No Children Allowed??

I put it on the website

It is not harsh at all. We are having a non-offspring, over 21 only wedding reception.

Normally, ettiquette states that it should not be put on the invitations. There are two ways your guests should know who is actually invited, by the names addressed on the outside of the invitation envelope, and by the names written on the inside envelope. You can also phrase your RSVP cards to indicate the number of guests.

"We have reserved 2 seats in your honor. ___ We will _____We will not attend

Even doing all of that you are still going to get rude people, I would spread it by word of mouth and spell it out in detail on your website.

Good luck!

I had same problem...see below comments and hope it help.

https://www.weddingwire.com/community/UserContentView?area=3&cid=58573ac38c2412a4&page=1&action=showContent

I would stipulate on the invite "Adult's only reception", but be prepared for some to either disagree (and call you or your family about it) or not read it and assume they can bring the kids. You may get RSVPs that you sent to the 2 adults with them marking 3 will be attending (which would include their little angle). If you have a solid reason (such as this is a rule of the venue, which can be a tiny fib) it is much harder for people to protest. If you search this topic on WW you will see that many have discussed and provided other suggestions.

Great thanks for your suggestions Wish me luck

We put this language on our website: Please note that (venue) is licensed as a tavern. As such, all guests must be 21 or over and should bring ID. While children are a joy and a blessing, we will unfortunately be unable to accommodate them at the reception. If you are coming from out of town, please contact Shannon and Brandon for babysitting recommendations.

You also have to be REALLY proactive in spreading the word. Make sure everyone you hear from regularly knows about this in advance, so they don't assume they can bring the kiddos and then be disabused of the notion.

On the invite… "adult reception to follow the ceremony"

and don't be afraid to call your guests with kids to make sure they understand your wishes. Tell them that you'd rather they have a fun date night out celebrating your wedding instead of spending the time watching their kids. This is a perfect excuse for a babysitter.

We are not having kids either except for children of immediate family and wedding party (so max of 5 kids). We are just addressing the invites to who is actually invited. When people RSVP incorrectly, FS and I agreed we will just them. He will call his friends/family and I'll call mine. We plan to say we are really sorry but our venue is small and they count all children in final headcount for capacity so we are just unable to fit them. I kinda get off easy though because I only have 1 friend/family that is not in the wedding that has kids. They are all on FS's side

You really shouldn't put anything about children not being invited on your actual invitations. The invitations are for letting people know who IS invited - not who ISN'T invited.

The best way to handle this is to address the invitations to those who are invited (ex: Mr. and Mrs. Smith not The Smith Family). Be prepared to call people who RSVP with their children. I had to do it. It wasn't my favorite thing but I found everyone I had to call very understanding.

Word of mouth and the wedding website are also ways to spread the word.

I am doing the same thing. I have put NO CHILDREN UNDER 16 on my invitation and RSVP card and I have put it on the website. They just need to understand. Believe me, they will get over it. Just don't second guess yourself.

We are also having an adults only reception and I have been wondering how to handle this myself. I have read going as far as to putting the specific names on the response card so:

Mr Oaks __will attend __will not attend

Mrs Oaks __ will attend __ will not attend

I personally do not feel it is offensive to just state that it is an adult reception and I have had quite a few invites that had this kind of wording on it. I was afraid to tell my FHs family that we were not going to have kids at the ceremony or reception (only inviting 100 people and even just our families kids add up quick!) but they were all relieved to be able to just relax and enjoy the evening without worrying about chasing their kids around all night....whew!

We are doing an adults only wedding. The only excpetion is the immediate family members who are coming from states away to our wedding...and the kids in the wedding.. this is how I look at it and I know to some it is harsh but I am paying for the wedding= they are not. If someone is upset that they can not bring their 8 year old daughter then they need to understand that it is my wedding. Also, those who do throw the biggest fit about it are probably the ones who will not even be watching their kids at the reception to make sure they do not break the $200 bottle of wine in the other room on the wine rack. I was just at a wedding where the kids were "sword fighting" with the knifes on the table while the parents were getting wasted at the bar across the room. I also saw 2 kids throwing food at each other with the parents right there.. sorry that is not the place. I am hoping to not receive too many calls about it but it sounds harsh but its my wedding and Im paying for it myself

Also I would suggest putting it on the RSVP not the invitation. on the bottom right we are putting "adults only please"

We put "adult reception following ceremony" on the RSVP and on our website!

I didn't put "adults only" on the invite, but on the directions & info card referred guests to our wedding website for more information. Invites will never say "and family" and on the RSVP card I added a "___ seats have been reserved in your honour", which I will,of course, pre-fill.

On the reception tab of our website it says, "A seated, adults only reception will follow." On the Guest Information tab, #2 says: "Children: Due to space constraints, we regret to inform you that we will be unable to accomodate any children under age fifteen for either the ceremony or the reception. However, we would be happy to provide you with a list of independent childcare professionals located near New Paltz."