Hi all! I'm in the process of putting the finishing touches on my wedding invites and I've come across a dilemma. one of the guests on the groom's side has a very, very poorly behaved child (we'll call him Bob). At the last couple of events I've been to with Bob he has essentially run amok. He tears down decorations, throws tantrums, hits guests, and generally leaves destruction in his wake. We went to a wedding a few months ago where Bob was allowed to bring a foam sword and nerf gun. He spent most of the wedding (ceremony and reception) shooting people in the face with the nerf darts and alternately hitting everyone with his foam sword. If he was 3 or 4 it'd be more ok , but he's 7 or 8 years old. His parents don't watch him or discipline him. The most I've ever seen was the father saying "Bob stop. Stop. Please stop." over and over again while failing to remove the child from the scene or taking his toys away. Both parents just generally ignore Bob and his antics.
My problem is this, I don't want Bob at my wedding. We have been looking into getting a nanny service to watch all the kids, but it's expensive and I don't want to pen all the kids in one area because one kid is a nuisance. I picked my venue because it's really kid friendly, if the children are well behaved, and could actually be a great experience for them. So my other option is to have my fiance talk to this friend and tell him not to bring his kid. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to deal with this tactfully? Children are welcome, just not this child. I don't want his father to be under the impression kids aren't allowed and then get upset at the wedding when he sees 8-10 other children in attendance. Any help would be greatly appreciated!