No kids wedding...except there were kids.

[Anonymous]

We went way out of our way to go to a wedding, brought the kids because there is no where to leave them, found a babysitter in the wedding town and arrive to see tons of kids at the wedding. They were all "in the wedding party" but still I was really pet peeved to see that they basically allowed the entire grooms family to bring their kids and no one else.

Is that normal? I thought no kids meant 0 kids not even in the wedding party.

[Anonymous]

Yes, normal for exceptions to be made. It is a wedding not a military exercise. Won't to have total control over a wedding, host your own

[Anonymous]

Yes it’s normal and you have no right to be peeved.

[Anonymous]

Very standard.

[Anonymous]

Totally normal. Dh and I originally said "no kids" and then wound up making exceptions for babies that were exclusively nursing, and two girls who were DH's favorite uncle's grandkids. So we had like five kids/babies there.

[Anonymous]

I hate weddings and I no longer go out of my way to attend them. I'd be annoyed too but I have learned my lesson. Next time don't overexert yourself and skip it if it's a hassle.

[Anonymous]

How many is “ tons” of kids? One or two in the wedding party or a nursing baby I’d be ok with… multiple kids similar ages to mine and I’d be annoyed. I do t go to no kid Weddings though.

[Anonymous]

They get to invite whoever they want. A “certain kids” wedding is perfectly acceptable. Nobody owes you a wedding invitation. Also, attendance isn’t required!

[Anonymous]

You're kidding, right?

[Anonymous]

This is very normal in my experience.

[Anonymous]

Yes, it’s normal. A niece as flower girl or nephew as ring bearer is different than your random kids.

[Anonymous]

OP, I get it. With my kids now older, I'm glad the wedding phase is done for me. When you consider a "no kids" invitation, you must accept that the bride and groom don't want YOUR kids there. That's what they are saying. It's hard to stomach, but you can either accept the invitation and force yourself to not react negatively for any reason or decline the invitation.

[Anonymous]

We had a “all kids welcome” wedding but I think this situation is normal and fine. There’s a big difference between having close family kids or kids in the wedding party and having all the kids of every invitee.

Fwiw, I really loved weddings as a child. I wish kids got more opportunities to attend weddings.

[Anonymous]

You thought wrong. No kids means no children of distant cousin, coworkers, neighbors, parents friends, etc. It's usually just a few kids the bride and groom specifically want such as their own, nieces, nephews etc. You don't sound that close to the B&G since you were surprised so obviously your kids weren't going to be included.

[Anonymous]

I understand why it felt frustrating but this is verrrry normal. Of course nieces and nephews usually still come. But it may still be no kids because for some weddings especially if you get married older you could potentially have like 30 kids. It’s ok for a bride and groom to not want that. One rule of weddings is it’s ok for the bride and groom to make choices for the event they want and you are an adult and it’s also ok if you say that is too difficult for me and don’t go, everyone gets a choice. So personally while I understand the feeling of woof that was a lot getting our kids here and watched etc., no I don’t think you can be peeved because you knew the constraints and decided it was important for you to be there