Do You Think Small Children Should Be Invited To A Wedding Reception?

[MOB Karen]

How do you feel about this subject? :D

[AngelinLove]

I think that some are okay...like immediate family and those in the wedding party...if they have adult supervision!!!!

[darkangel090260]

yes they should. We are having a couple air matters in my Aunts game Room for little ones that get tired or just need naps. If I said no then none of our child would beable to be there.

[purple_octopus]

I voted "only if immediate family or in the wedding" because that's how we're doing it. I don't care what other people choose to do, though. I wouldn't go so far as to say "children have no place at a reception", even though they really have no place at *mine*.

[SoontobeMrsClark07]

FH and I love children and there are a lot of them between both of our families and friends. It would be a shame to not have them there. I think that the kids end up having a better time than a lot of the adults and I love seeing the little ones on the dance floor... its too cute!

[asm198]

I think it's fine if they can somewhat behave. I have a couple of kids that will likely be coming to my wedding that I'm rather concerned about. They don't mind their parents and have a tendency to get rowdy. As in, they like to kick and throw things. I'd rather not have them attend, but if they aren't invited, it will become a huge family ordeal that I don't want to deal with.

[mariaandmanish]

I think this is one of those personal preference things. I would love to say no children at my wedding, because it would be easier on the parents to have fun without worryign about what trouble their kids are getting into. However, at the same time, my family is huge and they all just assume their kids would be invited, so they are. Plus, in my case, we're getting married hours from where any of my family and most of my friends live, so if they have kids, the kids come. Either way, I love kids.. as long as they're not fighting with each other, or getting into trouble, they're welcome at my wedding.

[MOB Karen]

I think it's fine if they can somewhat behave. I have a couple of kids that will likely be coming to my wedding that I'm rather concerned about. They don't mind their parents and have a tendency to get rowdy. As in, they like to kick and throw things. I'd rather not have them attend, but if they aren't invited, it will become a huge family ordeal that I don't want to deal with.

This is what happened to Lacey at her wedding. Now she doesn't speak to one half of her family.

Amber's cousin called Amber and asked if she could bring her children (1 and 2 years old). Amber told her that the only children that will be there are the FG and RB. So the cousin decided that she wasn't coming then. But Amber is ok with that, because it's what she wants and it's her wedding. :bbmrgreen:

[Kacie_bride]

I've said before that I totally respect anyone who is doing an adults only wedding and/or reception, but it is not the way I want things done. I love watching the children in my family dance around and have a good time at weddings. None of the family weddings I have been to have had children there that were bad.

If someone I knew was doing an adults only reception I would respect that and not ask if children could come. It is personal preference.

[LaceyinPgh]

I speak only for my reception. But, I hold to the fact that children did not belong there. End of story. I don't find children cute and endearing in my daily life. I didn't want them making noise during my ceremony. I didn't want them running around my reception. I had a very expensive, formal, evening affair. Little Bobby and Suzy didn't need to be there interfering with how people act. I had friends travel from as far away as Minnesota and left their children behind. 99% of my guests were happy to have a kid free night. The one percent who wanted to pout about stayed at home and pouted. I don't talk to half of my family now because of it. I say good riddance. If they can't accept how I throw a party they don't need to be there. I had two flower girls during the ceremony. They were not invited to the reception. To me a wedding reception is an adult social event.

[Kacie_bride]

I speak only for my reception. But, I hold to the fact that children did not belong there. End of story. I don't find children cute and endearing in my daily life. I didn't want them making noise during my ceremony. I didn't want them running around my reception. I had a very expensive, formal, evening affair. Little Bobby and Suzy didn't need to be there interfering with how people act. I had friends travel from as far away as Minnesota and left their children behind. 99% of my guests were happy to have a kid free night. The one percent who wanted to pout about stayed at home and pouted. I don't talk to half of my family now because of it. I say good riddance. If they can't accept how I throw a party they don't need to be there. I had two flower girls during the ceremony. They were not invited to the reception. To me a wedding reception is an adult social event.

And people shoud respect that.

[countrygirl]

Children will def be at mine, we have four at home, and lots of friends and fam who have them as well. To me, if the fam, or friends are invited, thier children are too.

[Amber818]

I voted no, they have no business at the reception. If I had kids I honestly feel I would be ok if someone asked that kids not come to their reception.

[ikkin510]

I did not vote on this one since I wasn't sure which to pick. I think it depends on the couple and they type of wedding they want. For formal affairs, I wouldn't want children. Although, and informal wedding I could see them.
We are not having any children besides our RB. We are having an informal event, but there are some kids in the family that I think would cause too much trouble. And I wouldn't feel right inviting some and not others.

[WhiskeyGirl]

I voted yes but looking back on it, I would have gone for an adults only reception even though I barely noticed the kids were there. The only reason I would have voted no was because Matt's uncle from Germany brought his kids and they are the MOST DISGUSTING CHILDREN I have EVER met!! I swear those two girls do not know what Underware are, what bathrooms are or what a sink is for. They were such dirty little brats. (And to top this off, the uncle is actually a doctor. I would have expected more from him, but his kids were grossing me out!!!) Now I am not that kind of person and I LOVE CHILDREN, but just because of those two dirty little pigs I would change things and not have children at my reception! Only my neice and nephew and Matt's neice. (Luckily I believe the "pig" children used the bathroom at the reception but when they were on the farm, they went where ever they felt like it.[outside] In our family that is completely unacceptable and we were completely disgusted by it!!! They are not welcome to visit us again in Canada anymore!!)

[KristyGirl]

Overall, I'd say no children.

[WebLady]

I am not a fan of children at a wedding at all, but I don't have any. I hate it when I go to a wedding and you hear a baby crying or you see kids running around unattended, but that is just me. One time, this kid knocked over my tripod :bbeek: (it was in the corner by the DJ booth where the kid didn't need to be anyway!) he was lucky the camera wasn't on it!

We have friends and family with kids and we still didn't want them at our reception. When we had first started planning for it, we were looking at a local art gallery as the venue. So kids would have been a big no no there ;) But we ended up scraping the formal reception anyway and just had a party at a bar, so there were no kids allowed there either. We had some friends that didn't come because of this but that is fine with me, they still sent gifts LOL, I am bad :p ;)

[Valmai]

My niece and nephew will be there as she is flower girl but any others will be told no and we anticipate sulks, but i kinda think tough! I have been to weddings where i have had to get sitters for my children and if these people want a night out then they can do the same really. I dont like young children on a night time occasion surrounded by drink, and my niece and nephew will prob go to bed before the end of the night as they are staying at the venue.

[jeni740]

This one is a touchy ordeal over here, I want to have my nephew in the wedding just to bring the ring, there is no flower girl because I have no neices and I do not have any children, everyone says if I invite 1 I have to invite them all. I have like 25 kids total who would come with their parents if I allow it, at 24.95 a plate 25 kids is alot of money to me especially when I am only having about 50 people there. I think kids take over the place when they are at the reception, they get all wild and parents dont make them stop. I am not real big on bad children, I dont have any for a reason, so I dont know what to do is it rude to say no?

[darkangel090260]

out of the 50 guest we are having 10-15 are children from the age of 1.5yrs to 18 yrs old. we will have thing set up for the younger ones to do. Such as a kids table with coloring books, game, crafts and treats to take with them. We will also have ponny rides and other thing for them to do such as DVD's and or games set up for them to play . our wedding is simiformal however i have let all the parents know they should bring play clothing for the children along with what even the child sleep with at home sinces we will have air beds set up for the little ones.

[LaceyinPgh]

This one is a touchy ordeal over here, I want to have my nephew in the wedding just to bring the ring, there is no flower girl because I have no neices and I do not have any children, everyone says if I invite 1 I have to invite them all. I have like 25 kids total who would come with their parents if I allow it, at 24.95 a plate 25 kids is alot of money to me especially when I am only having about 50 people there. I think kids take over the place when they are at the reception, they get all wild and parents dont make them stop. I am not real big on bad children, I dont have any for a reason, so I dont know what to do is it rude to say no?

I had two flower girls as part of my ceremony. But I made it clear that they and no other children were invited to my reception. Luckily their mother, my MOH, agreed that her two daughters had no business at a formal evening event with an open bar. So maybe you can do something like that, just have them be a par tof the ceremony then the sitter can pick them up and take them home. I was at a wedding this past weekend where the bride's neice and nephew were there and the groom's three nephews were there. But children of any other guests were not invited. Of our friends in that particular group, no one complained about it at all. They considered it the bride and groom's choice andw ere happy for a weekend away without their children.

[brewsells]

There will be children at my reception. Not only will mine be there but a few of our family members have children as well. For the most part they are all well behaved and I won't mind them being there at all. I know if I allowed no children, mine would be very upset. All in all this is a personnal preference and if I had a friend who decided they did not want children at theirs, I would totally understand.

[sherrybaby]

This is a very difficult subject & I guess the opinion will change weather you have kids or not. We had kids at our wedding as well as the begining of the reception, the children stayed to eat and play for about an hour than they left with the sitter. It worked out perfectly for us, we have three kids and all our friends have kids so it was the best way to go!:D

I thought of making every thing a no child zone but personally I felt like a cold hearted &*%$# I am a kid person so I just felt right doing what I did.

[auchlisa]

We are having children at ours. We have 5 between the 2 of us and wouldnt even think of not having them there. This is their day to unite also. We will be setting up a kids table also. A place for them to do some crafts. I got stuff for them to make their own western picture frames and will have an adult with them so that they can use the poloroid camera's and take a picture that they want to have in their frames.

[Amanda&Hugo]

We had lots of kids- babies too. It's up to you whether or not you like the atmosphere of having kids around, but I feel like they are people too, and shouldn't be excluded from festivities because of their age. To me, they make it more fun- they are always up for dancing and having fun and they are always the most "wowed" by all the wedding stuff. Also, I invited several kids for whom this was their first wedding to attend b/c they hadn't been invited to any in the past. I think it's important to give kids the chance to see what weddings are like in reality and not just get their ideas of weddings from TV and movies! None of them cried or screamed during the ceremony by the way.

At the reception we had 2 kids' tables with crayons, pictures, and activities to color. Also we had these "magic wands" for all the kids- here is a picture of our little friend Lillian enjoying hers!
http://images.kodakgallery.com/photos2030/3/58/25/29/21/8/821292558305_0_ALB.jpg

[StaceyMc]

I don't buy into the "if you invite one, you have to invite them all" theory.

My nephew (who will be 9 months old at the time), Joe's niece (who will be a little over a year) will be present at the wedding and reception. They're immediate family and we couldn't leave them out. We will also be inviting my friend's son, who is 8 - he's my little buddy. I couldn't bear for him not to be there as well. My teenaged 2nd cousin (I think that's what she is) will attend with her parents as well - we're close to the family and I've known her since she was an infant.

Other than that - no children permitted. There are a few friends who have children, whether they'll attend if the kids aren't invited -that's their choice. We both love children, but I don't think they all belong at our reception.

[CindySue]

I voted yes, BUT it really depends on the circumstance. If my wedding had been a big formal affair like Lacey's, then things would have been MUCH different and I wouldnt have a problem leaving mine at home to attend something like that. Now mine was basically just family, at my home, and very laid back. H3LL Brian's 4 year old niece decided with my 5 year old to try and go swimming in the garden pond during our reception. Did they get in trouble?....yeah.:realmad: Was it funny.....absolutely :bblol: Did they ruin our reception? Not at all :bbmrgreen: Its actually one of those silly little things that makes it even more memorable. Brian says hes going to remind her on her wedding day about what she did at his wedding.
I have 4 kids..... so I dont usually make it a habit of planning things that the kids cant involved with. Usually we attend more non-kid functions than we host. We dont have a problem or get offended with that, like Lacey said we enjoy the kid free nights.

[cowboysbride]

I don't see a problem with it as long as someone watches them. We had tons of little rugrats (term of endearment) running around at ours and it was fun dancing with all the little people around me and my big poofy dress!!!

Now with that said, one of Eric's cousins had her little girl at the wedding ceremony and she cried the whole time (very loud screams and sobs and NO MOMMY I DON'T WANNA GO OUTSIDE) if I hadn't been on cloud nine it would have bothered me....in the video it is very distracting....and LOUD...not the kids fault, the mother should have taken her out...GRRRRR (first grrrr since I got married lol)! Lots of people were upset about it but what do you do?

[Kacie_bride]

I don't see a problem with it as long as someone watches them. We had tons of little rugrats (term of endearment) running around at ours and it was fun dancing with all the little people around me and my big poofy dress!!!

Now with that said, one of Eric's cousins had her little girl at the wedding ceremony and she cried the whole time (very loud screams and sobs and NO MOMMY I DON'T WANNA GO OUTSIDE) if I hadn't been on cloud nine it would have bothered me....in the video it is very distracting....and LOUD...not the kids fault, the mother should have taken her out...GRRRRR (first grrrr since I got married lol)! Lots of people were upset about it but what do you do?

Like you said, the polite thing would have been for the mother to take the child out and straighten her out.

[sherrybaby]

I don't see a problem with it as long as someone watches them. We had tons of little rugrats (term of endearment) running around at ours and it was fun dancing with all the little people around me and my big poofy dress!!!

Now with that said, one of Eric's cousins had her little girl at the wedding ceremony and she cried the whole time (very loud screams and sobs and NO MOMMY I DON'T WANNA GO OUTSIDE) if I hadn't been on cloud nine it would have bothered me....in the video it is very distracting....and LOUD...not the kids fault, the mother should have taken her out...GRRRRR (first grrrr since I got married lol)! Lots of people were upset about it but what do you do?

My youngest daughter was screaming through the whole ceremony:bbconfused: DH even picked up our 2 year old daughter while MOH & BM signed for us I didn't notice any of it untill we watched the video:D :bblol: :o
We only had guests that actually knew us so they all thought it was cute and showed what we are 'really' like!!!

[ladymelissa]

The only children at our wedding were the RB and FG.

[LizabethDavis]

Honestly, no I wanted no children at the wedding except for mine. Had Gwen needed to bring hers, I would have been okay with that because they are well behaved and she did travel all that way. I didn't make a huge fuss about it though as the kids that did come learned quickly to stay away from me...

[cowboysbride]

My youngest daughter was screaming through the whole ceremony:bbconfused: DH even picked up our 2 year old daughter while MOH & BM signed for us I didn't notice any of it untill we watched the video:D :bblol: :o
We only had guests that actually knew us so they all thought it was cute and showed what we are 'really' like!!!

We had tons of cute stuff and "really like" moments but the screams that drowned out the minister and pierced the guests ears was too much for me JMO...

[mj512]

of course children should be able to come! I can understand maybe asking for no children if the budget isn't high enough or if it is a very formal event, but I love little kids and would feel sad if my guests chose to leave their children at home. I love hearing the laughter and fun of children, I couldn't imagine not having children at my reception

[SerendipityCrafts]

First wedding memory - one young lad decided he was going to play with his toy cars down the aisle during our ceremony. I had my back to him and I wasn't aware but apparently some of our guests were annoyed that the parents (neighbours of my ex FIL & MIL) would let him do this.

Note: this child wasn't even invited - the invite went out to Mr. & Mrs only. I was thankful they didn't also bring him to the reception.

[rainbowtreat]

I love kids. When I marreid my frist husband I was working in child care and was close to all the families of the children I taook care of. So I had alot of kids at that one and it was good.

This time I had my 2 and my sisters 2 and they were all part of the wedding. And because we had so little people there that they were the only 4 littles ones there. We had a a couple of teenages as weel, 2 were in the wedding and and 2 were my sisters step children, but they were a great help.

As every one else has said it depends on the bride and groom and what they want. My kids had a blast ( well my son slept most of it ) butmy daughter and niece and my 2 yr old nephew were great and had a good time.

[Jena1984]

We did not want small children at the reception because we wanted all of the adults to be able to have a great time and drink and not have any cares or have to leave early because kids were tired. But after we decided no kids, invited all of the kids in the family, so that kinda went out the window:bbcry: