PW Guide Article: Should You Have Kids in Your Wedding?

This article hits close to home. My 12-year-old cousin was all set to be my junior bridesmaid, but refused to talk to me after I confronted her for being underage on Facebook. I inlisted the help of her parents, who were no support, and with our bridesmaid dress shopping date approaching, decided to remove her from the party. It was a lot of stress, which could have been avoided if I had trusted my gut to not include her. She has a tendancy to bring drama. So my advice to any brides out there, opt for the younger kids between the ages of 4-10, if you have that type of patience, and watch out for adolescents' emotions.

vcollier- I want to commend you for standing your moral ground.  You have beliefs and conviction that is required of success, happiness, and often goes hand in hand with selflessness and intelligence.

I know your decision did not come lightly- but your children will someday be better for your determination and everyone you love will benefit from knowing you ;)

Ditto lovin29. This is a non-issue for us. We don't have any close little ones, and are having an adult only reception.

apax~ I believe that it's totally your choice and should be respected!

If you choose to have children~ please be realistic in your expectations and be courteous enough to have a seperate area for them...possibly even a sitter of some kind to keep them entertained.  For your sake, your guests, the children themselves and even their parents...who would love to enjoy your wedding;)

If you choose NOT to...be prepared for some ill feelings (not always, but often happens) and stand your ground.  It does make total sense to have an adult only recepton and/or ceremony and you are NOT obligated to appease everyone at the expense of your pocket-book and sanity.

Thanks, lovin29. :-)

My dilemma is that I have 3 nieces that are 17, 13, and one will be almost 7 when I get married.  My FI has 4 nieces & nephwes all under the age of 6 and 1 that will be just a month or less when we get married.  .  My nieces are definitely coming to the wedding and his niece that will just turn 6 will be there, but the rest are not.  I do not want any kids running around, crying and basically throwing fits because they are over tired and hungry.  My problem is his brother and sister-in-law were find with this, they are going to try to get a babysitter and have them at the hotel.  But his other sister I don't think it's going to go over that good with her.  I once saw on a wedding invitation for the reception part "reception for adults only"  I feel that I need to do this, not just because of family but I have a lot of friends that have small kids too.  What do you think of putting that on the invitation???  I personally wouldn't want to bring my kids to the wedding reception that would be night out with my husband.