A wedding is all about celebrating a couples unity, sharing your love and happiness with friends and family and of course enjoying an amazing party, right? Planning a wedding is exciting and sometimes couples need to make some decisions that might cause some lifted eye brows!
Deciding whether to invite children to your wedding is one of the most difficult guest list questions. No one wants to get their family and friends upset, but if your head count is increasing beyond your budget or your style of event does not fit little ones then you may want to start to look at where cuts need to be made and tackle this tricky conversation.
At Stylish Moments Invitation Studio we have a few suggestions on how to say, “Sorry, no kids.”
1. Short and Sweet
“Please join us for an adult reception at six o’clock.”
“Please note this will be an adults-only celebration.”
“Adult (18 and older) reception to follow.”
“We respectfully request no children under 16 at the reception.”
“The bride and groom request that this be an adults-only reception.”
“Please celebrate with us at an adults-only reception immediately following the ceremony.”
2. When Budget or Space are Limited
“[X] seats have been reserved in your honour.
“Due to limited venue space, we are unable to extend the invitation to children.”
“Although we adore your children, due to budget/space constraints we ask that only adults attend.”
Or include a personal note with your invitation to guests with children: “We’d love to have Amanda and Matthew attend our celebration, but unfortunately we’re limited by budget/space constraints. We hope you can still join us."
3. When you are including children of family and close friends
“Children of immediate family only please.”
“Respectfully, an adult occasion (18+). Infants under 12 months welcome.”
“Due to limited numbers, we are only able to accommodate children in the wedding party at our reception.”
“We wish we could include all children, but are unfortunately only able to invite immediate family.”
“Unfortunately due to space limitations, we are having an adults-only reception. Children to attend are those who are part of our wedding party. If anyone needs help with making arrangements for child care, please let us know and we will do our best to assist.”
