How to nicely say no kids on the invitations?

We are also having no kids at our wedding....period. We didn't want the stress, but a lot of our friends have young kids. We just did not want to deal with the little munchkins running around all over the place because our venue is on property with a buried swimming pool and a giant fake rock out cropping and can be very dangerous if kids are left unattended even for the smallest second. Which ultimately led us to not having a flower girl or ring barer. Which is kind of sad, but we couldn't pick those two positions then tell everyone else that their kid couldn't come. So to avoid it all together we put this on our wedding invitations and on our website...

"In order to allow all guests, including parents, an evening of relaxation we have chosen for our wedding day to be an adult only occasion. We hope this advance notice means you are still able to share our big day and will enjoy having the evening off!"

You could always write due to venue restrictions we ask for a adult only reception

I put on minem "we respectfully request that there be no children in attendance" on both the invitation and the RSVP card. The hard thing with telling one person and then it spreading is that some people ignore that. My cousin was dressing her son up for my sister's wedding the day of to go. My grandmother saw it and said "they specifically asked that you do not bring children. Find a baby sitter". If you put it on the RSVP card/invite, then it is holding them socially accountable. If people throw a fit, tell them that it is a good opportunity to have a date night, and to have an evening without the kids. Do be prepared for people not to come. Neither of my uncles came to my sister's because they had to watch the kids.

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I think this really depends. Are these the only kids in the immediate family or will there be others that are excluded. If they are the only ones, then you should be good stating what you have suggested. If there are other family kids, you walking a tight line there. It could make people feel like "why are those kids more important to mine" if they are that type of people.

21+ event

Indicates alcohol drinking age and above, or indicates adult age and above.

We are doing only immediate family's kids. Most of our family's kids are older (13 and up) my FH's 2 daughters will be in the wedding party (by the wedding they will be 9 and 13) and our flower girl is his best man's and my bridesmaid's (yet to be born) daughter who will be 1. She is our only exception to the immediate family rule because she is in the party (as are both of her parents). I've been to plenty of weddings with a no kids rule and honestly, the parents enjoyed having a kid-free night. Not to mention they have months to find a sitter or make arrangements.

I put on the invitation adult only reception to follow...sorry but I didnt know of another way to word it and that was that. I dont have any kids on my side and FH has a ton on his side and I was just not in the mood for all the running, jumping, screaming that may occur.

I had this same issue. My mother didn't understand why I couldn't have kids at the wedding and I had to just tell her no. My family has too many kids (more guests to add to my already tight 150 count). Plus if I tell my family yes my fiances family will want to have their kids come as well. At my engagement party someones baby cried through all the speeches. Only kids will be allowed are the ring bearer and flower girls.

Oh sweetie. i made my invites in English even though more than half the guests are Hispanic lol

I put "although we love your children we unfortunately cannot accommodate them at the venue due to restricted numbers. We hope you see this as an opportunity to let your hair down and join the party with us!"

If following ettiquette, simple address to "Mr. and Mrs." on the invitations. Do not say, "Smith Family," for example. This conveys that the children are not invited. Then, have wedding party and close friends spread the word, reitterateing that children are not included.

Not advice about wording, but if you get push-back from your choice, you could always lie and say the venue doesn't allow guests under age 13 (or whatever age)

I think its nicer to say followed by adult reception instead of saying no children. Just my thought

Also could fill in the rsvp count like for 2 instead of leaving in blank

I think it is okay to state it straight. After all, it is your wedding party!

On my wedding website, which guests have to go onto to RSVP anyways I put "Due to limited numbers, we are unable to extend this invitation to children. This applies to children of all ages." I am also specifying the number of guests in each household that are invited on the RSVP card so there is no confusion.

Hope this helps

Trying to word it without hurting family and friends feelings is hard. We have 5 family children in the wedding itself, 1 child is from immediate family and the other from the bridal party. 7 in all. All other children we need to stay home. How in the world do we word that on our Invitation or Website, Without sounding so rude? MOB

We are putting "we respectfully request that children remain at home during our special day." It puts an emphasis on it being OUR day and ultimately OUR decision, but does so in a polite manner.

I am having people RSVP online and we put it in the instructions there, along with a note in the info. I said, “We love you and we love your little ones, but we ask that this is an adults only evening. Take the night off to eat, drink, and dance!


We also don’t have too many people with children coming, so we contacted them and let them know ahead of time that since our wedding is at a brewery, we wanted it to be adults only. We thought it was a good way to ease the shock of no kids.

“We love your kids but thought you might like a night off. Adults only please!”