Kids at a wedding

I think you can invite this child without inviting every other guest’s child. Are there a lot of other children in your immediate families? If not, just invite the nephew if it keeps the peace between you and your future MIL

It’s your wedding. You win.

We’re not doing kids! My family is way to big for them and all of my cousins with children love having a weekend away from them anyways. It’s your wedding, your mother in law needs to understand that. If push come to shove, maybe have your nephew at the ceremony, get some nice family pictures, and send him on his way with a babysitter after pictures.

Stand your ground! She doesn’t get a say since it’s not her wedding. It’s not even her child!

My brother and SIL had a child free wedding. It definitely ruffled some feathers and caused some issues, but they stood their ground and no children were present at the wedding. The wedding was fairly formal, it was later on in the evening, and the music was not appropriate for children. Kids just didn’t fit with the wedding they wanted, and that was okay! One thing they did, though, was include our niece in the family photos. My sister and BIL had to travel quite a distance for the wedding and did not want to leave their little one for the whole weekend. They brought a family member (of my BIL) to watch her back at the hotel after the pictures. It worked out well.

View Quoted Comment Not in the immediate family no. But in the bridal party, it would add way too many. I have a friend in my bridal party from about 5 hours away and I don’t think it’s fair to tell her she has to leave her two kids at home and I allow my nephew there. It just leads to a snowball effect and we are already at very close to maximum capacity of the venue even with limiting the invites to anyone under 30 :/

View Quoted Comment I still think people generally understand when theres an exception made for family. I’ve also seen there be only a flower girl/ring bearer at the wedding and no other children. But if you definitely cant have him there, you just have to have your fiance put his foot down with his mother. It’s not her choice

Why is FMIL so adamant that a 2 yr old attend? It's not like he'll remember it. He'll likely be bored if he's the only child there. Is he the only grandchild? Does she want to show him off, or something? Because there are more appropriate occasions than your wedding to do that.

View Quoted Comment I really have no idea why she’s so adamant about it. Maybe she wants out of state relatives to meet him?