Kids or no kids!!!

We are having a no kids wedding. On our invitations at the bottom we put: We hope you understand our decision to make the wedding children-free, and take the opportunity to let your hair down and celebrate in style!

This is YOUR day. Don't let anyone bully you if you don't want kids there.

I am including kids only because the majority of everyone in my family and my fiancé’s family has kids. My aunt did this years ago and she said no kids no exceptions and her husbands brother wasn’t able to attend since they had a 1 year old. It was really sad and I honestly would never ask anyone to leave their kids at home.
It’s a celebration of two families coming together and I really believe that includes the children as well.
If it’s out of your budget consider trimming down the guest list where it’s possible to include kids ?

We're having a no kids wedding. Our wedding website clearly states "Invited guests only. Please no children." For us it was a decision about the environment we wanted rather than cost. We don't have kids, and while we don't dislike kids, they are a lot of work, require time and attention, and don't necessarily understand the etiquette of weddings, and we just didn't want them at our ceremony or reception. When I have been to weddings where young children are invited, their parents or other adults spend a large part of the night care taking instead of enjoying themselves, and the children can often distract from other events, and that wasn't something we wanted.

We only have a handful of invited guests with young children, and those we have spoke to are looking forward to a kid free night. So far we have not heard from anyone that they are unable to attend because they cannot find suitable childcare for the evening.

Maybe I am fortunate. I did not care kids or not. But we arranged for someone to watch the kids and at the venue they have a movie theater and things so they will watch movies eat food and also allowed be kids and play as the people I hired to watch do a good job at it. This way if they wish to bring the kid they can a few are leaving kids with family and coming so it’s ok

We had a kid free wedding and it was the best decision we made!

I agree! No kids is the way to go. Not everyone can enjoy themselves because kids are either running around or their parents have to be watching them(Hopefully). If people get upset because they can't take their children then that is really not something I wouldn't worry about. If people want to attend your wedding then they will make an effort to find a babysitter for the night especially if they are given enough time in advance to find one. In some cases, I actually know people who will hire a babysitter for the night of the wedding to take care of the children in a room in the venue so the parents can have a piece of mind knowing where their children are and can go check on how they are doing. I am not having any children at our wedding except the flower girls and our ring bearer. Their parents are responsible enough to be able to take care of them and keep an eye on them.

Typically anyone under 21 will pay a much lower drink fee since they can't drink liquor and typically the kids meal is way cheaper too. We invited kids and it was totally fine.

It is your day, so I vote do whatever you want to do! I don't think it will piss people off. A lot of couples I know usually use weddings as a date night/night out anyway, so most people may not even want to bring their kids.
As PP have said, I would put something along the lines of "adult only reception" on your invites or make sure you address the envelopes as "mr. & mrs. ___" & maybe the RSVP cards saying "We have reserved ___ seats in your honor" that way there is no confusion. We will have a few younger children (12+ & family only) so I plan on doing RSVP cards with the reserved seats. Also, as another poster said, if they're pissed & don't come because they couldn't bring their child (which I personally have never met a person who has acted this way, though I'm sure they're out there), then they save you money by RSVPing no!
Either way you go, best of luck & I hope it works out!!

After weighing the pros and cons my fiance and I decided to have a no kids ceremony and reception. It's yout wedding and as great as children are their presence can distract from their parents actually fully enjoying themselves at an wonderful get together. Maybe to ease your nerves don't assume people will just be pissed about. Do what will make you the happiest!

We are inviting our nieces and nephews only.


If we invite other children it will increase our guest list by over 50. Our reception venue has limited space and we couldn’t possibly invite that many additional people.

We’re not doing kids, if people get mad and dont want to come then oh well that’s just less plates to pay for lol

We are choosing to have an adults only wedding.

It was a decision we made after many discussions and talking with a number of our friends/family who have kids. Most people were excited to have an adult night/kid free night. I will tell you that yes some people will not be happy about the no kids and may not attend because of it. But you are paying for this day, and it is your day so if you want to have no kids then go for it.

We have had a few family decide not to come because they don't want to be away from their kids. Some are very nice and respect our choice to have a no kids wedding and there were a few that were kinda nasty about it, but we stuck to our decision and our folks backed us up.

View Quoted Comment

Lol this is where me and my FH were by the end of our rsvp call list.

View Quoted Comment I agree completely! I want people I love and who love me to be there and that includes kids. Of our guests 1/4 of them are kids (ages 15 to baby).

If I didn't have a kid, I wouldn't be inviting kids to our wedding. People can get mad. They're not the ones paying for it. It's not their day.

Also..in my experience, weddings aren't the best place for children to be. Especially if there is alcohol being served. A night out on occasion without the kids can be nice.

We just wrote "no children will be attending the ceremony or reception". Or something like that.

OK, so what do you do when you have two, bridesmaids who are big teenagers, and a flower girl who is 11yrs old in the wedding? I just can't say no kids are invited. But then again they can be excused to their hotel room after pictures and they have dinner maybe, idono.

Since our venue let's us bring our own food, we are buying pizzas for the kids, which we are expecting about 30 kids. Otherwise, maybe setting up a daycare center for the adults to bring their kids to might be a good idea. It might limit a lot of adults if they can't bring their kids, however, with long enough notice, I don't think it is out of the question to ask for no kids, especially if the children aren't related in any way. I couldn't say no kids because all of the children attending are nieces and nephews.

You can just make it 16+ on up. And for really close family/friends you can make some exceptions.