Rsvp/children

No children please. RSVP is mandatory for entry.

No sugar coated way to put it really... LOL

Either on the invite or an insert put Adults only. On my website I have a FAQ page and it says that they have to RSVP to enter.

Adult Reception

If you have a website you can add more info. However be prepared because there are always a few that may think their child/children is an exception.

Be sure to follow up with those that Don't rsvp.

They might have never received the invite, they might have sent the rsvp back and it got lost in the mail, they might have lost it. Don't just write them off if you don't hear from them. Be polite and reach out to those you don't hear from.

I'm with Hayley, if they don't RSVP give a polite phone call and see, anything can happen! Mail gets stuck to other mail, I even had a letter lost for months and it showed up...with a foot print on it, fell on the mail room floor. So you never know!

If they ask about the kids, just be frank, adults only please.

Best of luck! (o:

I'd write on the envelope Mr and Mrs smith. Not the smith family to prevent kids from coming. And in the invitation or on a slip inside, "RSVP by "X" date please, or your seats will not be reserved. Thank you" or "so seats can be reserved in your name(s)."

Start letting people know it's no kids in passing. I talked to most of the families about it being no kids well before hand, I had an FAQ on my wedding website saying we couldn't accommodate children, my invitation said "Adult Reception" and guests had to RSVP on the website, where no children were listed. Still had a kid at my wedding (well behaved, thank goodness, and only the one, but that'll be fun to explain to the other cousins with kids at Christmas.)

And like others said, make your RSVP date early enough that you can check in on people. Mail has gotten lost in the past, and if they sent in the RSVP but you didn't get it, you'll risk relationships for no good reason. Simply call to let them know you haven't heard from them, give them another deadline, and after that deadline, follow up again to let them know you'll miss them at the wedding since you haven't heard from them (if you don't hear from people.)

Great question! We aren't inviting children to the reception either. In line with what most folks have already said, you'll need to take a "layered" approach.

1. Word of Mouth - not sure how feasible it is to verbally speak with everyone, so if you can't, then try to hit the "key" family members on both side who you can be sure will help spread the message.

2. The phrase I am using on our website is, "The Adult Only Reception is by Invitation Only and requires that you RSVP by February 4, 2013." I also noted that Attendants would be checking names from the RSVPd Guest List for entrance into the reception.

3. We were able to customize our invitations (MIDesigns @Michaels) so I also put "Adult Only Reception to Follow. RSVP Required to Attend."

4. We also customized the matching RSVP cards... we asked guests to RSVP by February 4th, then underneat in our accent color, I again stated - "RSVP by deadline is REQUIRED to attend reception."

I hope this helps!

One last thing...

5. On our RSVP cards, we also added "___ Seats Have Been Reserved in Your Honor"

We'll actually fill in the number of seats for each invitation, so if they are a family of 4, for example, 2 adults and 2 children...they will know they only have TWO seats. Helps to drive home the message a little more.

Ok - that's really it.

My insert says "while children are a blessing and a joy, we kindly request an adult ceremony and reception." On our reply cards I put "2 seats are reserved in your honor" with their name printed on it.

I tried doing it the nice way and putting it on the website...that apparantly no one read. I even did the RSVP on the website that only gave 2 spaces for couples....and when I got to my reception there were 7 kids! I had no idea who most of them were! I'd go with the insert in the invitation and a phone call.

I know what you mean. FH has a lot of little cousins so we made our cut off 14. I put on the RSVP card, Adults only. I have a feeling we may get a little heat for it but hey, we are paying for it not them.

Those of you doing the seats numbers reserved, I suggest making it "We have reserved ___ adult seats in your honor." Like I, even with telling family, putting it on the website, and on the invitations, I still had a kid at my wedding, so emphasize, emphasize, emphasize that point.

We are doing the old " Two seats have been reserved in your honor; ___ out of 2 will be attending.

We are also using word of mouth to make sure people get it through their heads their kids are not invited and if they bring them, there will be no place for them to sit.

As far as RSVP - ing, are you having a set menu? Just tell people they need to RSVP to eat - they'll send it back in, pronto. One of my BM's did that when she got married and it worked! It said something like:

"Your RSVP is required to secure your choice of meal for the evening. Please check the main course you would prefer below" or something like that.

She got ALL 123 RSVP's back.

You guys have been very helpful. I started doing a wedding website but ended up not finishing it because none of our families will look at it and it would be a waste of time. But you guys have given me many options to choose from and I will be using them. I think we will do an insert with the invitations and put how many seats or reserved for the families, I will use the dish idea by having them choose what entree that want so hopefully that will get us the RSVPs back..lol Thanks ladies you all have been really helpful so now I'm not as stressed as I was anymore

Oh and we were already planning on contacting those who don't RSVP by the date so that no one would have an excuse for the reason why they did not respond on time, and will be doing word of mouth to.

Our website says something like, "For the safety and comfort of all, we ask that the ceremony and reception be adults-only." Safety and comfort because it's open bar and next to a lake!

*Adult only reception

simple and to the point!

Simple isn't necessarily to the point, as a few of us have tried that (and more) and still had children at our wedding. I also tried to have an unplugged ceremony (no cameras other than the pro photog/videographer) -- this was on my website, written on the program, and on signs at the entrances to the ceremony. Still had at least 5 cameras pointed at me as I walked down with my father.

Simple isn't that simple. If I could have, I would have spoken with each guest with children individually. Wasn't possible for me, just a heads up that you really, really, really can't rely on simple (or people reading a website or the invite or being told by someone else in the family) if you REALLY don't want kids there. It's better to make a bunch of phone calls than to turn away families at the door -- that will do real damage to a relationship.

I feel like if it's written everywhere possible on the invite, phone calls, word of mouth than people have no choice but to know and respect it. By ignoring my wishes I believe you are chosing to do "real damage" to our relationship. And I don't mind people taking pictures at the wedding, it's come to be a norm for most people and it won't bother me. But we are making it possible for people to bring their children to the engagement party and not the wedding/reception and I think thats fair. I will have no problem with my hostess/attendants turning people away at the door. We have a set budget for our wedding and if it includes alot of kids then we go over our budget which I'm not willing to do. Parents are going to be to busy trying to drink and have fun at a reception and will not be worrying about their kids running around. SAFTEY AND MONITORING is an issue for me and as a teacher/parent I believe it's a parent responsiblilty to watch their kids. I NEVER take my children to a wedding