When we put together our guestlist, we quickly realized we weren't going to be able to afford to invite children - mainly for financial reasons, but also because our wedding is a pretty formal event and felt children weren't really appropriate. We decided we would include children of immediate family only. When addressing invitations, we only included the names of the parents that were actually invited, and asked that people RSVP on our website.
The issue that we are having, is that these people are beginning to RSVP and a handful of them have started to include their children, even though they weren't listed on the invite. Whats worse, is that they aren't including them in the headcount - they are including on the parents in 'number of guests', and then listing the children in the names attending box. I never would have expected this! Its almost like they don't consider the child a person, but I'm sure my venue won't feel the same way.
We are on a strict budget, so its been really frustrating. Plus, we want the wedding to run as smoothly as possible, and I've heard some horror stories about children attending. So, what do we do? Any suggestions??