Children or no children at the reception??

Only you can decide if you want kids there, but please don't listen to advice that tells you that you can't invite one child and not another. This is 100% not true. You are perfectly allowed to invite the kids of your family members/VIPs and/or out-of-town guests and no one else's child.

If you decide no children, do not put this on your invite. It's considered rude. What you do is address the invite to only those invited, such as the parents, and on the response card, you can say "2 seats have been reserved in your honor" and allow them to RSVP. You never point out who isn't invited.

Its up to you, but I couldn't imagine going to a wedding w/out kids. To me its is and always has been a family thing. For us, all but 3 or so of our adult guests had kids, so we made it a family thing. Especially since my kids were in the wedding, I couldn't see not having kids at the bbq

Totally up to you. We can't imagine not having our nieces and nephews, but you should make your own decision.

We did not have kids in the wedding party, flower girl and ring bearer are totally not necessary, and I feel like that invites more chaos than including kids as guests. Can't even count how many times I've seen a toddler scared and crying as everyone stares at them walking down the aisle.

It is a know your crowd and your event thing. We didn't have a super formal wedding and kids are always included in parties that both our families have. We invited all the kids in our families. The only ones we didn't include were FH's boss' kids. They would not have known anyone, and their parents didn't have to travel far for the wedding. On the other hand, it was great having all our cousins there. So cute seeing them interact together and come up and give us their best wishes. We didn't do any special kid stuff, but they loved the photo booth. No regrets inviting kids at all!

Kids at receptions don't always mean chaos. We had lots of kids at ours and loved it. If you're questioning it, then the answer is probably no kids. It was never a question in our minds to have all the kids in our lives there.

We're having kids at ours. We have way too many young kids in our families to not include them. Plus a lot of our friends have kids.

We're having a "kids table" with coloring books.

We had to have kids. They are part of the family not matter what age. I think it has a lot to do with what is socially norm for you friends and family. With my family it would be a HUGE deal if we didnt invite kids. All family functions (weddings,birthday,New Year etc...) are kid friendly its just the way it is. For FH family though they where shocked that the kids are invited, its very normal for them to have to get a babysitter.

I babysat for a wedding and this was my experience. I went to the bride's grandmas house (near the venue), most were dropped of before the ceremony, 2 after the ceremony. They played out side till dark then dinner, then sleepover style movie (blankets and pillows on the floor) parents picked them up after the reception and paid me individually. I got a lot of "tips" and it was a very positive experience for me

My suggestion is to invite the kids but encourage parents to take a night off. Do you know anyone that you personally trust who would be available to be to watch the kids at someones house or individually. Put on you website and use word of mouth. "Children are welcomed but If you would like a night off I have babysitter suggestions for you."

Guest who are out of town are less likely to come because they dont want to leave there kids with strangers or the stress of traveling with a child who stays in the hotel the whole time. I honestly would never leave my kids with a stranger until they are at least 3. Most likely I'm paranoid but I would like the security to know my child can tell me if something bad happened.

Fh & I are not inviting children. We are not having a ring bearer/flower girl so there are no children in our BP. We are also only having a MOH & BM. Our nephews (only two) and one on the way are invited, and that is it. I do have a younger brother who will be 14 and a step sister who is 17 and they will also be in attendance. Our reception does not start until 8 with cocktail hour at 7, FH SIL will have 2 under 2 so i dont imagine them staying long (she said her parents would take them, but who knows). Other than these 3 exceptions, there will not be children.

It may inhibit people from coming if they must have their children there, but if that is the case we are okay with it. The people who want to be there will be.

No kids other than those in the bridal party (our two daughters). In our situation, they are too expensive to seat and feed, so we decided against them.

We had about 30 children at our wedding. There wasn't any chaos and it was amazing having them there. They all ate, laughed, danced, and had a great time. Couldn't have imagined it any other way. It is a personal preference though.

No kids for us!

FWIW, I have been to two weddings in the past year that had 5+ children there, and if they weren't my nieces and nephews, I would have no idea they were there. They were quiet during the ceremony and well-behaved during the reception. They did not monopolize the dance floor. So, you can not invite them due to finances, or maybe you know your friends' kids are particularly poorly behaved, but don't just assume all children at a wedding will destroy the mood.

We will have kids at our wedding. I couldn't imagine not having any there. I have been to several weddings with kids and there was no chaos involved. There are a lot of children in my extended family so it would be hard not to have them there. I also love seeing the kids out on the dance floor!