Do I have to invite children to my wedding?

No. It is your wedding; you should invite whoever you want.

The best thing to do is to be honest about it. You could have “we love spending time with your children; however, we have chosen to have an adult only wedding. We hope you can still join us in our wedding celebration” on the invitations. This gives them more time to plan for babysitters, which I am sure they would be grateful for. Some parents might prefer to leave their little angels at home so that they would feel more relaxed and enjoy your wedding day without having to think about what they are doing, are they behaving or are they tired and getting rowdy.

You may have some friends and family members complaining that they don’t want to leave their children at home. How you deal with that can vary; you could allow them to bring their children to your wedding or just the ceremony so that they feel involved, or you can just say you are sorry they will not be able to attend, and you understand if they themselves are unable to attend. This may then make them see that you are serious and that it is your wedding day and not theirs.

For more information on how to manage your friends and families’ expectations on your wedding day, please contact me to book a consultation. It is pay as you go, and you can book an hour session with me either by telephone 07517127703 or using my online calendar.