Your wedding day is an important day that you have been planning for a long time and you want everything to be perfect. One of the things you may be concerned about is having loud and obnoxious kids ruin your special day. If you have a friend who has kids who may disrupt your wedding, you may be thinking of how you can ask her or him to not bring them with. It is a sensitive subject and you have to be as tactful as possible if you don’t want to risk losing your friendship. You may want to ask them not to bring the kids to the wedding ceremony or just the reception.
When deciding whether to ask the kids not to come or how to approach it, take into account how close of a friend it is and how terrible the kids actually are. Also, some parents know that their kids are not well behaved and would understand if you asked them not to attend, while others will be more sensitive about the subject.
Keep in mind that if the friend is told she can’t bring her kids, then she may not attend either. Parents can get very protective and defensive about their children and be hurt by what you say. Take that into consideration and if having her there is important to you, you may choose to put up with the kids’ behaviors.
The easiest way to let a friend know that their kids are not welcome at your wedding is to ask someone else to tell them for you. Ultimately, the friend will realize that you are the one requesting it, but if you have a friend of yours who is also their friend tell her, you will avoid having to deal with the repercussions directly.
Rather than ask your friend directly to not bring her kids, there are two better options. One is to have her decide on her own not to bring them. If you can be subtle and give her reasons as to why she would have a better time without the kids around, the situation would be better for everyone. Another way is to make the decision that no kids are allowed at your wedding-either at the ceremony and reception or just the reception. If you state it in a tactful and nice way, most people will understand and respect your decision. That way you don’t personally hurt anyone’s feelings and everyone is on a level playing field. You won’t directly hurt your friend. And truthfully, weddings are usually more fun and less stressful for everyone without kids around.
