No children allowed

boomboom1243

We do not have many children on my side of the family and have mostly teenagers through my cousins married wife (6 all together) and a couple others on my side. My fiancee is nto too close to his family but we are inviting them all to try and mend past problems and start freash. The only child I want there is his younger cousin who is a junior in highschool older than the rest. But there are some other kids on his side of the family of his brothers and other cousins that are younger. I do not want any other kids there because its a small venue and i dont want people talking at their kids to behave and i just want people to have a good time and if they have to look after kids i dont think they will as much. is there away to specify on invitations that no children are to come nicely and are people going to be offended when they see a 16 year old there? 

nextrightthing

No, there is not a way to specify "no children" on the invites.  You should write only the invitees' names on the envelope, and you can choose to put something like "two seats have been reserved in your honor" on the response cards.

mkrupar

You address the invitations to the people that ARE invited. You do not put "Adults Only" or "No Kids".

boomboom1243

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_no-children-allowed?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:7dbb7320-ce48-4d10-94c2-43e8ab03edecPost:88164890-35d4-41ad-a36e-2923c93f05b4">Re: No children allowed</a>:
[QUOTE]No, there is not a way to specify "no children" on the invites.  You should write only the invitees' names on the envelope, and you can choose to put something like "two seats have been reserved in your honor" on the response cards.
Posted by nextrightthing[/QUOTE]


ok yea that is a great way i like the way the reserving seats sounds thank you!

J&K10910

Also, in addition to the advice you've been given:  a wedding is not a good time/place to try to mend broken relationships.  I commend you guys for wanting to repair relationships and start fresh, but I think you'll find yourself more frustrated than anything if you make your wedding the venue for that.

aragx6

You might have some people RSVP for extras anyway. If so, you'll just need to call them and apologize for the misunderstanding but that you can't accommodate any children. Some might choose not to come, which is the risk you take, but as long as you're OK with that then you're in the clear.

kmmssg

Just want to ditto J&K.  A wedding is a very poor time and place to try to mend family issues.  It usually backfires badly.  No one will change because they are attending a wedding - the same issues they have with people accompany them right to their seat.  I really encourage you and FI to rethink using your wedding this way.  Only you guys know what those issues are, but if they are at all significant, you could be setting yourselves up for some big disappointment.

boomboom1243

Yea, fiancee doesnt want kids there kids in our families are not mature enough. As to the mending i understand wat you are saying and i completely agree. but of course this coming year we will be seeing htem and s thats when we will decided it they can come. its not just a hey i really dislike you but come to my wedding and see what happens THAT would be a disaster!. thank you all for your help and advice its extremely appreciated.

banana468

Ditto PP that you  just address the invitation to those you're inviting.

Writing 'X Seats reserved" can backfire because a guest could think that means a child could be brought if a spouse can't make it.  The clear way to spell out who is welcome (aside from the addressing of the envelope) is to take the time to write out the response cards so a guest just checks ___accepts ___declines next to his/her name.  it takes more time but this way the only way you'd get people saying their kids are coming is if they didn't really care about what the invitation said anyway.

But this is all assuming you've taken me off ignore.