[devinpautler]

My Brother is getting married and I am a Bridesmaid. My 4 year old son, the grooms nephew, is not invited to the "no kids" reception. Is this wrong?

[J_9]

No, it's not wrong. If the reception is "no kids" then NO KIDS are invited. If they are serving alcohol, it is possible that they don't want children in this environment.

[Fr_Chuck]

I personally believe that weddings are a familly event, but it is very common now to have a no kids wedding and/or a no kids reception.

It is their wedding, you can choose not to go if you do not feel this is OK with you

[Synnen]

Nope. Not wrong at all.

It's THEIR wedding. THEY choose the guest list.

I personally wanted no kids at my wedding ceremony (I lost that argument, and am STILL bitter about it), but was okay with kids at the reception. I have a good friend who did it the other way--kids were included in the ceremony, because that was the part they felt was celebrating family--but absolutely NO kids (including their own kids) at the reception. Their reasoning is that there was alcohol involved, and adults could enjoy themselves more at the party if they weren't worried about kids the whole evening.

If you don't like it, then don't go. But I frankly think that everyone should get to plan their OWN wedding, and should keep their mouths shut about what they don't agree with at other peoples' weddings.

For example--I personally think it's tacky for a bride to wear white for her second marriage, but I don't tell the bride she can't do so!

Regardless what you do, this is going to cause a rift--you will either silently seethe because your child isn't involved in the reception, or you will tell them that you think that they are celebrating THEIR wedding the wrong way, and cause them to be upset with you.

My personal suggestion is to find a great babysitter and enjoy yourself at the wedding.

[dontknownuthin]

It's not improper nor unusual to exclude children from a wedding at all, even if they are as close as nieces or nephews. I would not take offense and would not make an issue of it.

I know in some faiths and some families including everyone is the norm, and that can be lovely. The thing is, weddings are very personal to the bride and groom and their parents, and there are so many factors ranging from cost to the tone of the reception to the presence of alcohol - I'm sure they have carefully considered the guest list and have a good reason for limiting it to adults.