Is It OK Not To Invite Kids To My Wedding?

Children and Weddings, it's a touchy subject and it may be difficult to decide whether to invite children to your Wedding or not.

So what are the rules around this issue? Should you be compelled to invite children to your Wedding even if you don't want to have them there and what is the etiquette around a child free Wedding?

First things first your Wedding is your Special Day so it is up to you and your partner to make the final decision but you should give this some thought and consider all your options before you start knocking them off your final guest list!

Inviting kids to a Wedding is a Personal Decision, if you are a child free couple and not used to having kids around you might not want them to be there on your day and it should be accepted that not everyone would choose to have children at their Wedding. 

Children can be noisy and disruptive and you wouldn't want any screaming or someone throwing a tantrum during those special moments, this doesn't apply to older kids but if they are younger they may not understand when they need to stay quiet. 

There are people that would argue kids can easily take the focus away from the Bride and provide an unwanted distraction for your guests. It might also make is less stressful for the Wedding couple if they don't have to worry about kids running around.

Kids also take up seats and this may be difficult when you are pushed for space, if you invite people with large families this will increase your guest list considerably and just think you are also having to pay for each person for the whole day too.

On the other hand people love children being around and they would argue that having them there would make the day more memorable. If you have children yourself naturally you would want them to be central part of the proceedings and enjoying the day with everyone else.

There are some Wedding couples who are in the middle with all of this and would chose to have just their own children on the day so even parents can see benefits of keeping children away!

You could decide to have children for only part of the day or have children aged over 5 only for example, perhaps you could book a Children's Entertainer for the important parts of the day like during the ceremony and when the speeches are being made and this would ensure you have peace when most needed. 

Another idea would be to have a Children's Disco in the evening so the parents can have time to enjoy themselves. 

You will find that guests with younger kids will slope off in the evening if they do bring kids along as they'll want to get them to bed so why not have a kid free evening do and encourage the parents to let their hair down?!

Be prepared that if you decide to go for a Kids Free Wedding your numbers may drop especially if you have lots of friends with kids who may not be able to find a babysitter, some people may just be offended that you've not invited their offspring and will not want to go.

If you do go ahead think of your battle plan on your invitations and make sure you are upfront about it, some people won't just think their kids were invited unless their name was included on the invite but others might just assume wrongly and you'll find yourself having to dig yourself out of a hole!

Our best advice is to add something to your Wedding Invitations to make it clear your feelings on the matter from the outset, how about adding some direct wording on the invites like "Whilst we love kids we don't want them at our Wedding" or something more subtle like "We want the adults to have a nice time at our Wedding and would politely ask that you leave the children at home".

Well, whatever you decide make the choice that's right for you both and don't feel pressured or swayed by other's opinions it is your special day and you are allowed to not like kids at special occasions!