No Politics Please

How does one dictate what you can and cannot talk about? You can't control what people discuss. Its up to the person in the conversation to decide if they do or do not want to partake in a discussion.

Unfortunately there really isn’t a true polite way of asking. It may be not so polite to “restrict” on what your guests talk about. If you’re really adamant about it, I would suggest the website and make it as a “disclaimer” type of thing. You could probably do a cute phrase for it “we’re here to celebrate with you, not to talk about red or blue. Please be mindful of others views”

I'm guessing you're inviting adults so you cant really dictate what they can and cannot speak about...

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I like that. It's cute.

I wouldn’t think you’d have to say this (though you know your guests better than I) — though I’d caution you that saying something will raise intrigue. In my opinion it’s better to leave something like this unsaid because if you’re saying it, people will know there is a divide present and might be looking to make their side known!

most people are not in politics mode at a wedding— instead of focusing on that, make sure they’re occupied! Have great music, great food, and THATS what people will be talking about, if they’re not on the dance floor.

THAT said, seat your guests carefully. The best way to avoid such discussions is to keep instigators separate. We absolutely took this into consideration when we did our seating chart— avoiding putting together two people that could get VERY heated if the wrong subject came up. We had a running joke about who the worst people to sit together would be and how we could make a table that could become a massive fight — but in reality we have those people space ! So they wouldn’t be having conversations at all.

I think it's impossible to dictate what people discuss at weddings. I can almost guarantee our guests are the POLAR opposites of each other politically. We are inviting very conservative people and very liberal people. I'm assuming they will get over it, and act like adults and not discuss it. If they can't, I'll just have our coordinator ask them to leave. You could assign seating and put people apart from each other to avoid that too. I would find it super odd on an invite or website to see anything about what can and can't be discussed.

I agree with PPs that this is something you should not mention. It will draw more negative attention to it. Adults know how to behave themselves at weddings, it isn't your purview to monitor their conversations

Agree with all above, addressing this will make it worse. It’s like saying “don’t think of a purple elephant” well then all you are thinking about is purple elephant. Just make your searing chart very wisely. I’m in the same boat of having very political families on opposing sides of the spectrum and we’ve just been careful about who will be with who.

We have some pretty strong opposing views in our family and I’m happy to say that no one discussed politics at my D’s wedding last July and I don’t expect they will at my next D’s wedding next month. Most adults know not to discuss such things at a wedding.

You don’t. Your guests are adults and they can talk about whatever they want.

Mentioning it is going to have the opposite effect to what you want. It will keep it on people's minds. Most adults know not to bring something like that up at a wedding but those who don't are the kind to ignore your request anyway. Your best option is to seat these people apart from those with opposing views and hope they can all be respectful

If there is someone you're concerned about maybe talk to them or have someone talk to them? The website idea is cute. But if it's like my family very few took the time to read our FAQ page. And certainly the people who think it's OK to bring up politics at a wedding are not the ones reading the site. I think if you put up rules then if someone says jokingly something like... "blah blah blah fake news." other people will say.. "shhhh were not allowed to talk about politics!...." and the people who would talk about it will so it regardless of your request.

I wouldn't say anything at all, unless you fear your family will break out a fist fight. I feel like if you do mention it, people will be more swayed to, but that's just me. If someone tells me not to do something, it makes me want to do it even more, you know? lol

You absolutely cannot dictate what people can and cannot talk about at a wedding or at any event, aside from ensuring nothing inappropriate is spoken into a mic.

You cannot control what people think, discuss, or wear. People will do what they want. If you decide to list what things cannot be discussed you will only bring attention to the fact you do not want it making it forefront in their heads.

You just can't, if politics are brought up in conversation, hopefully you and your FS are so wrapped up in enjoying the moment it won't affect you. I would be pretty upset if someone invited me to their wedding and then put restrictions on what I could say while I was there.

What everyone else says and double down on a thoughtful seating chart. It may be your wedding day but that doesn’t mean you can control your family and friends.

I feel this desire is such a strange trend - controlling their dress, ability to use or bring their personal property like phones, how they intake alcohol and now the topics of conversation. I just don’t get where it came from.

I think that most people know not to talk about politics in a wedding setting. I don't think you really can control what people talk about but maybe you can simply suggest it on the website.

I don't think you can really say what people can and can't talk about. I like the "were here to celebrate with you...." though

So what do you do if you cannot control the seating. I already tried that but my dad made it political, so there can be no seating arrangement at all.