Kids at Your Wedding

I definitely shared by mouth when I talked to our couple friends that have kids that it would be adults only. And I plan on posting on our website regarding that as well. I’m the kind of person who wouldn’t be able to focus on and enjoy the day if there were kids around because I’d be constantly watching and worrying about them. (I teach in an elementary school, can you tell?)


Our friends didn’t have any problem with it being adults only because they are viewing it like a date night. We only have a few folks coming from out of state that it might cause an issue with, but if you give people enough notice they can make arrangements.

We are also having an adult only wedding. In addition to only addressing the invitations to the adults in the household, we had detail cards made that we will include in the envelopes with our wedding invitations. (our detail cards include information such as hotels, transportation, our wedding website, and the fact that our wedding will be strictly for guests ages 21+ ) I would also mention it on your wedding website.
Side note (because it always seems to come up): adult only weddings have become quite popular in recent years, so don’t let people guilt you into feeling bad about your decision!

I had kids at my reception but not ceremony.

The only children invited to our wedding were our three nieces. We didn't mention who wasn't invited on our invitations, nor do I find that appropriate. We addressed the invitation to who was invited ("Mr. and Mrs. Smith" instead of "The Smith Family.") We specified how many seats we reserved for each household on our RSVP cards. We mentioned it in the FAQ on our wedding website as well.

I put at the bottom of RSVP cards “adults-only celebration”

View Quoted Comment Leanne, this is a great idea also! In case the family fails to notice the invitation was not addressed to their children (because, honestly, I don’t think most people would pick up on that subtle hint), and also failed to notice it on the details card, or perhaps don’t visit the wedding website... this would ensure a last line of defense. I would probably put it in bold right under where they have to RSVP to make sure they don’t look over it! I know some people think it is rude, in poor taste, bad etiquette, etc., but there are really zero rules to how you handle your invitations. Personally, I would opt for the option that makes it incredibly clear to parents that their children are not invited – I would much rather risk ”poor etiquette“ on my invitations, than to put parents in an awkward situation when they arrive with their children to an event that their children are not invited to. How embarrassing for them! I am sure they will be much more offended by that, than by you clearly warning them ahead of time on your invitation. I would say read your crowd. You know them better than anyone. And do whatever option you feel is necessary to convey your point and avoid potentially embarrassing situations for all of you.

We addressed the invitations specifically to who we wanted to invite. We also included only x number of seats have been reserved in your honor which made it clear exactly how many people we were inviting. We included a FAQ page on our wedding website and one of the questions was are children invited and we said while we love everyone's children we have requested that it be an adults only event. The children in our wedding was the only exception.

We are doing an adult only with the exception of the kids in the wedding. We are putting on the rsvps, that it will be an adult only wedding. I think a lot of people expect it to be adults only. Anytime I've gone to weddings that were adults only they just put it on the rsvp stating either adult only reception or I've seen 21 and older reception.

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You need to be transparent so I would say in the invite or the RSVP card because even brides on here who did not state that but addressed the cards specifically to the couple, couples assumed in their RSVP reply they could include their kids. While it is nice to not have to be up front some people will try to bend the rules in their favor. Nothing wrong with an adults only wedding what so ever. I would make it clear on the invite that it is an adults only celebration.

We are also having an adult only wedding. Our wedding starts at 6:00 pm and it's a Black Tie Event. I didn't specify no kids allowed on our save the date but I'm using a website that does electronic save the dates and invitations so when I send out the invitation and they RSVP they will only be able to RSVP and make a meal selection for themselves the website doesn't allow for attendees to add a guest and select a meal choice for them.

Our invites and wedding website will say “Adult Only Occasion.” My FH has a daughter who will be 12, and I have twin god-daughters who will be 11 who are in the wedding. They are the only kids we’re having. They’re old enough to not need constant supervision. And they’re close in age so they can entertain each other.

In my family, wedding invitations are for the entire family. You would be barred from future events if you didn't invite them. Lucky for them, everyone is well behaved.


Kids do not cost that much extra at the end of the day. Kids' meals and drinks are dirt cheap. It's when you start bringing in babysitters may not want to use and other activities that the price adds up.

We are, but kids make up a lot of my family (oldest grandchild on both sides of my family).

View Quoted Comment True they don't cost much, however not everyone has kids who are well behaved and even if they are pretty well behaved, weddings can be like an all day event. And with something that long even good kids can get out of hand at times. A lot of parents know that more than likely kids won't be able to attend weddings and are perfectly ok with that. Some parents actually are glad when it's adults only cause it's really the only time they can go out without the kids. I haven't ever gone to a wedding that allowed kids. And my wedding won't be no different. Adults only and if parents don't like it well all I can say is oh well it's my wedding and with the money my fiance and I are paying I'm not catering to anyone.

View Quoted Comment I don’t have an issue with this as long as there are truly no kids at the wedding. But I’ve often seen people say this and then say “the only kids are XYZ”. That isn’t an adult only celebration and I think this is what leads to problems and hurt feelings. Don’t mention it on the invitations until it truly is adult only (although even then I wouldn’t mention it in invites). It can certainly be addressed on your website that due to space and cost only kids on the wedding party will be in attendance.
Our guest list is so small we were able to directly reach out to our friends and let them know we aren’t able to include their children. They were all very understanding.

View Quoted Comment Our venue as a maximum that we would exceed if we include friends’ kids and the meal for them is the same as the adults. So the cost is quite a lot actually and this is the case for most wedding venues and caterers. They don’t differentiate between kids and adults. A butt is a butt.

Like you, we only included the children who were actually in our wedding (our nieces were flower girls). The rest was adults only. We simply addressed the invitations to the names of the people who were invited

We Will Only Have Our 2 Sons, My 2 Nieces, And My Bridesmaids 2 Kids. I Put On Our Wedding Website That It Is Adults Only.

We expressed that we’re hosting an adult ceremony and reception on our STD card, website, word of mouth and it will be listed on our invitation.

We just made sure our wedding invites said “adult only reception following ceremony”