Wedding Quests, Kids???

AMaro215

For those of who are getting married this year/or next....I have around 160 people that we will be inviting to our wedding...I have been asked by about three relatives now if we are having children at our wedding....They all said that we should have wedding without children at the reception and put it on the wedding invite (preferebly adults only).... I have three nephews and of course I want them there, one of them is going to be in the wedding, he is 4 years old..But thinking about it my sister and brother in law will be in the wedding so they wont be able to care for their children at the reception so they will need to find a sitter...How many of you are not having children at your reception but will have them at the ceremony???I dont want anyone mad at me or be offended by this...I have never heard of it before...until they asked me...I want my nephews to be at my reception...For example though, I do In Home Child Care out of my home, I dont want all of those children at my reception because it would just be nuts( I am close with most of the parents so I would be inviting them)

My grandmother was saying she doesnt want them there because they run around wild and take up the dance floor and play around...Im talking like younger kids like 3-8 years old....(mainly for parents that are not watching their kids)

In my opinion I was thinking thats $10 more a child for food for catering(when children can be so picky anyway and not even eat their food) so say there are 20-25 children, thats $200-250 extra that I have to pay for...We are paying for our own wedding...

Please give me your opinions

tabatha_burris

Im having kids at mine. I have 2 kids myself so if someone sent me a invite somewhere and it said no kids I wouldnt be going! I barely ever have a babysitter and when I do I reserve that for stuff I really gotta get done! I take my kids everywhere! I kinda see it as if my kids are welcome im not eather! but I do see where you are coming from with the extra cost for kids food but I would feed my kids before I went and just let them nibble off of my plate! but not everyone is as considerate as I am and not everyone watches their kids so I understand but just keep in mine if you really want someone to come who has kids they may not be able to if they cant take their kids!

boomboom011

Here is my take on it. Though yes the kids are all over the place at a wedding, i love love love looking back at the pics 10 years later and seeing these kids that are now teenagers or even older. It warms my heart. Most of the time, in my case they are family. I dont hardly ever take my kids to a wedding UNLESS its family or a close friend.

I paid for my own wedding and we paid for kids too. I was not financially well off. It was worth every red cent. I would do it again but this time, more booze.

clydethecat

we got married on an aircraft carrier so the wedding and reception were in the same place, so i couldnt say no kids at the reception. i was going to say no kids period, but the parents who did contact me and asked if kids were allowed all had kids i really liked and were well behaved.

my aunt in law invited her "daughter" and she brought her two hellion kids. they ran all over the place, touched the air craft, and were not well behaved.

i had four awesome kids that were so behaved, and they had a lot of fun. the two hellions ended up having to sit at the table with the grandparents until their mom was ready to leave.

so i say do it on a case by case basis. also, if you can, get a babysitter and rent a nearby hotel room so all the kids can go there and watch movies or something.

IpuffyheartHeelsinthegym

my sisters getting married in May and aside from the kids in the wedding, mine and her fiances niece and nephew, there won't be kids there. I think its a presonal preference. I've heard of quite a few people asking that kids not attend weddings.

briggsy13

I would just invite the family kids and no others. Most weddings I've been to its adults except for the kids in the family. Most adults will probably enjoy that better anyway, they don't have to cater to their kids and can have adult convo and drink if they want without worrying.

fbmandy55

It's a really common thing to have adults only weddings. WHen push comes to shove, it is YOUR wedding, not anyone elses. I wouldn't care too much about couples with children being offended. many of them would probably appreciate the night out without the kids. If not, well, they had their own special day.

dls06

As a Mother of 4 who had 4 weddings I say if the child is in the wedding they can come. If the parents don't want them there then they can find someone to pick them up after the wedding or after they eat at the reception. If you think people would bring their children, put a little note at the bottom of the reception card,"Adults Only". I don't think anyone would be offended. I have not been to a wedding since I was a kid, where children were invited. Except for the children who were in the wedding. If you want any other children to attend then just tell the parents. You don't have to make an announcement and if anyone asks tell them no kids. Remember It's your wedding and you decide. I agree with your grandmother who said they will be running around.

sproeber89

Right now we're having only the kids who are in the wedding invited, this includes my cousins daughters (mini bridesmaid and flowegirl) and my niece/nephew (ring bearer and mini bridesmaid). Still deciding about other family members. There are a lot of kids that I don't even know and don't feel like paying for their $10 a plate for them to pick at it and then decide they don't want it. Because I KNOW how kids are .
But that's just my personal preference.

CharMarieDavis

I just got married December 31st and my lesson learned is.... People don't care about what your invites say. No one cares as much about your wedding as you do. (Harsh, but so true) and no matter what you put or want, your guests are going to do what they want to do. So even if you put "Adults only" , you are going to get guests that bring their children or they are going to resent you for not letting them bring their kids. I had a new years eve wedding at 7:30pm to 1am and you would think that no one would bring their children....wrong. So in my opinion, I think you should bite the bullet and pay to have the children because even if you put no children, there will be some. I even put on RSVP cards "____seats have been reserved in your honor" and people would cross it out and write in a different number.

sherrybaby81

I am doing adults only for both ceremony and reception. If I allowed children, that would mean another 20 people on my guest list.

LuLuSUPER

We are doing a destination wedding and a small reception without children. Mainly for budget purposes and we want to have adult fun including comedians. Plus my family is oober large, i meann i have 11 first cousins from jus tone uncle! NO WAY they can bring many kids each one of them have. 18 and up. If it raises a hoopla, request dontations for the $15 to $20 a plate dinner. :laugh: Good luck

deeharley

At my sister's wedding last year, she had a "kids'" table where the kids could either sit or stop by the table and pick up some entertainment. The table had crayons, coloring books and puzzles and maybe a couple games. I have also babysat at a wedding, where the kids were there and the parents could check on them, but they were off doing their own thing.

Julibug86

Congrats on your engagement! I'm also planning my wedding and opting to go kids free. We are a young-ish couple (26/27) and very few of my friends have children. The few couples that do have children all have infants (some are still in the womb at this point!) and I am planning a night wedding, so I do not think it's an appropriate place for them. We are having my nephew (he will be 3 by the wedding) act as ring bearer, but my sister has already declared that she is not bringing him to the reception and will have her in laws pick him up. She sees it as a night out for her and my brother-in-law, plus she will be the matron of honor and it would be tought to also be watching a child.

Any suggestions on what you write on the invitation? Or just don't write anything at all? No one coming will have a child above 3, so I'm slightly confused as to why anyone thinks it would be acceptable to bring an infant to an evening wedding (they should be in bed!).

On the flip side, we are having quite a few teenagers since we both have younger cousins. Underage drinking is a bigger concern for me...

dls06

Congrats on your engagement! I'm also planning my wedding and opting to go kids free. We are a young-ish couple (26/27) and very few of my friends have children. The few couples that do have children all have infants (some are still in the womb at this point!) and I am planning a night wedding, so I do not think it's an appropriate place for them. We are having my nephew (he will be 3 by the wedding) act as ring bearer, but my sister has already declared that she is not bringing him to the reception and will have her in laws pick him up. She sees it as a night out for her and my brother-in-law, plus she will be the matron of honor and it would be tought to also be watching a child.

Any suggestions on what you write on the invitation? Or just don't write anything at all? No one coming will have a child above 3, so I'm slightly confused as to why anyone thinks it would be acceptable to bring an infant to an evening wedding (they should be in bed!).

On the flip side, we are having quite a few teenagers since we both have younger cousins. Underage drinking is a bigger concern for me...
[/quote
]I would not bother writing anything on the invitation about no children. Just address it to the person you are inviting. If someone replys with children just make a call and say you have decided the reception will be adults only.

Only write the person or persons name you wish to attend on the Reception Card.

Mr. and Mrs. Joe Blow
will attend_________
will not attend _________