You’ve made your decision to have a child-free wedding! Perhaps you struggled with the choice or maybe it was never in question. In any case, the time has come to communicate a “please don’t bring your kids to our wedding!” message with grace, manners and maybe even a little humor.

Why to Have an Adults-Only Wedding

You’re Having a Formal Wedding

A formal wedding is not fun for parents if they have to look after children and it’s definitely not much fun for children. See wording options below for the best way to traditionally tell folks to make it a date night.

Your Space is Limited

Many venues have a limited amount of seating, which means you have to limit your guest list. The key to fitting all your wedding guests into your space is careful and intentional inviting.

All of Your Friends Have Kids

We know you enjoy your friends’ children, and we’re certain your friends realize this as well. However, inviting everyone’s kids could be overwhelming (and expensive). Keep scrolling for fun ways to tell your friends you love their kids, but won’t be inviting them to your wedding.

You Plan to PARTY!

Some couples plan one heck of a party! If your wedding is just going to be too good of a time for little ones, tell your guests exactly that. They just might actually be excited to have a night away.

You Just Don’t Want Kids at Your Wedding. Period

You don’t have to feel bad about this but you do have to be polite. Be direct about your plans for a kid-free day.

 

Now, let’s talk through how to properly word your wedding invitations so that your guests understand that their kids are not invited to your wedding.

How to Tell Guests Their Kids Aren’t Invited

Address Your Wedding Invitation Envelopes Properly

Properly addressing your inner and outer envelopes is the first step toward letting guests know exactly who is invited. Be sure to read up on how to address wedding invitation envelopes to learn more about this important step.

Say It on Your Wedding Invitations

You may place this wording at the bottom of the wedding invitation. Keep it simple, keep it small. Your guests will see it, we promise.

Examples of simple wording to use:
No Children Please
Adult Only Reception
Adults-only ceremony and reception

Add it to Your Response Cards

Adding a note on your RSVP (response) cards is the perfect place to declare your wedding is just for adults. It’ll be hard for your guests to miss.

Now – if you are inviting some children (let’s say family members-only), this custom wording will do the trick and allow you to dictate exactly how many people in the household you’re inviting:

Please reply by June 2nd
We have reserved __ seats for you (you hand-write in each number)
Name ____________________ (your guests writes in their name)
___ Persons will attend (your guests will write in the number of people that are attending)

If you’d like to add the same message on all your RSVP cards, here are some examples of wording you can add to the top of your cards that’s sure to do the trick:

Please make it a date night!
Our wedding is for adults only.
Adults-Only (get ready to party!)

Add a Custom Card to Your Wedding Invitation Suite

If all these examples leave you feeling cold, consider adding a separate information card in with your suite. This will help your guests understand why you made the decision to not invite children and cuts down on awkward “but you don’t really mind if we bring baby Henry, right?” text messages.

Leave the Littles
While we adore your children, our venue simply does not have the room for all the little ones.
Please make it a date night. We can’t wait to celebrate with you!

A Small Request
Dearest friends and family – our wedding ceremony and reception is for adults-only. We thank you for respecting this request and look forward to seeing you all in June!

 

Well – what do you think? We hoped you picked up some tips on ways to tell your wedding guests exactly who’s invited, and who isn’t. Best wishes, brides and grooms!

Xo – the team at Invitations by Dawn