Wedding guests with kids

Hmm that’s a tough one. Our daughter is 4.5 (flower girl) and then we are only having nephews (age 13,8) and nieces (age 3,5) other than that we are not having any other children at our wedding..

View Quoted Comment We originally were only going to do my FH niece and nephews but I just don’t know what to do about the rest of children in our extended families.

Stick to your guns if you don’t want kids at your wedding. Just be prepared to get some declines from guests who won’t come without their children.

I think that’s tough. As much as it sucks, kids to me are an all or nothing thing. Unless they are in the wedding or your own kids, then it’s not fair to pick and choose who can bring their kids. An option for the ones from out of town would be to find a few people to babysit them all close by. It could be a touchy subject, but it’s your day.

We are having kids in our family only and having no kids for guests. We made it clear on the website and also will send RSVP with __ out of 2 seats reserved wording.

We are not providing babysitting services, I think most will make their own arrangements or decline the invitation.

I just have so many friends with toddlers and I can't have them running around my wedding! The only toddler invited is my nephew.

It really needs to be all kids or no kids (infants and kids in the wedding party are the exception) or the inconsistency could lead to drama or hurt feelings.

Same situation here. Majority of wedding guests are family coming in from out of state, and they are bringing their kids. I really wanted everyone to have fun, and to me that means family members catching up and the adults having fun and taking a drink and not having to parent all night.


Ao I am reserving a separate room to be used as the “kids room”. Kids food will be served in there. And we will have pack n plays set up and an area set up for kids to be put down to sleep. Movies will be played. Etc etc. The idea is: kids can come party with us if they are escorted be their parents. Otherwise parents are free to check on their kids, put them down to sleep, and let them be until the party is over. My cousin had a kids room at her wedding too and she was able to afford a magician and a huge team of babysitters. I will have 2 babysitters but I can’t pay for them so will ask guests to pay $15 per kid. Out of town guests would have to get a sitter anyway but this makes it easier for them. I dunno how you feel about all of this (personally I really want to pay for the sitters at our event; I’m still not comfortable asking people to pay) but just wanted to share what we are doing.

View Quoted Comment Um THAT is awesome !! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 Great idea!! We are lucky we had it easy just saying my two nephews and his two nieces and obv our daughter lol other than that no kids

Plus my nephews will be 14 and 10 by our wedding so they kind of just do their own thing and the three girls (nieces and our daughter will be 4,7,6 age)

We're having a destination beach wedding. Everyone is traveling to be there so we welcomed their kids too. We've also rented a "kids room" for the wedding

My two nephews and goddaughter is in the wedding. I’m also inviting my niece because that’s my niece. Outside of that only children 16 and older are invited. We’re not providing baby sitters and are understanding if people choose not to make arrangements and therefore, won’t come. Kids do not need to be at everything.

Honestly (just my opinion) i feel you can't do this. if you invite some you have to invite all. granted this decision was right for us because we have children. Chances are most people will opt out of bringing them. I did have quite a few kids but to be honest a lot of our guests didn't bring them. The ones that did thanked us tremendously because it was easier (and a lot of them have fun together). I purchased glow sticks, coloring books and crayons from the dollar store. although most of them were occupied with dancing or the photo booth and props lol

I will not be having certain children at my wedding and I have no guilt about it. My side of the family is very large with many children below the age of 5 whereas the children on my fiance's side are ages 8+. While this is not a large age gap, we had to make the call as to who we were going to cut from the guest list since my venue has a max capacity. I am also having a plated meal and do not want to spend $22 on a plate for a 2-year-old.....

This being said, we are simply putting "We have reserved x amount of seats for you, please let us know if you are able to make it". Having it this way allows the parents to decide if both adults attend vs 1 adult and 1 child or however they decide to attend. Guests do not know how many seats were reserved for other families unless asked directly.

Best of luck!

We are putting an invitation insert in the envelope with the invitation that has details about how to rsvp (electronic rsvp), etc. On the invitation insert in the rsvp section we stated something like" Dear John, Mary, Betty and Joe, we have 4 seats reserved in your honor. Please rsvp by this date". That way they know exactly who is invited because their names are listed and listing the actual number of seats takes out the assuming that the rest of the family is invited. Hope this helps!

I think an age cut off is okay as long as it is clear and you don't change the rules for different people.

In my opinion, you do not selectively invite children. Either all children are invited or none at all. Let the parents figure out their situation. You have a lot on your plate already that you do not need to worry about those logistics.

View Quoted Comment I really like that idea! I’m a fan of clear communication.

Kids are an all or none thing and you come across as playing favorites. If you don't want certain kids in attendance, don't invite their parents.