Kids at my wedding?

My fiance and I do not want to have children at our wedding (ceremony or reception, excluding the flower girls and ring bearer). What is the appropriate wording to include on the invitation?

Kids at my wedding?
Although everyone may have an opinion, the fact of the matter is that not all of your answers to whether or not to include children fit everyone's situations. Specifically those who suggest including children but designating them to a specific room. Not all facilities include separate rooms/areas to accomodate children. Also, if someone is investing thousands of dollars to host an event about them, they really do have a say in the matter as to whom may attend. Children often cause distractions and/or interuptions. That's not to say those situations can't be good ones but brides can spend up to $3000 on a dress, not to mention, hair, makeup, nails, veil and countless hours on the treadmill. It really is about the bride. And then evening weddings tend to run late, sometimes up to midnight. Those with children tend to have a set bedtime for their kids. Granted this is a special occasion and kids can occasionally stay up past their bed time but why pay for a full dinner and open bar if your guests need to rush home to put the kids to bed. Preparing for a wedding is difficult enought. But no one wants screaming children, dirty diapers and a $125 plate of salmon for a six year old.
Reply:My cousin did the same thing and on her invitation she just asked for adults only to RSVP for the wedding and reception.
Reply:I also do not want children at my wedding.





I personally can't see why anyone would want to chance a crying baby or hyperactive 5 year old screaming during their vows. Some people just do not like kids, or want to have an adults only event and meal. There is nothing wrong with that.





Our invites will say: Formal ceremony and reception. Adults Only please. Childcare will be provided on site.





My fiance and I will hire certified childcare workers to take care of the kids. For the ceremony, childcare will be in the Church basement, and we will rent a separate small banquet room at the hotel for the reception.





Worth every penny. The parents get a break, the kids aren't sitting through a wedding and then watching mom get drunk at the reception, and I as the bride get what I want. Win-win!
Reply:just went to one, it said "Formal, no children"
Reply:I have the same dilemma. I was thinking just to write the number of guests that were invited on the response card and if they had any questions I would then explain children were not invited. My dilemma is that children in my family are invited but not children from friends so it wouldn't make sense for me to write an adult reception. And from the other comments I have read, I do not feel it is disrespectful at all, weddings are expensive and if someone has five children.......lets not even get into it. Your wedding, your reception, if they don't like it, let them eat cake!
Reply:We wanted the same thing at our wedding -- no children and no strangers. It's your day -- you should do whatever you and your fiance want.





Rather than write "No children" or something equally tacky on the invitation, just do as many suggested and only address the invitation to the adults in the household. Also, on your RSVP card, you can write M________ accept / decline and M_________ accept / decline. That way they fill in only two adult names and little is left up to the responder.





Finally, word of mouth is key. Tell everyone involved with the wedding (parents, wedding party, family) that it's a no-kids affair. Believe me, people wouldn't have dreamed of bringing a child to our event -- and it was great!





Congrats and best of luck!
Reply:Adults only....


Over 18 only...


Guests to be 21 and up only...





Cuz it's my party...


and I say so...only!





P.S. Some people will be miffed. Let em be.
Reply:i dont understand why you dont want kids at your wedding. you were once a child, and im sure you brought a lot of joy to adults. a wedding should be a joyful time enjoyed by everyone.
Reply:If you don't want to put the actual words on the invitation anywhere, just address it to "Mr and Mrs John Doe" Or "Ms Jane Doe and Guest" If their response comes back more than the number you addressed it to, you are well within your right to call and say "This is adults only" or "Due to the size of the hall/church, I can only invite x people and while I would love little Suzy to come, I had to limit ALL children." Or, if you are comfortable, explain that the budget doesn't' allow for children. Let them know it's not just their child not invited.





And don't listen to all those who say children should always be invited to a wedding... they aren't paying $75 per person, just to see the parents get trashed while the kids fall asleep in the corner!
Reply:There isn't!!!! What are parents suppose to do with their kids? Think about they are( hopefully) getting you a show gifts (wedding, bridal), wedding gifts, maybe an outfit to attend, hair, nails. Out of town-er have to get hotel, transportation on top of everything above. Now you want them to pay for a babysitter for 6 or more hour (weddings never start on time). That's an insult, I love a child and I will chose my child over a wedding any day. How will you feel if and when you have kids.
Reply:What you might want to do is arrange for a separate room for children and enough activities to keep them occupied throughout the night. However, allowing the flower girls and ring bearers could cause great unrest with the parents if these children have siblings. I have seen how much strife this can cause. Remember, people with kids have a different mentality than those without. Parents often seem to think that their kids should accompany them wherever they go and it's very hard to get them to understand this is not the case.
Reply:Of course, you should have children at your wedding! There is no appropriate wording for thinking of putting something so rude on your invite! Kids are a part of our world, and should be totally there to share in the celebration of a wedding, both at the church and the reception. Don't you remember going to weddings when you were kids? That's where you get to meet relatives you don't see often, have fun with other kids, eat great food, practice dancing, etc.


Weddings are for everyone to celebrate - that is why there are weddings publicly - for everyone in the family, friends, and wider community to witness the ceremony, and celebrate the union - including children!
Reply:that's mean . a lot of people have children and won't be able to come.
Reply:Well I wouldn't suggest printing...Leave your brats at home! Chances are, no matter how you phrase it, you will get a lot of refusals to attend. So have a nice small but happy wedding. Or just invite people without kids.
Reply:It looks tacky on the invitation.





Just make sure only the adults names are written on the envelopes.





Then if you get any additional RSVP's call them and say "no kids."
Reply:When putting the invitations together, on the outside envelope write Mr %26amp; Mrs John Smith, on the inside envelope write John %26amp; Jane. Do not write their kids names on it. If they know proper ediquette, they will know that their children are not invited. If they respond with their kids included, you have every right to call them and tell them it is an adult only wedding. They can decide from there. I had to do this with my wedding, one woma brought her child anyways. I was very angry to say the least!
Reply:No children, please. Or, Adults Only.
Reply:Usually the names on the invite indicate who is invited.


You probably won't find an invitation with this wording on it. If you must, then you're going to have to wing it.
Reply:Had this same issue for our wedding. You can simply write, "Adults only" or "No children". Also, make sure you write out the names for each invited guest on the individual invitations. So if they don't see little Tommy's name on the invite, it will help send the message. lol Also, if you're sending response cards, be sure to fill out the number of people invited, and leave them a space to say how many people they're bringing. If you put 3, and they put 5, make sure to call them and let them know exactly what you want. It can be hard, because people, especially family, will do whatever they want, but remember, it's your day!! Congratulations and good luck! :)
Reply:the acceptable way of doing this without offending anyone, is saying, no children under 12 allowed.


i did the same way on my 40th birthday party. i honeslty did not want kids running around the making me more stress out than normal.


because teenagers can be control. but kids are kids and they do get bored in adult parties.


now you have to also be a bit leaned on this, because you might have one or two friends who might have babies and can not leave them or they wont be attending the wedding. you also ned to figure out how importnat those people are to you all./
Reply:I don't believe there is appropriate wording for such a thing. While it's your wedding, and you may invite whomever you like, if I received an invitation to a wedding that specifically excluded children, I wouldn't attend. When my daughter was small, if we were invited to such an event, she went along, or we didn't go.





I'm curious, why don't you want children to attend? Are the people you want invited have many children?
Reply:do to the importance of this occasion to the bride and groom we ask kindly that children be left with a sitter. We are truly sorry if this causes a inconvenience to anyone.








(if possible you could hire some high school kids and rent a room at the recreation center for the children to be babysat at. that would provide a place for everyone to drop off their children and reassure your guest come)
Reply:thats kind of mean cause somepeople may not show up cause they need a baby sitter and by you not having kids at your wedding wont be so sweet why no flowers girls no ring bearer it wont be the same..
Reply:NO KIDS!
Reply:I just ordered my invitations, ask the stationer to put on the RECEPTION CARD.....Adult Only Reception. Also, make sure you make the invitation out to specifically John and Jane Doe.
Reply:I think that you should reconsider. What are the other children suppose to do? What are the guest who have children suppose to do? A wedding is should be shared by all.
Reply:for adults only. i saw this in one wedding where no kids were there too except the flower girls and ring bearer, it was really formal wedding.
Reply:"Adults only, please." And be sure that you make it clear who is invited: "2 seats have been reserved for you."
Reply:no children please, thank you.
Reply:Wow, its amazing at how many people are saying it is RUDE and MEAN to not have kids at your wedding.





PEOPLE WAKE UP. This is a VERY important event, and sometimes young children will intturput things. Also, there may be drinks served, and you don't want kids exposed to that.





Address your invite to the ADULTS in each family. Also require an RSPV. If you have the money, offer childcare during the reception and ceremony. There is a tactful way to kindly ask that no children attend. But if someone does bring a child to the ceremony, kindly ask, in private, afterwards, that they do not bring them to the reception. You might hurt a few feelings, but this is your day to feel like a Queen.
Reply:Why not offer daycare services? If they want to bring children, or have to, have them RSVP and ask them to contribute like $2 per child, and then hire three to five babysitters impartial to the wedding? That way, everyone is happy.

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