Reception: Pros & Cons

Have you tried a search on this site? There are hundreds of threads with great information pro and con.

Pro- no whiney 2 and 3 year olds running around the reception

Pros to having it child free is less $$ more room for more adults that you want there. No fear of having young children being annoying and having meltdowns because they're tired. Guests not having to leave early because their toddlers are tired and crabby. Cons are some guests won't attend if they can't bring their children with them. For me personally, I love kids and i want them there because they are family and I think they make things more fun. However I have children myself. I want my kids there of course, so it doesn't make any sense for me to exclude guests children.

I'm #teamnokids. I've been interning this Summer with a wedding planning company and the children that attend these events are tiny, one-volume terrorists. They scream as soon as the attention is no longer on them, and the ones who were over toddler stage acted like spoiled brats the entire time. Left their shoes/accessories in the middle of the reception aisle, trashed their table, took apart centerpieces, ran on the stage amongst thousands of dollars of band equipment. No thanks.

Etiquette-wise you should either allow kids at both the ceremony and reception or not invite kids to either. You can also invite in circles (family, immediate family, and/or just wedding party only). It's really a question of what kind of wedding you want to have. Also, you may want to consider whether having a child-free wedding will create tension or added stress because you will receive backlash from friends and family that is not worth the wedding being child-free. We decided to have a child-free wedding, but we had three kids in our wedding party who of course were invited to the reception. All three were also immediate family. I do not regret this decision (especially since our venue was not child-friendly), but my husband does regret it because the decision was not well-received by some of his friends and family. My friends and family were completely understanding and supportive of our decision; children generally are not invited to weddings in my social circle in contrast to my husband's.

I'm not planning children at my ceremony or reception. The last wedding I was at, there was a fussy toddler during the vows, and another screaming while FOB was giving his speech.

We aren't having kids at ours due to cost. It's the same amount PP for an adult as it is for a child, so no we can't do that. I wish we could have them there but it'll be nice to let parents have a night to themselves our venue lets us rent out a wine cellar with a TV and snacks and what not if we hired someone to babysit the kids in the room, but it cost 300 to rent the wine cellar so once again, no thank you.

but- if you're having a destination wedding or a wedding that's more than an hour from where most people live it might be harder for parents to come. Most of our family lives within 45 minutes of the venue, so it's fine. But it just depends. If they're traveling and have to spend the night where your wedding is, I think you need to invite the kiddos.

It's individual. There would be no pros for me and all cons, so we included kids.

I mean, it's really whatever you want.

I had kids at mine and had no issues with tantrums or whining or crying during ceremony. But, not all kids are created equal. We also had children's meals that were significantly cheaper than our adult plates. And they entertained themselves with the photobooth props.

But, I also did a daytime event. I don't know if I would want children at an evening wedding?

Would there be a lot of children? That is something that could affect your budget! Are you close with the children you would be inviting? I'm only inviting my and my FH nieces and nephews that are in the wedding. Other than that, no other kids

Thank you so much for all your perspectives. My family and close family friends have a lot of children, which is my problem. I'd like to think I could have a child free reception, but that might mean a lot of my family and family friends missing out. I'm also concerned that they wouldn't be able to find childcare or that it'd be a hassle for them to have to look for care. At this moment, there are 37 kids that would be attending and if it's child free that'll bring the guest list down to around 120. Idk what to do!

I feel you. We're going kid free because that would up the guest list by a lot and I'm not down for paying for entertainment for kids and tweens. I'm in the camp of if you get enough time in advance and want to come you'll find a sitter.

We are having kids but there are only a total of 7 people under the age of 18 attending the wedding so for us it wasn't allot to allow kids. There will also be lots of grandparents around to take them back upstairs to their hotel room.

Pro - all the gangster rap you want. / Con - I have none.

In all seriousness, if you don't want children at your wedding, don't have them there.

I am always on team no kids. Have your guests who are parents never left the house? With enough notice, they find a sitter. That is their responsibility; it's not yours to accommodate them unless you want to.

Most weddings are not designed with kids' attention spans in mind, nor should they be, and it seems like people who decide to invite them spend an inordinate amount of time trying to plan for them with varying degrees of success....

I think only you can answer this. we think kids at weddings are cute and funny, so we included them. some people think they are annoying and disruptive. we aren't planning anything special for the kids. some parents are bringing them; others got babysitters. do whatever you think is best!

We're having no one under

16. We have a 3yr old. The children in the ceremony are allowed to eat at the dinner, then we have a sitter for them and a room at the hotel.

21 and up, like almost all 24 of the weddings we've been invited to. We have a toddler now, who turns into a miniature version of the girl from the "Exorcist"," if she's not in bed by 8:30. Like every wedding we've attended, ours was in the evening and lasted until 11:30 PM. If we took her to a wedding and left to get her home and to bed, we'd miss the entrée and dessert courses, the after dinner food, 3 hours of open bar and dancing. No way.

We invited 250 adults and 225 attended. One couple boycotted, because their kids weren't invited. Another couple couldn't find a babysitter, given 10 months notice. Our venue charged the full adult rate $$$+ for all guests 13 and over and those 12 and under, who wanted an adult entrée. Kids meals were half price, but it was still and additional $25 to provide each guest a seat (chair covers, rental linens, rental décor, centerpieces, etc.)

37 kids?! Honestly I would not want to attend a wedding with 37 kids running around. I think it depends on the style, time of day, and overall feel of your reception. Formal late night affairs with lots of dancing IMO don't mix well with children getting under foot. Outside backyard BBQ casual affair during the day, bring on the kids. In the end it's totally up to you and you shouldn't feel guilty one way or another.

I guess it is up to you, ours has kids but that is because without kids would cause alot of people to not show up that we want there.

so for us it was Pro childless: We have to pay full price on dinner for kids because our caterer didn't have a different price for kids so it would be way cheaper

Con: You may loose people on your list that you want there because babysitters are hard to find, like alot of people ask there parents who will be at the wedding so its hard