Adults only reception, is that a no no nowadays?

My fiancee and I are having a wedding of about 200. I do not want children at the wedding (we are not having a ring bearer or flower girl), and his family thinks that the parents of the children might get angry about an adults only reception. I know my family would not. Am I wrong about this? I thought adult only receptions were an okay thing to do.

Adults only reception, is that a no no nowadays?
No you are not wrong! I'm having an adult reception and I even stated it on the invitations. Most people will tell you that it's against ettiquette to do that but frankly, i'm not paying for a reception to have a bunch of kids run around all night.





And I think most parents may see it as a night away from the kids. I know parents love their kids and all but sometimes they need a break too. Don't worry about whether or not people will get mad. They'll get over it in time. It's your wedding.
Reply:They are fine. Just give them enough notice to organise a babysitter (when you send the invite is usually long enough).


Some people don;t like it, but it is your wedding. Most should be happy for a night of fun without their kids.
Reply:It depends on what you and hubby want.





We had a kind of adult only reception. Like we have 20 nieces and nephews, so we had one table for them. we arranged for them to have pizza and ice cream. No other children were invited.





If you decide to do that or have it adult only, they will find a sitter! And some of them won't, but it is your day. If you don't want them there, that is your call. And if you haven't learned it yet, learn how to tune them out. Find out what he wants and move forward with what will make you two happy, especially if you two are paying for it!
Reply:Yes, they are fine.


Yes, you will get some people declining


because they can't bring their children.


But, with the price of weddings today it is


understandable why they are not invited.
Reply:girl, do it the way you want it and besides babysitters always available and i am sure they can find one to take care of their young ones..
Reply:you are definetely not wrong if you don't want kids in your wedding then don't have them. I'm having them in my wedding but our family has alot of kids and all they do when they hear music is dance so i know they are going to have fun also. Odviously i have friends who have told me they are going to leave the kid at home but i want that decision to be made by them not by me.


I am alittle bias because i have a 2 year old son and he loves to party and hear music.
Reply:We're doing an adults only reception. I don't think its rude at all. Especially if you are having an evening/night time wedding. Who would bring their kids to an even that doesn't end until 11 or 12 at night. No one should be offended. It's your prefrence. Also, you can't tell me that the people who may be offended by this have never left their kids with a babysitter before, and parents of young children who are still nursing and are offended that their kids can't come should think about what the loud music would do to their kids ears
Reply:Fifty years ago, when my friends were getting married, no one even considered bringing their kids to a wedding! Or any other adult occasion.





I don't know why parents today think they should drag their kids every place they go. Some things should be for adults only.





If anyone is upset that they can't bring their little darlings, they can stay home! You won't miss them! Good luck!
Reply:im doing it and my half brother (whom i did not grow up with or has never met my fiance of 12+ years %26amp; whose kids i have only met at the most 5 times over the last 16 years) is upset that i am not having anyone under 21 come. in fact we are limiting our wedding to just under 35 people and i really didn't want anyone there who does not know us both, but i've compromised on that somewhat at the request of my dad.





someone said something really to the point on one of the answers (not about your question)


"Weddings are said to be all stressful, but that depends on you. It becomes stressful when the bride starts saying yes to what everyone else wants instead of saying no. Trying to please everyone else, when it is your day, does not pay in the end. People will get mad at you and call you selfish, but hey, it is your day and may very well be the only day when you really should be selfish." enuff said
Reply:With that many people today you might offend a few.





but it is YOUR wedding.





Also your worry might be misplaced, so if there are only a few with kids and you worry about offending them, ask cause they might want to come w/o their kids.
Reply:it is an ok thing to do, someone will complain about everything that is done so don't worry about it. if they can't take one night away from their babies then they have a problem, have they ever heard of a date night.





i had 2 kids at my reception, 1 was the flower girl and the other was brought with a parent that just didn't get it, he was bored. the flower girl was fine, she was 2 and was family that lived out of state. we had maybe 1 family complain but they showed up anyway. everyone else was glad to have a night out, like i said a date, and fully enjoyed themselves.
Reply:We're doing adults only, its not an issue for us however because none of our friends have kids and I'm amoung the younger cousins, but I think it's okay to do either way...especially for a night wedding
Reply:It comes down to personal preference. There is no right or wrong.
Reply:you cannot please all the people all the time
Reply:It's your wedding so you can determine who comes. Indicate that it is adults only on the invite. When I get wedding RSVPs they usually indicate if I can bring a date (Vicki D. %26amp; guest) or my family (D. family).





We had a surprise 30th birthday party for my sister that was adults only. One couple showed up with their kids because they "supposely" couldn't find a sitter. I got stuck supervising them all night while their parents got drunk. I thought it was incredibly rude, but we didn't make a big deal out of it because we didn't want to stress my sister out. If people show up with their kids even though you have said adults only, take it in stride.
Reply:It's totally fine! It's your wedding and your rules hun, not theirs! That means if you say no kids, it means no kids. They will just have to put up with it. They really have no right to get angry, it's really rude to judge someone's decisions like that. If they kick up a stink just say 'well you are welcome to stay home with your children'. Honestly, it's only one night for crying out loud, anyone who says they can't get a baby sitter is a liar or lazy, it's not hard. If my (non-existent kids) were not invited to a wedding, I seriously would not care and find someone to look after them and enjoy having a kid-free, adult night!
Reply:Go for it! I had an adults only reception. I did have one family member that didn't come and got a little upset when she realized that she could not bring her children...even though she knew she couldn't bring them she still RSVPed as bringing them, and we had to tell her again it was adults only. The only tricky thing was we had to make sure we addressed all the enveloped to JUST the adults and get the word out through word of mouth about the adults only. Other than that, there were no problems. And I don't think it's worth the stress of having kids there if you don't want them there. I think kids get bored at a lot of weddings anyway, so no worries. Oh, and it's not a no no, some people just get their panties in a bunch because it makes it inconvienent for them to have to get a baby sitter.