No children at wedding

meritaten

I would suggest you make it plain on the invitation that NO children are welcome.
Do NOT then have under sixteens as 'bridesmaids'! guests whose children were banned will feel its unfair.
do NOT expect all invited guests will turn up or RSVP they will attend. Some people will not be able to get babysitters or may be let down at the last minute.

I make no comment as to why children shouldn't be invited to weddings.

calleyw

I understand its your wedding and you don't want children.

But why not invite the children and then hire as many as needed people to keep them entertained. Like a kids/holiday club type thing. So the parents can attend and not worry about the children.

As children find it boring.

Means happy people all round.

Yours

Calley

arbrighton

calleyw wrote: »

I understand its your wedding and you don't want children.

But why not invite the children and then hire as many as needed people to keep them entertained. Like a kids/holiday club type thing. So the parents can attend and not worry about the children.

As children find it boring.

Means happy people all round.

Yours

Calley

The children at our wedding last year were impeccably behaved. And the day was better for them being there. And they were invited as part of our family- included on invitations and table plan etc. There was never a question of asking their parents to come without them. OH's brother was best man and his son was just 2 months old on the day.

OP- you're going to have to be honest with guests and you can't pick and choose.

It might be prohibitively expensive to hire such 'entertainment' with appropriate levels of care for a variety of age ranges and many children may not be comfortable with people they are unfamiliar with and many parents wouldn't be happy with this idea either.

silvercar

What is it with wedding invites that people expect that their children be invited? Have any other sort of party and people read the invitation and see who is invited. Mention the word wedding and people either assume that their kids are included or refuse to come without them.

onlyroz

You say that the venue will be close to capacity if everybody accepts. This is unlikely to happen - some people won't be able to make it due to prior commitments, which should leave you with a bit more leeway than just 10 extra seats.

As others have said, it's really up to you whether you have children or not, but be aware that it's not fair to allow some children and not others, and you're likely to upset or inconvenience some of your guests. I imagine that there will be quite a few guests who won't be able to attend if you say "no children" because all the potential babysitters will also be at the wedding.

Jagraf

Op - Why can't you invite the children you are close to, just like you invite the adults you are close to.

I've been to weddings where some kids are invited and others aren't - usually the children of close relatives or friends.

When my cousin got married years ago she did a blanket ban on aunties and uncles as there were so many. She was actually very close to one of them and they were upset at being grouped with the rest just because of title.

Jagraf

silvercar wrote: »

What is it with wedding invites that people expect that their children be invited? Have any other sort of party and people read the invitation and see who is invited. Mention the word wedding and people either assume that their kids are included or refuse to come without them.

I don't understand this either. Most children will have little or no relationship to the couple getting married.

Jagraf

KxMx wrote: »

Easy, put some text on the RSVP website to the effect of "invited adults only due to space constraints"

Simples 😀.

bluenoseam

calleyw wrote: »

I understand its your wedding and you don't want children.

But why not invite the children and then hire as many as needed people to keep them entertained. Like a kids/holiday club type thing. So the parents can attend and not worry about the children.

As children find it boring.

Means happy people all round.

Yours

Calley

Because that costs money & well, while you might be someone who doesn't worry about children, perhaps the OP was too polite to say they don't like them. In the end if the parents want to go to the wedding they arrange childcare, it's a simple enough process.

theoretica

Judi wrote: »

You either allow children to come or you dont. You cant handpick what children you want and dont want.

I don't agree with that - you can handpick whoever you want to invite, or not invite. With or without children, partners, etc... They can accept, or refuse for whatever reason. Many people invited to Prince William and Kate's wedding didn't get to bring their spouse or children, but there were bridesmaids and pages.

Some invitation choices will increase the number of refusals and people may think them strange, but that doesn't mean you can't make them.