Children at the wedding...

Nope- just tell them them they are not invited. I couldn't think of anything worse than having kids at our reception. In the end only my 6 YO nephew was there and even he was running around (outside at least) as he was so bored.

You can dress it up a bit and say that it gives the adults a chance to be grown ups for the day and relax, not worrying about small people?

I'd go for the most to the point answer you can otherwise people think you're really saying the opposite of what you are!

I'd just say that sorry but no children are invited.

We have children coming but then we have a 3 year old and we can't not invite him ? we've limited to family children though otherwise the kids would outnumber the adults!

We've got my niece, OH nieces and that's it. All lovely little girls so no knee skidding on my dance floor!

It was asked on FB so everyone can see it so I want to get the point across but quite nicely. If I write something like "With respect, we're only having close family children", reckon that'll cut it? Polite, straight to the point with a "by the way, there's going to be other kids there but not yours" !

deffo. My auntie questioned why my stepchildren were there for the ceremony but hers were not invited. I told her it was because they were leaving after the pictures as I didn't want kids running round at the reception. I probably wouldn't put the "with respect" bit? Sounds a bit arsey IMO? I would just put that they are not invited sadly as its family only for numbers.

Thank you for your help. Told them in the end that it was Adults Only in the evening. Let's just hope the girls go to bed early!

"Unfortunately we are unable to extend this invitation to include children. There will however be cake boxes for you to take slices of wedding cake home for your little ones to enjoy the following day"

Do the hard bit followed by a nice bit to soften the blow! ?

Except we're having cupcakes and half the number of cakes than there are guests!!

It took ages to word it perfectly mainly because it was as a comment on a facebook status! Not ideal. Also, if it's there, anyone else who wonders will know too.

Scrap the cake box idea then ?

"Owing to guest list size, we are sadly unable to accommodate children other than close family members "

I cannot tell you how many brownie points we got for making favour boxes of sweets (wrapped, ribboned, complete with nametags in our stationery theme) for parents to take home for their children!

"Owing to guest list size, we are sadly unable to accommodate children other than close family members "

Perfect response - yes people will moan and complain but guess what? You can't keep everyone happy. Most importantly, it's you and your OH's day, and what you both say goes, guests will have to accept it. My day guests can bring children and evening guests can't, mainly because evening guests are extended family (cousins/aunts/uncles rarely see) or work friends.

I put it on our invites, as many people don't realise that when you address it to "Vicky & Adam", it doesn't include their kids unless it mentions them by name or says "and family". I had a piece on the extra information page saying something along the lines of "although we would love to invite the children, we are restricted on numbers, but they are welcome to join us in the evening commencing at 7pm" (although I'd rather they didn't, but it was a compromise). I also had special RSVP's for couples with kids that stated that the ceremony and reception were adult only. I didn't fancy the awkward question and wanted to make sure it couldn't e missed or misinterpreted.

It's perfectly fine to say no to them. It's expensive and kids ae a pain at weddings.

I put mine in a Q&A page on our website (not that I really expect too many people to read it). I tried to make it as light-hearted and amusing as possible to keep people reading through.

http://www.mywedding.com/johnandfionaswedding/custom6.html