How do you tell your guests that no children are allowed at your wedding?
Not everyone wants or can have children at their Wedding but how do you go about telling your guests this without offending anyone? ... Tricky!
Your reason for an adults only wedding
Firstly your decision may be based on a number of reasons;
- The venue may be small, thus restricting numbers.
- You want an adults only wedding, the thought of having small children running around and crying during your ceremony horrifies you!
- Cost cutting, the less children you need to pay for, the more adults you can invite.
- The location may not be suitable for children.
Depending on your reason for wanting an 'adults only wedding', here are a few examples of wording that can be included on your wedding invitations;
''Adults only please, we hope you can respect our wishes''
“Please note that this is an adults only reception” “As much as we want to share our special night with everyone we love, we are requesting our wedding be for adults only” “Unfortunately due to number restrictions, we are not able to invite children to our wedding” ''We request that you hire a baby sitter, let your hair down and come along to our adults only wedding''If you would rather not have any of the above, it is popular for brides to address the invitation to the adults specifically. Instead of having ‘Mr and Mrs Owen & Family’ just have ‘Mr and Mrs Owen’ this implies that only ‘James’ and his wife are invited. If you don’t think this is clear enough, we do recommend adding “Adults Only” onto the card as well.
Children included in the wedding party only
If you are having your daughter as a bridesmaid or your nephew as a page boy, you may still not want to invite children other the ones included in the wedding party. If you are doing this then you may want to inform your guests beforehand as they may get rather confused and upset if they find out or turn up at your wedding only to see that 'some' children are there? Making this decision can be more difficult that ruling children our completely, especially with close family. Just remember if your brother asks if he can bring his son and you agree, this can open up a can of worms and cause arguements between other family and friends!
“Sorry no children allowed, apart from the ones included in the wedding party”
''Due to number restrictions we can only invite children who will be part of the wedding party''
“Unfortunately due to number restrictions, we have been unable to extend our invitations to include any children. Only children involved in the wedding party will be present. We hope that parents are able to get babysitters and can still join us on our special day”
Word your invitations clearly
Many parents presume that their offsprings are welcome to attend special occasions so it is important to make this clear that they're not! Firstly you need to address the invitation to the couple to whom you want to attend your wedding and secondly make sure you don't write 'and family' on the invitation or on the envelope as this instantly indicates that children are welcome. If you are sending out RSVP cards, it is a good idea to enforce this information again before they reply. For example you could word your RSVP card to say 'We would love to attend your wedding, please reserve .... adult seats' for ...........................................'.
Adding the 'line' about 'no children allowed' needs to be visible without spoiling the look of your invite. My advice would be to place it separately at the bottom of your invitation so it stands out but equally looks discreet and so it won't be missed before they read the RSVP details.
Mr and Mrs A. Hickman
request the pleasure of
Natalie & Robert
at the marriage of their daughter
Nicola to Mr James Brendan Owen
at St Peter’s Church, Bewdley on Saturday 20th August 2014 at 11:00 am
and afterwards at The Ramada Hotel, Habberley Road, Bewdley
''Adults only please, we hope you can respect our wishes''
