no children policy

hangerls

we are trying to keep our wedding guest list down.  how can i ensure people won't bring their uninvited children to the wedding?

JessAndTrav

Only write the names of the persons invited on the invitation.

JessAndTrav

Persons? Wow. People. I have a headache.

crfische

Tell them if they bring them they will be locked in a dungeon.

FOR...EV.....ER.

banana468

You address the invitation to only the adults in the household.

Don't write anything like 'adults only' or 'no children please' as that's insulting to your guests.

However if you need to go a step further than just properly addressing the envelopes, you can write out ont he response cards, exactly who is invited so the guest just has to check __accepts or __declines.

THEN, if the guest adds someone in, you can call and say, "Oh we apologize for any misunderstanding but the invitation was just for the two of you.  Can we still put you two down as attending?

And if you honestly think people are so daft, you can have a matre'd at the front of your reception venue instead of a table with table/place cards.  The Matre'd can tell the guests upon arrival which table they are seated.  If a guest shows up with an undesirable munchkin, the matre'd is in charge of saying, "Oh, Mr. and Mrs, Idiotface, regretfully there are only two seats available for you."

sarabellam

Don't want  those pesky little rugrats around? Don't invite anyone who has children. Yes, you can always simply address the invitation to only the adults in the family, but some people don't get that concept.

anna.oskar

And be warned, even if you don't invite kids, some people will show up with them anyway. 

We excluded kids because our 158  would have had an extra 52 if we had included children.  At least a dozen were at the ceremony (I got to listen to a 1 year old talk during our vows) and thankfully only 2 were brought to the reception.

JessAndTrav

Yes, I second the PPs respsonses about kids coming anyway. We attempted the no kids thing, but a few names started showing up on RSVP cards. I just made it work. I put together goodie bags for each kid who was listed on the RSVP and they were all well-behaved during the wedding and I barely noticed them there. I even had a parent apologize and they said that they couldn't find a sitter (luckily I made a few extra goodie bags) and I told her it didn't even matter.

You can't keep them from coming 100%, but you can try. Just don't get bent out of shape if they come. It won't ruin anything if you don't allow it to. Take everything in stride.