Adult only reception

Make it an adult-only event. Don't do "ceremony-kids" and reception without... that'd be way weird and confusing.

Address the invitation to MR and MRS. You could also add "we have ___ seats reserved for you" on the invitation. If anyone asks just tell them "We are having an adults only wedding, I'm very sorry if this is an inconvenience. We understand if you are not able to attend." Put it on your wedding website and spread it around via word of mouth. Your nephew and niece can attend since they are apart of the bridal party.

You address the invites to just the adults. No "the Smith Family" or "and Family" at all. Add "2 seats have been reserved in your honor" to the RSVP card as well.

ADULT ONLY IS ADULT ONLY.

If kids are involved in the ceremony (RB, FG, etc) then they are the only exception but you can not have a free for all at one part and then restrictions at another.

Just address the envelope to only those invited.

On the invitation itself you might also put, for example:

2 seats have been reserved in your honor.

__/2 guests will be attending.

This would make it clear that only those addressed on the envelope (2 people) are invited.

Yupp, just make it an adults only event. Immediate family members who are kids are always a valid exception

Best way to indicate that your wedding is adults only is to clearly address the invitations to the individuals who are invited, and you can even add "we have reserved _x_ number of seats in your honor" on the rsvp card!

ETA: posted the same response at the same time as everyone else

You should either go with kids or without kids, not yes to one part and no to another. Are you expecting your niece and nephew to be in the wedding ceremony and then not go to the reception? Hopefully if that is the case it has already been worked out with their parents. Address the invitations to Mr John Smith and Mrs. Jane Smith, and then put 2 seats have been reserved in your honor. Most parents will take the hint. It will be up to them to decide if attending is worth the hassle of getting a babysitter, traveling out of town, and potentially having to get a hotel and overnight sitter. Some will be able to, some won't.

If you are having your niece and nephew at the reception check with your catering company they might offer kids plates.

What everyone has said, but be prepared to receive a higher number of declines from out of towners. Most people aren't going to travel out of town without their children or hire a babysitter in a city they don't live in. You have to decide what your priorities are with this.

But if your niece and nephew are involved in the ceremony, they should be included in the reception. Let their parents decide whether it's too late in the evening for them or not. And if you have other nieces and nephews not in the wedding party, that might get tricky with family dynamics. It is ok to invite family children only but not others.

I was in the same predicament. I wanted my niece and nephew to be the FG and RB but I didn't want to open the doorway to having kids at the reception. On the RSVP cards I wrote " _ of 2 attending" so that people knew the number of allotted seats they had. (Plus, Everyone knew through word of mouth that it was an adult affair. ) My niece and nephew attended both the ceremony and the reception and all of our other guest with children were very understanding (they are family after all)

Originally, My mother in law wasn't thrilled about my plan so she invited our guest who had children to the much more laid back rehearsal dinner instead so that they didn't feel left out of all of the wedding festivities.

It's you're day, it's the one time you're allowed to be selfish. If you don't want them there, don't compromise.

Also put on your website that it is adult only. As PP said We have less guests attending as our friend's spouse is home with their child.

One thing is you can't have kids be part of the ceremony and then not at the reception. That would be rude. What time is your ceremony?

I recently received an invite for an adult-only wedding. It was just addressed to my fiance and I, but also on the response it said "____ Number of adults attending." I hadn't seen that before.

We will not be having children at the ceremony nor the reception. We are going to put adult affair or adult event only on the invitations. I remember I was stressing about how to word it without sounding rude. If my FH could have it his way he would put NO KIDS PLEASE lol. We do not have children and the only kids at the wedding will be the three that are in the wedding of course. Another reason why we didnt want to do kids is because my venue does not have a kid menu and they count kids as adults.

We have any adult only wedding. I did the addressing to specific people with a RSVP with the number of seats reserved like suggested and it hasn't been an issue for me. However full disclaimer We were very up front verbally with family that kids weren't going to be invited so a lot of them already new prior to getting invites

I'm doing the same for my wedding, were considering wording it like this, "While we love to watch the children run and play, this is an adult only kind of day." I had googled ideas on how to word it and found many ways you should try to google it. (Google has everything lol)

What Mrs. Sasswood said.

Someone suggested yesterday having a "kids room" with a hired sitter at the reception. That way they are there but out of the way. I am not sure how that would work though and it wouldn't save you any money. That was the first I had heard of it. A lot of OOT guests that have kids will probably decline if they can't bring their kids.

I'm using "adult only reception after dark" my wedding is in the evening and I feel it gets the point across without being too blunt.

It is rude to point out who isn't invited, even when you use cutesy sayings.

Also, as @Jacks said, it's rude to invite kids to the ceremony and not the reception (or have kids IN the ceremony and not invite them to the reception). If you want child-free, you address the envelope to the people you're inviting for the whole day.

You are making it more complicated to have kids invited to the ceremony but not the reception. It should be an adult-only event. You do not put "adult only" on your wedding invitation. You can mention it on your wedding website, but the best way to do it is simply to address the invitations to who is invited. "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" vs. "The Smith Family" indicates NO KIDS.

Now, you can include your niece and nephew in the ceremony and then talk individually with your brother/sister about if they feel comfortable with their kids staying for the reception, but it should be their call. It is very commonplace that the only children to be at a wedding are the one's in the bridal party, so no one will bat an eye over it if they are the only kids there.

I had an adult-only wedding, and simply addressed my invitations appropriately, and had no issues! However, if you do have anyone RSVP with their kids, here's how you handle it: Call them (no texts or fb messages) and sweetly apologize for the "misunderstanding" (even though it's their misunderstanding, and not yours!) Explain that the wedding is adult-only (no need to say why or justify it) and tell them you hope they will still be able to attend!

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