Ask the Planner: What if I Don’t Want Kids at My Wedding?
Ask the Planner is a series featuring real questions from brides, grooms, and anyone interested in learning more about weddings. You ask it, we’ll answer it! So don’t be shy about commenting with your own insights or questions, and be sure to stalk us on all of our social media platforms to discover different ways we address every topic in this series.
Facebook – Instagram – Twitter – YouTube – Pinterest
As wedding planners, we receive many wedding etiquette questions…and we absolutely love answering them! In today’s case, we’re sharing one etiquette question we receive several variations of every year, including:
Q: “How do I tell my guests I don’t want kids at my wedding?”
– OR –
“What if I want an adults-only wedding?”
– OR –
“I don’t want babies and small children disrupting my wedding. What do I do?”
A: There’s nothing wrong with wanting an adults-only wedding. It’s a truly personal choice and your guests should respect your decision. That said, we’re also realistic enough to know that many guests won’t understand your choice and may give you some push-back or pretend they didn’t get the memo. If you find yourself dealing with this, here are a few things you can do:
- Stick to your guns. Don’t let someone argue their way into getting you to agree to let them bring their kids to your wedding. If you’ve made this decision, there’s a reason, such as not being able to afford all of the extra mouths to feed or knowing your wedding will be a late night with lots of loud music and drinking. Simply repeat that reason until the arguing stops.
- Offer childcare. If it’s within your budget to have a separate room for the kids with a babysitter watching over them, consider offering this as an option for guests with children. If you can’t afford this, share local childcare options with your guests.
- Have a Plan B. Sometimes defending the decision to host an adults-only wedding ends up feeling like more trouble than it’s worth. If you reach your breaking point on this issue, dedicate space at the reception for a fun kids table that will help keep younger guests distracted and out of trouble.
Want more tips on how to host a child-free wedding? Download this handy infographic:
If you have a pressing wedding planning question that you’d like answered by our team or you’d like to join the Just Marry! family, post a comment or e-mail us at info@justmarry.com and we’ll get back to you right away!
