Children at Wedding Reception

This is a very touchy subject for a ton of people. my gf had no kids and then towards the wedding day she allowed 2 people to bring their kids and on the day of the wedding people flipped out on her and her husband literally yelling at them on their wedding day. she also had no shows as well cuz their kids couldnt come or their babysitter flaked. if you have no kids its entirely no kids no one under 18. you cant pick and choose which kids to bring. i personally would pull the two kids then no one can say anything. it sucks i know but you dont want all these people fighting and/or talking bad about you and ur hubby

By the time we get married, we will have 8 nieces in nephews that will range in age from 1 - 11 years of age. When we got engaged we knew right away that we wanted a Kid Free reception, but we also knew that having the kids be part of the experience would be important to us. The kids are all part of the wedding ceremony, and will be part of the photos afterwards, but once that is done, they are being shipped off to the hotel with sitters that their parents arranged to have. We are also making sure that our rehearsal dinner is kid friendly so that they can be part of that event. At the end of the day, when we explained our wishes to our siblings, they totally understood since IT'S OUR DAY! And besides, kids don't want to be at the wedding reception anyway...speeches, kissing, formalities....ugh kids hate that boring stuff! My recommendation would be to do the kid friendly rehearsal dinner (if that works for you and your FH). Wait until things cool down between you and your SIL, and then tell her (don't ask her...it's not her day) that this is what you are doing to include everyone. The one thing I have not regretted while planning this wedding, is TELLING people what will happen...not asking them.

We are going adults only, the flower girl and ring bearer are the children allowed. As you said, You will not be happy. It's not selfish to have it your way for one day. I accepted if guest do not come because of the no children, then I'm sorry we will miss you.

I went undecided for months trying to figure a way for everyone to be involved. Not to mention the extra cost for the kids. We are paying for our own wedding, therefore we have the final say.

I'm sort of in the same boat. We're inviting our friends' kids who are incredibly well-behaved but want to exclude some nephews and nieces, who we truly believe are the devil reincarnated. And I know their parents will not care if they start going nuts during the event.