Reception: Pros & Cons

We are inviting kiddos but so far most of those families seem to be finding sitters. I think I'm most nervous about my soon to be BIL because both him and his wife are in our BP so will sit at bridal table and they have 2 daughters under the age of 2... but I've never really had any problems at weddings that had kids. Just make sure the families know that the kids need to be taken care of and know what is and isn't ok to do.

@ Dreamer - I love your honesty.....

I decided to put an age limit on mine. I'm not having any children under 8. I want everyone to have a good time. There's no children in the wedding party either so it does make this easier.

I don't think there are any cons.

Pros:

Less money

No children running around

No crying children because they are bored as all hell

No kids

I am inviting some families with kids. My 8 year old wants to have a table that she is in charge of for kid activities. We will provide some crayons, coloring books, stickers, a few board games, etc

Team no kids. They are loud, smell bad and uncontrollable and their parents act like everyone there loves kids as much as they do. No kids all the way!

I've only been to one reception that was kid-free. FH talked about not having kids at our wedding; but that was a no-go for me :o We compromised that to save the guest list, we'd have family kids; but no friend kids attend. Our reception will end by 10:30pm.

I get why some would choose not to invite kids though.

Lots of events are child friendly. My wedding will not be.

If you can't imagine your wedding without small children, this isn't the post for you. If you can't imagine your wedding with small children, read on.

Children enjoy a six hour, formal wedding ceremony/reception about as much as an adult enjoys a five year old's birthday party (key word: endurance -- and you can add a plastered happy face -- after 40 minutes -- for all the pics that will end up on social media).

I do not believe children belong at expensive four/five hour events that don't include puppeteers, craft hours, snack time, video time,balloons, and nap time. I think adult events -- and that means beautifully set tables with escort cards, stemmed glassware, well dressed servers, pretty centerpieces, lit candles, alcohol, adult music, dancing, etc -- belong to adults. I know, there will be those who say they cannot imagine their receptions without children. Fine, host children...but not everyone shares that vision, and that is their absolute right.

I've said this at least one hundred times on this forum: When I was a young mother with children, I opened an invitation and realized, immediately, that he and I were being invited to an adult affair that I would look forward to from that moment on. I relished the thought of dressing up, having dinner and drinks, dancing, and socializing as a woman -- not as a mother. Yes, I would find a trusted babysitter, and if I couldn't, I would check "regretfully reclines" with the most sincere regret I could muster.

Having children is one of the most amazing things I've done in my life. Were there sacrifices? Of course. Were some of them social? Of course. But that passes -- exactly the way time passes. Five weeks from now, my son won't be the kid who isn't invited to the wedding -- he'll be the man hosting the wedding with his future wife.

Understanding the vision and personal preference of the couple falls under the category of being and adult (and a parent).. You accept the invitation as extended, and you either find cute outfits for the kids (because they're invited) or you find a qualified, trusted sitter (and if you can't, you decline). You don't visit, "But I'm a mom" on your hosts -- any more than you would if you were invited by the CEO of either of your employers to an important black tie event that obviously precluded children (an event you wouldn't even consider bringing your children to).

This new practice of randomly adding your children to an RSVP that clearly doesn't include them? I'm searching for the word...

I'm having a completely child-free wedding! We are having my lovely grandma as our flower girl and my grandpop as our ring bearer. We chose this after numerous children playing a negative role in weddings, showers, and big family events. At one of my cousin's weddings my second cousin (7 years old) pulled the tablecloth on the cake table to get a taste of the icing and needless to say the cake toppled onto the kid and it was ruined. My oldest cousins wedding my cousin was trying to get a cute picture with another of my 2nd cousins as the flower girl (3 years old) sitting on her dress and playing). The little girl got nervous from so many people and pictures and wet herself which ruined the wedding dress and the little girl was so sad thinking she ruined the wedding (everyone made sure she knew she didn't).

I wasn't going to risk this. We are playing explicit music and our reception is going until midnight! I'd rather less stress of something crazy happening.

Im having kids at my wedding there is like 42 kids under the age of 18 attending . It is mostly family tho . I couldn't imagine my wedding with no kids but I get what some are saying

@Rachel...there is a difference from inviting kids vs guests just adding them to an RSVP.

I think having kids, especially non-family kids, will make your seating more difficult. PLEASE dont put me at a table with a couple with 4 kids. I am not a babysitter.

I will be having children at mine, but kids under 4 are free and 5-12 are 1/2 price. I've already had 2 people tell me that while they appreciate the ability to bring them they don't want to lmao. If they live close enough or have family they can leave the kids with they may opt to not bring them anyway. I love kids and the cute pics you see of them at weddings. Plus my almost 13 year old daughter wants to be the wedding sitter at the reception (and she's good at it)

Our wedding is a time to celebrate with our family. That includes kids! We have kids so this is just as much their7 day as it is ours. We will be playing some trolls songs and providing glow sticks for the little ones. Let's party!!!

The word you're looking for is rude.

We're not having kids at ours, i just don't want little kids taking over the dance floor, also, some parents don't want their kids around people who are drinking and were going to have a full, open bar. I think people can find sitters, they'll have plenty of notice and I know alot of parents also see it as a date night and enjoy being kid free for the evening

We were planning to invite the one kid in our circle, but her mom has already told me that she'd rather leave the little one at home and not have to fly with her, so I get my child-free wedding. (That was my preference, but I didn't want to inconvenience our friends by excluding their kiddo)

I'm having my FH's adopted sister, who will be 6, in my ceremony as my flower girl, but not at the reception because she'll be the only kid there! No kids for mine, or else we'll be paying an extra, like, $2000+ on them alone...so that's a big nope!

It's no secret that I don't really like kids, so the only "kids" will be my FH's neice and nephew who will be 12 and 14 by then. My cousins' kids are holy terrors. No thank you!

Pros: Some people like kids and they can be cute.

Cons: 37 kids!