Children at your Wedding?

Firstly, a quick disclaimer:  I have 3 kids (6 year old twins and an 8 year old). and although I love them dearly, I would love an adult night out with my husband. Please keep this in mind before you get yourself too stressed about how parents are going to react to receiving an invitation that states their children aren't invited.

You can obviously be polite about it though, so here's a few suggestions you could include with your invitation:

1. Children are very welcome to attend the ceremony, however we are unable to cater for children under 16 at the reception.

2. Due to venue size restrictions, we have decided to have an 'adults only' event.

3. We'd like our guests (including parents) to be able to enjoy themselves and as our venue is near a river / cliff / beach and alcohol is being served, we respectfully request children do not attend.

4. {Ceremony Wording}... An adults only reception will follow at {Venue}

5. Adult only reception.

If you are having a destination wedding over a number of days and just don't want children attending the actual ceremony or reception, please keep in mind that as your guests have travelled it may be a good idea to inform them of a number of babysitting services you've been recommended.

Also, remember that if you're inviting younger guests that live with their parents, it is appropriate to address the invitation to each child over the age of 18 separately (ie not on the same invitation as their parents).