Vent - Kids at Rehearsal Dinner

I have 3 kids, 9, 7 and 14 months.. I would not be okay with a stranger baby sitting them .. especially not my baby .. also my kids never act like animals and run a muck In a restaurant.. I don't think your giving the toddlers much credit or the parents

It doesn't matter why he went from Yes to Maybe. One of the risks you take when you choose not to include children, is that some parents will decline. Don't make it into a bigger deal than it needs to be. Accepting or declining an invitation is not a measure of her regard for you.

That's what i am saying Richard. It's a little strange.

I can understand why you would feel disappointed by anyone not being able to make your RD but it was not cool to call them out in front of a FB group -- especially because you insinuated that $ could be the issue, which is embarrassing for anyone even if it's not. Totally within etiquette to not have children, even if it is a little odd compared to your reception, but If they don't want to leave their kids, you need to accept that decision.

I'm not a parent, but if I were, I would try really hard for childcare for a wedding if it was adults only to be there to celebrate with friends and family in they way they want. For a rehearsal dinner though, unless childcare (that I was comfortable with) just happened to be easy to come by, I wouldn't put much effort into finding any for that. The wedding is the celebration. The rehearsal dinner is just practice, you aren't really celebrating anything. So it would be the same to me as a friend saying "oh hey we all want to go to a fancy dinner Friday night, wanna come adults only?" That would likely be a pass for me, if I were a parent. I see little reason for it unless it's something I really want to celebrate with only adults.

I do know the kids, and I know they will run around. The dinner location was included in the invitation, so she would know there's nowhere onsite for childcare. It's not a formal dinner, just nice. It's one of those restaurants where they cook the food in front of you with lots of show and fire. It's a special place for us and where my fiance wants to host the dinner.

Yeah, sorry, not leaving my kid with a babysitter I don't know.

That's totally fine to want your dinner there, and even to want it without kids. You do what you want. But your friend is allowed to do what she wants too. In no way can you be upset if they don't come because they don't want to leave their kids. It's their choice that they don't find that event worth a babysitter or literally can't find a babysitter they trust then, so it's not an option.

And as a kid I LOVED those places. They were entertaining.

I think the people who hire a babysitter will be upset if they see kids there but that's just me

Thanks to everyone for your feedback. You're right that I shouldn't be upset. I guess I'm just really anxious about the wedding and this was the thing that made me lose it, albeit unjustifiably.