Not all weddings are incredibly kid-friendly. They’re known to have a lot of drinking and a party atmosphere. So, how do you *nicely* tell your guests that they need to hire a babysitter for the night? It can be rude to just come out and blatantly say it if you don’t have a close enough relationship to each guest. However, there are a few ways to try to get the point across.
Envelope Addressing
Proper envelope addressing is the first step for letting guests know that you’re having an adults-only reception. The only people invited are the ones listed on the envelope. So, if an invitation is addressed to “Mr. and Mrs. John Smith” and not “Mr. and Mrs. John Smith and family”, that should tell them their kids aren’t invited.
You can also use double envelopes to help make this even more clear. The inner envelope lists the first names of the parents leaving off the names of the children. While this should be enough to get the point across, not everyone knows it’s rude to bring someone not explicitly listed on their envelope. Therefore, there are a few others ways to include this info in your wedding invitation.
RSVP Card
Another way to get the point across to your guests that their children aren’t invited is by utilizing your RSVP card wording. You can state how many seats you have set aside for them. When they see that number is only 2 instead of 5, they’ll know they need to call a babysitter!
Here are two examples,
We have reserved __ seat(s) in your honor *You fill in the blank before mailing
__ of __ guest(s) attending *You fill in the second blank before mailing
Reception Card
Finally, if you still don’t think either of those options are going to work, you can be a little more clear with your reception card wording.
For example,
Please join us for an adults-only reception
immediately following the ceremony
Weddings are a constant battle of trying to create the atmosphere you’ve been dreaming of and making sure you’re not being rude to your guests. Hopefully, these tips have given you a few ideas for how you can try to accomplish both.