Any experience of guests bringing kids to an adult only wedding?

Did you say we have reserved ___ seats for you on your RSVPs/invites? This usually eliminates any of those fears, and if you said "mr and mrs jane doe" then they should get the hint, but if you said "mr and mrs jane doe family" then people will probably bring their kids.... hope this makes senses.

What @Monica said - do it.

Address your invites properly (i.e. Mr. and Mrs. Smith / Mr. Smith and Ms. Burns etc.) and on your RSVP card include a line "We have reserved ______ seat(s) in your honor" and fill in the number before mailing out your invitations. This SHOULD help with any confusion.

Although, I did this and we just had my FH's cousin ask if she can bring her 1 year old... at least she asked I guess! It should definitely help keep anyone from just showing up with their children.

My BRIDESMAID had her bf bring her daughter and didn’t even tell me. She took up someone else’s seat and didn’t give it up despite there being Empty seats at other tables. Still salty af.

We're planning to get out in front of it via the invites, but I was more curious about whether it happened to someone and how they handled it.

View Quoted Comment That sucks. Especially since it was a bridesmaid of all people. Was it an adult only reception?

View Quoted Comment That is just icky.

View Quoted Comment Yes. With “there are 2 seats reserved” and she RSVP for 2.

I will be blunt: You WILL encounter people who will assume they can bring their kids even though Mom and Dad are the only ones invited.

1) Call them directly when it happens. "Sorry for the misunderstanding, the invite was just for you and Jim." Do not let them offer to pay, do not allow them to bargain with you.

If they persist: "We are sorry - let's get together with everyone after the wedding!"

Just curious, how do address to two adults (cousins) who have two adult children, but one of them has a small kiddo that isn't invited? It's adults only.

We plan to explicitly state it on the website and invitations. It seems some guests don't understand what it means when an invite is addressed to them by name. I need to find a nicer way to say: "This event is reserved for guests 21 and over". I honestly don't care about offending anyone at this point.

They do have to get through a security gate at the venue so I very much plan to have people with kids turned away. Sorry, not sorry. You can go home and think about how much time you wasted choosing to disrespect us. I might be petty enough to print up a card they can hand to people who get turned away. Lmao.

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Adult guests get their own invitations, even if they still live with their parents. So the invite to your cousins adult child who has a small kiddo would be made out as an invite ONLY to the adult child, with # of seats reserved 1 on it.

PPs have given great advice. But, be prepared. People will probably still try to bring their kids. It is inevitable.

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This is a great idea with the amount of reserved seats. Our wedding is adults only and I was worried about how we can go about this without guests bringing children and/or extra guests.

View Quoted Comment Thank you so much, I have a lot to learn!! Haha

View Quoted Comment I would be so annoyed! How could someone, a bridesmaid especially, think that’s ok without clearing it with y’all first?