How to say 'NO KIDS ARE INVITED' on your wedding invitation

You have decided you don't want to have children attend your wedding ceremony or wedding reception, or in fact both!

I understand, I too requested a child-free wedding and I get asked all of the time, how can I word it on my wedding invitations!

To help you, I have listed a few different ways that you can politely communicate with your guests that children are not invited to your wedding. You don't need to be rude, but you also can't be too subtle, as the point you are trying to make could be missed entirely.

The following 25 x phrases can be mentioned on either your RSVP card or on an information card.

“Adults only affair”
“We kindly request this be an adult-only wedding”
“Unfortunately we are only able to accommodate the children in the wedding party at our reception.”
“Whilst we love little ones, we kindly request a child-free wedding”
“Please note that this is an adults-only celebration”
“Adults only reception to follow”
“We respectfully request no children under the age of 16 to the reception”
“Please join us for an adults-only reception at 6:00pm”
“Unfortunately we cannot accommodate children - thank you for your understanding”
“We politely request that there be no children under the age of 18 at the reception”
“No children under the age of 16 will be permitted”
“We respectfully advise this is an adult-only event”
“By request, no children under the age of 16”
“Children are welcome to attend the ceremony, however, we respectfully advise that the reception will be for adults only. We thank you for your understanding”
“We hope you’ll join us at an adults-only reception that will immediately follow the ceremony”
“Although we love to watch the children laugh and play, this is going to be an adults-only kind of day”
“Although we love your children, we regretfully cannot accommodate them at the venue due to limited seating”
“We thought you would like the night off, so we are having an adults-only wedding”
“To give all our guests the opportunity to celebrate without having to worry about little eyes and ears, we politely request no children.”
“We respectfully advise this is an adult occasion (18+) however infants under 12 months are welcome”
"Please respect our wishes for a child-free wedding/ceremony/reception"
"This invitation to extended to adults only"
"Sweet dreams to children under 16"
Sorry, no children under the age of 16
"We truly wish we could invite all our guests’ children to our wedding however we are only able to invite the children of our immediate families"

If saying something like the above seems too direct for you, here are a few other ways you can let your guests know that children are not invited.

Carefully address each invitation with the names of those you are inviting, including their names on the envelope.
You could add a line onto your response/RSVP card saying “we have reserved ___ seats for you at the reception"
On the response card, you could say
___ adults would love to attend
___ regrettably we are unable to attend
You could personalise each response/RSVP card with your guest names printed on each one, so it is clear who can accept the invitation.
Make a phone call to those with kids and explain over the phone
Do you have a wedding website? Mention it there as a website is more of an information tool in addition to your formal wedding invitation.

I do understand that this particular topic for weddings is a debatable one and I see the pros and cons of having kids at the wedding and not having them there.

I believe it is up to you, the couple, to decide how you would like to spend your special day, how to allocate your budget and if you choose to invite children or not to your wedding.

Either way, your day will be amazing and if you wish not to have children at your wedding, then I hope you found this article helpful.

Until next time
Bel xx