Kid Free Wedding

Navigating the Child-Free Conundrum

Have you had that discussion yet about the guest list?

This is always an awkward one for couples.

Have you decided if you’re having children at the wedding or not?

We never knowingly want to offend anyone by not including their kids do we?

Whilst you may love children, perhaps you want a child-free wedding day, and that’s perfectly okay.

I love to see kids at weddings, those little boys sliding across the dance floor on their knees in their best clothes, and little ones under the table eating things they shouldn’t be eating.

Or, when they come running up to you during a ceremony giving you one of their sweeties, it’s too cute.

But if you choose not to have kids at your wedding, whether the choice is down to budget or your personal preference, it’s something that you need to make clear to your guests when you send out your invitations.

So how do you tell them you want a child-free wedding without upsetting anyone?

You could be blunt, but that’s not very polite, is it.?

So let’s look at some options for putting the point out to your guests without offending anyone.

Frogs and snails.. thats what little boys are made of

Where Do You Tell Them Its a Kid Free Wedding?

Invitations

This is probably the best place to let your guests know that you’re having a no kids wedding day.

But you want to choose wording that makes it clear and concise so that everyone knows straight off whos invited to the wedding, so there are no mistakes.

Many moons ago, if my mum and dad got an invitation that said Mary and Ian were invited to…., they knew it was just them, and we needed to be sent overnight to granny’s or friends.

But that’s not always the case anymore, so you need to make it clear on your invitations that you are having a kid-free wedding day.

kid free wedding with the celebrant angel aberdeen humanist aberdeen and aberdeenshrie

What To Put On The Invitations

You could use wording like this on your invitations making it clear that you are having a kid free wedding

Would they work for you?

Please join us for an adult-only ceremony and reception.

Please note this will be an adults-only celebration.

We have reserved a seat for Mary and Graham; please let us know if you can attend

To allow our guests to enjoy our celebrations, we ask that no children attend the wedding.

We would love to allow all our friends and family to let their hair down for our wedding; we politely request no kids.

We will not be able to invite children to our wedding; we hope that you will still be able to attend.

A Word Of Warning If You’re Going Kid-Free

You may get someone coming back saying but Johnny’s 13. Is that not okay?

If you make exceptions for one, you’ll do it for everyone.

Another one to think about and stick to your gun with is if one of the adults works offshore, for instance, and isn’t going to be home for your wedding, and the guest asks if they can take their kid along instead.

Make sure all your wedding parties know that it’s a kid-free wedding so that if they are approached about it, they can reply the same way as you.

If You Feel You Need To Explain Why No Kids

Whilst no one will ask you why you’re having a kid-free wedding, guilt might make you think you need to give a reason; it would for me anyway.

So here are some options you could use if you feel you need to explain why you’re having a kid-free wedding.

Due to limited space, we are having an adults-only wedding

Due to our budget, we regretfully cannot extend the invitation to any children

We would love to have Hannah and Fergal there, but unfortunately, we are limited in numbers.

Or perhaps one of these options

This invitation gives you a kid-free night for our wedding ceremony, Adults only please.

We’d love everyone to have a chilled and relaxed day, so we have decided to have an adults-only wedding; we hope you won’t be offended.

We hope you will understand our decision to make the wedding children-free and take the opportunity to let your hair down and celebrate in style!”