Kids at the wedding???

meaniedeanie35 · January 2010

So I am sure this topic has come up before, but I can't seem to find a resonable mind out of people I know. I love children, believe I will be a great mother, but I don't want any kids at the ceremony and possibly none at the reception either. I want everyone to enjoy the evening and not have to worry about where their kids are. This may sound really terrible but my question is how do you tactfully and politely ask people not to bring their children?

MyNameIsNot · January 2010

Another thing you can do to clue people in is to word your RSVP in a way that prevents them from RSVPing for the kids:

Mr. John Smith ___will ___will not attend
Ms. Jane Doe ___will ___will not attend

If people are travelling from out of town, you can put a note on your website that you'll help them find local child care if they need help.

trix1223 · January 2010

Although it is technically considered a faux pas to write "Adult reception" on an invitation, it is being used more now.

My DD did what PP suggested. She filled in her reply cards before mailing them:

Mr. Homer Simpson ____ will attend _____ will not attend
Mrs. Marge Simpson ____ will attend _____ will not attend

No mention of Bart, Lisa, or Maggie.

That made it abundantly clear. It took a little more time in the invitation prep, but there were no questions about whether children were included.

megk8oz · January 2010

If it helps, we had a limited kids wedding and we also did not give single people +1s (Except for the BP), so we set up our RSVPs as follows:

M_________________________
___ of ___ guests will be attending

And then we filled in the allotted number of guests in the second line. This took some extra time when printing, but nobody replied with uninvited kids and only 1 guest that wasn't given a +1 gave herself a date (And at that point, we already had a few people decline, so we let that it go).

chloetutor · January 2010

We're debating the same thing. I really don't mind those with one or two children attending (many family members have only one very young child) but some of my family members have 3 or 4 kids. This puts our budget wedding with 35 kids. Ugh. I've debated writing "___ seats have been reserved in your honor" on the RSVP card. It's so hard to not offend parents with the whole kid situation.

squirrelly29 · January 2010

we just went through this. About a week after we sent save the dates, I called my fam and FI called his and politely told them that the wedding was 21+, that it was a difficult decision but that is what we decided. EVERY SINGLE parent was actually pumped for a night without kids.

MOBinFL2008 · January 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_customs-traditions_kids-wedding?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:36Discussion:74ee0406-228e-45e0-8398-2848192429a1Post:5e2bba6f-3936-4f76-9c9c-b12181e28bd1">Re: Kids at the wedding???</a>:
[QUOTE]I was told that you indicate it on the invitations citing the ceremony followed by an "adult reception". I would THINK that that would get the message across to the people you're inviting, and that way you wouldn't have to go through the embarrassing and uncomfortable conversation of why you're not planning on inviting kids. That could get very awkward, and the last thing you want to worry about is family/friends feeling slighted in anyway on your big day.
Posted by jillyalvarado[/QUOTE]

Even though some people do this, it is considered very poor manners. You don't openly exclude people. Instead, you invite only those you wish to have at the wedding.

Kids at the wedding???

Re: Kids at the wedding???

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