To wonder why people get so het up about DCs not being invited to weddings?

[DioneTheDiabolist]

Two people are getting married. They are having a party that they are paying for. So why can't they invite whoever they wish without being called Bridezilla or causing offense?

I understand that some parents can't get sitters or that sitters will cost money. What I don't get is why such parents just don't wish them the best and decline the invitation as it doesn't suit.

[AmandaLF]

Doesn't bother me. Me and DH have a wedding this weekend. The invite didn't say ds's name so we double checked with the mother of the bride and there's no children apart from family. We've decided to make a night of it and have booked into the hotel so we don't need to come home.

We also have a wedding next weekend where ds is coming so I won't be drinking.

[DioneTheDiabolist]

SirChenin stick around. I didn't know it happened either until I became a Mnetter.

[SirChenjin]

I don't know anyone who gets het up about children not being invited to weddings. Otoh we've had to decline invitations to weddings where our children (we're talking 2 teens and a 5 year old) haven't been invited because we have no-one who could take 3 children for an entire weekend - and then had to justify the decision to the bride!

[Ragwort]

man - I think that's fair enough but if you have a formal seating plan I assume you wouldn't sit the children with adults whose children are not included in the invite (see my point ).

Illstration - no, I wouldn't expect the teenage children to not have been invited but I would expect them to have been seated with their own family or family friends rather than some random strangers - which is what we were to them.

Quite honestly I am now at the age when I just turn down invitations to occasions that I am not going to enjoy - I expect most hosts/hostesses are only too relieved when not everyone accepts the invitation .

[maninawomansworld]

Yes I know, some people have a real problem with it.
We are marrying soon and we have invited 5 children who we see a lot and know as people in their own right, rather than merely being the DC's of our friends.
A few people aren't happy about this but it's my wedding, I'm paying and I don't want it turned into a fecking playgroup! The children who are coming are very mature for their ages, well behaved kids who (most of the time) you could take anywhere and I'm looking forward to them being there.

[Illustrationaddict]

Not much fun, but then again you can't really blame the bride for inviting her own children, would have been a bit rude not to!

The phrasing 'whilst we would love to invite the children of all our friends, we are only able to accommodate children of close family' might have been useful on that invite. Then again do teens count as children?

[Ragwort]

I've no issue with a child free wedding - but when we went to the trouble of finding chidcare for our DC I was throughly put out to be seated on a table with the bride's children - youngish teenagers who I didn't know (we were friends of the groom) and who clearly had no interest in making small talk to DH and I for three tedious hours the evening.

[BuntyCollocks]

I've no issue with a child free wedding. My friend is getting married this year and its child free. My dd will still be mostly breastfed ( just turned 8 months at that point), and if there's not a place I can express, I'll have to just go to the evening function, as I can't not express for a whole day.

[Illustrationaddict]

WallyBantersJunkBox - your friend sounds a bit OTT, doubt I would have got an invite to that one, doubt I could be friends with somebody who expected such lavish gifts and expectations to stay in certain expensive hotels. I said no gift on my invite and we gave a list of all kinds of local accomodation to guests who were coming from a distance, although most of our guests were local and only had a taxi fare home, and of the ones who did travel, most stayed with friends anyway.

[Alibabaandthe40nappies]

Mortified I think you are really lucky to be in that position. Most people I know aren't.

[MortifiedAdams]

I dont decline - I accept and find a babysitter, preferably one that can have dd overnight so I can let my hair down. However I do have family that can help so realise its not possible for evryone.

[ChaoticisasChaoticdoes]

Maybe some did want children there but you can't expect your friends to have children just so you can have children at your wedding

I don't think expecting all your friends to attend is reasonable whether that be a 3 day extravaganza abroad or not.

I'm thinking more along the lines of the bride and groom being able to have a wedding in a nice venue that has a more formal, adult feel to it than a child orientated informal affair. Not them expecting you to come but extending an invite to say they'd love you to be able to be there if you can.

Unfortunately, there are some people out there who get offended by the fact that their child(ren) hasn't been invited. They insist that a wedding is a family event and that children should be invited even if that means having 30+ children running around everywhere, increasing costs and changing the dynamic.

I went to a child free wedding of a friend of mine. It was a formal wedding and I was glad they weren't invited because they would have been bored stiff and I would have spent all my time keeping them occupied. Instead I went along alone, even though I knew no one but the bride and her immediate family and had a good time. The timings between ceremony and food weren't brilliant but that was even more reason to be glad the DC weren't there.

I appreciate that not everyone has childcare on tap. I didn't myself, I gave my ex nearly two years notice and reminders that I would need him to look after the children on that day. I know that some do have to decline because of lack of childcare but if you can get childcare and want to go then it's a nice thing to do.

[ApocalypseThen]

It's not as simple as that. If it were, you wouldn't have parents trying to pressurize brides into allowing their children/assuming invitations include their children/bringing their children uninvited.

[FamiliesShareGerms]

Chaotic - maybe those who got married first did want the sort of wedding where there are lots of kids running around? Why the assumption that the wedding people want doesn't involve children?

And those who get married later don't have to invite children at all, but they just need to have some inkling of thoughtfulness that means they understand that by not allowing small bf babies to attend they are saying that the mother can't attend; and if they want a three day extravaganza on the other side of the world then quite a few parents won't be able to make it.

It really is as simple as that!

[ChaoticisasChaoticdoes]

Those who are among the first to get married, within their friendship groups, usually have the wedding they want and don't have to worry about the number of kids because, as has been said previously not many of their friends have kids. So why can't those who are amongst the last to get married, within that group, also have the wedding they want without having the added cost of numerous extra kids, that now exist?

[maddening]

You'd have to get drunk and pretend it wasn't happening.

[ComposHat]

This thread is a mumsnet classic/recurring nightmare and when I see one of these I always guess how many comments it will be before someone wails .... 'but weddings are all about family.' It is an utterly predictable response and utterly trite and meaningless statement.

It wasn't disappointed on this thread - post no. 3!

Our wedding is not all about family, it is about celebrating our day with people we are close to. Not children with whom we have a passing relationship with at best.

[WallyBantersJunkBox]

Ah well thank your stars you weren't at a colleagues "Christmas" wedding, when a girl at our table said she couldn't eat the turkey dinner as she was a veggie. Cue them bringing back the same plate where they had scraped off the turkey slices (but left the meat gravy) and added a lovely clump of grated Cheddar to the plate!

We were gutted as it was the last of the turkey too. And the last of the china plates. And roast potatoes. Our table (12 work friends, at the back) ended up having a plate of red cabbage and brussel sprouts served on those blue plastic school plates. This was the only food served at 6pm after a wedding ceremony that commenced at midday.

We had to pack the one sober person into a car to buy all the boxes of crisps in the nearest newsagents and then sneak out to scoff them in small groups as not to offend the bridal party....

[maddening]

Actually the whole wedding thing is pants- I generally ddon't enjoy them anyway.

My favourite one was a pagan one by a waterfall with a simple buffet picnic then back to her parents back garden - all 20 of us - plus little ones (inc the bride and groom's dc) playing around and nice food and drink. Left at 9pm. They specified no gifts (I gave them a token pagan gift). Was lovely.

The rest of them are all the same and dull.

[maddening]

And I'm veggie so would always get the goats cheese starter and some tart for mains with balsamic vinegar.

[WallyBantersJunkBox]

Oh dear Maddening I think you are in the same camp as me!

Perhaps it's a viable condition. Wedding fatigue.

[miaowmix]

yanbu Op. This one really is the battle of who could could care less...

[maddening]

Possibly because after the expense of hen do's, stag parties, expensive hotels in far away places and the gift list it would possibly help not to have to pay for or organise childcare in order to watch them get married and eat a mediocre meal of their choosing and be bored by their relatives giving speeches about them. 

[WallyBantersJunkBox]

Yes but in this day and age, how many weddings are "local"?

Most people go off to college and meet friends from around the UK or overseas.

The last wedding we attended cost us well over ?2000 to attend when you add up travel, hotels (yes the venue of their dreams was the only place to stay without a 40 minute drive to anywhere with hotels so we had to suck it up and pay ?250 a night for two nights), clothes, gifts etc.

What about the person on MN who received the invite stating ?100 minimum gift voucher, no Coast dresses. Is that someone whose wedding you'd be honoured to attend?

Would they be ok if you turned up in a track suit, with no gift and parked a caravan in the grounds of their stately home, because the onus was just on you attending their special day? I guess then you'd know if they were true friends or not.

I'm just too practical I guess. When a wedding party (and I'm not talking about the ceremony, which of course is an intimate event) is all about the bride and groom, and not about looking after the guests I find it a little bit immature and selfish.

But then people are either all for weddings or not bothered. I have enjoyed some, but I really don't get that excited about them. So I will have to agree to differ...

[Jabiru]

I had a child free wedding but when I got married, not many of my friends had kids and one that did had willing local grandparents. It's harder when you get older and your friends have kids. I totally appreciate the cost though.

We declined an invitation when our daughter was 17 months old. The wedding took place over 2 days in the south west of England on NYE. Neither the bride nor groom had any connection with the south west (we are all in the north) and they really couldn't understand that it was impossible to find somebody to look after our daughter over new year. In the end they offered to hire a nanny at the venue who would arrive 15 minutes before the ceremony and cost us £200. There was no way I was putting our daughter through that (and paying for it) so we didn't go.

The couple have 2 kids now and I often wonder how they feel about their two day extravaganza looking back.