Children at a Destination Wedding

At the end of the day, you have two things working against you with your guest list, destination wedding and childfree wedding. Both of these are large factors when rsvps come in. That's not a bad thing, and some destination wedding will even surprise you with acceptance rates. You just have to be understanding of this

Cost of destination weddings for guests with kids can sky rocket. That's extra flight tickets, food, etc. So even if you do invite families some parents may opt for the kids to stay behind IF they have/can afford childcare. Others do not want to be more than a quick drive away in case something happens and will decline all together.

If you decide to go with no kids, be consistent and understanding of parents decisions to not attend. Some do not have childcare available, a lot of parents will not vet a sitter for one weekend on top of paying hundreds of dollars for childcare, and some cannot afford to bring a sitter with them to their hotel to watch the kids. If parents push back at you, hold to your decision and just say we understand and you will be missed.

How will your family in the DR react to their children not being invited? Not that others should be the sole deciding factor, but if you are going there for a family affair, this may look contrary to your intention.

I think even with 2 years notice, this may not be feasible for families. If it's not a cost issue, they may have other ideas about how they want to vacation. I think you should be prepared that some guests may not attend as any destination wedding, even if whole families are invited. Good luck.

So as a mother of one and another on the way, I can't imagine traveling to another country and leaving my children behind especially if it's for a family event because then I'm not sure who would even watch our children. So unless your family members have someone outside of the family that would be able to watch the children for several days then they might have to decline due to lack of child care. They also just might not be comfortable leaving their child/ren for several days to travel to a foreign country. This is obviously completely up to you, but if you don't include children then I would expect a higher decline rate. I will say destination weddings already have a higher than normal decline rate so excluding children on top of being a destination wedding would definitely work against you.

I came in to say what Veronica said. As a mom, there would be very little chance I'd leave my child even for an evening in a foreign country. If you decide not to invite kids to the event please make that clear at the beginning so your guests can plan accordingly.

I am not a mother, maybe one day, but not now. If I was one of those mothers, I would be confused and maybe offended. As Veronica said, it's unlikely a lot of the parents would come, due to the fact that they have to leave their child far away. It would be uncomfortable for the parents and would likely cause some drama. If you want a child-free wedding, just make sure your guests know in advance and prepare for the possibility that some of the parents might not attend.