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Savvy August 2019

Adult wedding - people want to bring kids to ceremony

Ann, on May 7, 2019 at 1:55 AM Posted in Etiquette and Advice 0 5

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So FH and I agreed to have an adult only wedding and reception. We have been trying to spread the message by word of mouth before invites go out. So far every parent has asked if they can bring their kid to the ceremony. My concern is that we have stated "adult reception to follow" which technically doesn't address the ceremony specifically. Is there a better way to handle this? I assumed "adult reception to follow" was a gentle way of saying "no kids", and people would take the hint.

We are having a Catholic ceremony, but there is only a 30 min gap between ceremony and reception (15min travel time from one to the other, with a 15 min buffer in case we run late haha). Is allowing kids at the wedding but not the reception more common at Catholic ceremonies?

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5 Comments

Latest activity by Ann, on May 7, 2019 at 1:05 PM

Master October 2017
karen · on May 7, 2019 at 6:48 AM
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If your wedding is in a house of worship, they are generally open to the public.
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Legend November 2019
Caytlyn · on May 7, 2019 at 7:48 AM
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Agreed with this. If you're getting married in a church, the church is still open to the public during your ceremony. So not only could they bring their children, but you could have members of the congregation there as well. I would still stick with your no children rule and simply say "I apologize, our wedding will be an adults only event."
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VIP September 2019
Melissa · on May 7, 2019 at 8:33 AM
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If they are local to the church, I would allow it. With the 30 minutes they may have time to drop the kid off or have someone pick them up before heading to the reception.
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Master July 2018
Mcskipper · on May 7, 2019 at 9:01 AM
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Specifically calling it an “adult only RECEPTION” implies that the other might not be, so I understand the question. I didn’t put it on my invites (those I addressed only to invitees and put “__ of __ attending” on the rsvp and filled in the second number). On the website though, I stated it was an Adults Only Event , which to me implies that it’s the whole thing versus just specifically the reception.
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Savvy August 2019
Ann · on May 7, 2019 at 1:05 PM
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About half of the guests are local. FH's family are 45 min + from the event. I thought it would be more fair to everyone if we just said no kids at ceremony because in reality it would probably be too difficult for his side to bring kids, and I didn't want it to look like I am favoring kids on my side of the family.
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