older kids, you could do paper and pencil sets. You have such a wide age range, I think something edible would be good if you can talk dad into it.
I like the bubbles idea too! you could do them up like a bomboniere, maybe get colored bubbles (to match you colors for the wedding?) put a few candies- like thos candy necklaces etc, in cellophane & tie to the bubbles with curling ribbons etc, make them really cute!!
I think the coloring books and candy are a great idea. I don't think the 14 yr olds will mind if they don't get anything.
You can get them some cheap digital cameras I have seen them at Toys R Us for like 5-10 each ... what kid does not like to take pictures? You can get crayons/books for the younger ones if you prefer. If they are going to be at the wedding for the entire time you may want to also have an area dedicated to the kids with toys like a hot wheels track and cars and other age appropriate types of toys with a designated adult(s) responsible for that area so the parents can have some fun w/out the kiddos too.
What about little candy dishes with M&Ms. You might be able to find nice acrylic ones that look like glass.
Good luck!