If it was your wedding, would you mind..

[BrilliantBetty]

If your close friend didn't attend because it was a child-free wedding except for kids in the family.

Would you regard this as a lame excuse not to attend your wedding, or think fair enough childcare can be tricky

Honestly op I'd just go alone with your parents. It only sets a precedence if his friends also have child free weddings and if they did, I wouldn't begrudge him celebrating his friends occasion

But this is mumsnet, and mumsnetters have hundreds of friends and large families.

Or you could say
Well this is MN, so there are hundreds of thousands of people on the site, from all kinds of different backgrounds. We are all ages, all different in what our education is, what our faith is, or even if we have one, how sociable we are / aren't, how confident we are / aren't, how big our families are, whether we work outside the home or not, what we earn, whether we have lots of friends or none or somewhere in between, whether we are traditional or quirky, etc., etc.

@BackforGood

But this is mumsnet, and mumsnetters have hundreds of friends and large families.

Or you could say
Well this is MN, so there are hundreds of thousands of people on the site, from all kinds of different backgrounds. We are all ages, all different in what our education is, what our faith is, or even if we have one, how sociable we are / aren't, how confident we are / aren't, how big our families are, whether we work outside the home or not, what we earn, whether we have lots of friends or none or somewhere in between, whether we are traditional or quirky, etc., etc.

True, but I think generally that people with a handful of friends and small families don't post on MN with issues surrounding maximum numbers for weddings because it just isn't a problem for them.

Find it weird that people think their preference for child free weddings would change when they have children of their own - mine certainly didn't and nor anyone else I knew who had a child free wedding!

@Wizzbangfizz

Find it weird that people think their preference for child free weddings would change when they have children of their own - mine certainly didn't and nor anyone else I knew who had a child free wedding!

I have children and am having a 'childfree' wedding (not strictly childfree as mine will be there....) and I had a childfree wedding for my first wedding too (again my children were there).

My having children doesn't change my view that weddings are far more enjoyable without a billion kids running around.

@tisonlymeagain I couldn't agree more!

I had a childfree wedding, when I get married again I’ll have a child free wedding. I cannot imagine in a million years inviting non family children to a wedding - norm is nieces and nephews invited, nobody else

Completely agree with last 3 posts

I don't take my kids to weddings they are invited to!