Kids at the wedding - parents travelling from abroad?

Hmm, i think if you are asking guests to travel internationally, you should probably invite the kids. asking people to get a babysitter for one night for a kid-free wedding is a whole different thing than asking your guests to find someone watch their children for several days. given the expense of travelling with a bunch of young kids, some may opt to leave them at home if they have someone they trust to watch them, but i don't think there is a way you can politely ask them to do so.

Unfortunately, it's not going to be easy. Not many parents like to travel abroad leaving their kids behind. Something you will have to consider with your numbers.

I hate children and do not want any at my wedding.

With that said, if I had children, I would not leave them at home to travel internationally for a wedding. That's a HUGE nope on my end. Literally, they could get into a horrible accident and I could be stranded from them for days because some volcano erupted in Iceland or something.

OP, is your concern about numbers based on the capacity of your venue or the cost of additional guests? if it is cost, consider that a child is usually a cheaper guest. for example, i am paying roughly $100 per person for an adult guest, but a child would be about $15 for kids meal and no bar package, and the babies totally free.

The majority of our guest list was OOT and several people were traveling across the country. It seemed unreasonable to us to expect anyone to travel that far and have to make other arrangements for their kids back home for a few days, so that definitely was a factor in our decision to invite kids to our wedding.

What does your FH say? I have been to Irish weddings and there are always lots of children at them. Is he comfortable with his family leaving their children behind?

Sorry OP but I think this is a tough one. I do not think there is a polite way to ask people to leave their children at home if all of them have to fly in for your wedding. It could be implied however if you are having it at an adults only resort.

How many kids are we talking? I didn't make any exceptions for the one lot of overseas parents on my guest list (the husband just ended up staying home with the kids.)

I am having a kid-friendly wedding. My sister is international. She is coming in for the wedding but her husband and 4 kids are not. They could not afford to bring the whole family.

This is a risk you run having international travelers regardless of if you invite children or not. Plan your day and guests will come if they want to/can.

If it means most of his side of the family wouldn't be able to come, then it is probably a good idea to make an exception here (you never know, they may just find a babysitter though.)

I think it's really rude to have a childfree destination wedding. Sorry.

Only other option to having the children attend is hiring a very reliable babysitter for them.

Who is going to leave their kids with a babysitter in a foreign country that they've never met?

'With that said, if I had children, I would not leave them at home to travel internationally for a wedding. That's a HUGE nope on my end. Literally, they could get into a horrible accident and I could be stranded from them for days because some volcano erupted in Iceland or something.'

OP wouldn't be making the kids stay home while the parents travel overseas (that is the parents decision.) They could come for their holiday to the US but not the wedding. I just don't understand this, 'oh I would never leave my children with a stranger' attitude too. As long as the babysitter is properly checked, vetted and has good references then your child is probably in better hands with this 'stranger' than some relatives!

I'm having a destination wedding. We've just accepted that a few kids will likely be a part of it...there's really no other way around it. When I think about the people who have kids in our group, I would so much rather deal with the kids there than not have them there at all.

'Who is going to leave their kids with a babysitter in a foreign country that they've never met?'

My brother just did for a destination wedding in Hawaii.

We have a lot of international guests, and out-of-town guests in general, and felt it was unfair not to invite their kids. But we're having an evening wedding and made it clear on the website that while the kids were welcome, it's not going to be the most kid-friendly event simply because of the timing. Some of them have decided to leave the kids at home or with sitters for that reason.

I would not do this. Some people will leave their kids home with grandparents or relatives anyway just to reduce the cost and hassle of travel; however, an international wedding is already asking A LOT of guests and I would try not to put up yet another obstacle to people's attendance.

I wouldn't go if you said I couldn't bring my kids. Don't be upset if people don't come because of it. That's a big things to ask people.

I just traveled with a friend, to an international wedding. Toddler stayed home with hubby; went to daycare and grandparents filled in.

Who offers a kids' meal for $15? Ours' would have been half the adult price (half of $175) for 12 and under. 13 and up = full adult rate; no discount for 5 hours of open bar. If 12 and under and wanted an adult meal = full adult rate. The cost to provide a seat - dependent on the number of guests attending/tables required - about $25 p.p. (centerpieces, plain ivory linens, rental décor, chair covers, etc.)