Kids welcome! Ah, those two words can be a relief when you receive a wedding invite in the mail and you have kids at home.
This means you:
a) bring the kids and dress everyone up for a fun celebration, and
b) won’t need to find a sitter for the occasion.
Score!
If you prefer a date night, that’s OK, too; it’s just nice to know you could bring the kids if you can’t get a sitter.
In this blog post, we’ll tackle how to invite families with kids to your wedding with proper wording so they know children are welcome to attend.
We’ll also talk about why some couples invite kids to a wedding, why others exclude children, and why either way totally, 100% works. :)
Why Invite Kids to a Wedding?
Some wonder if kids should be included at a wedding. It varies, but it can be a really great option if your guest list includes several families with kids, and you can afford to do so.
Kids Welcome
When a couple invites kids to the wedding, they open up a realm of possibilities to guests with small kids. Some aren’t comfortable leaving their young kids just yet with a sitter. Others may not have a reliable babysitter willing to watch their children for the evening. This means they either a, find one, or b, decline the invitation. And most decide to decline the invitation.
Adults-Only
This is not to say that you HAVE TO invite kids to your wedding. That’s up to you!
Having an adult-only reception can also be a good option and works best for some people. Maybe you can’t afford to invite all families and their kids, or you want your guests to enjoy a night out to celebrate. Maybe the venue isn’t especially kid-friendly, or you know they’ll be sitting through hours of photos and endless toasts. Hey, when’s cake?! 😁
Either way is great!
How To Invite Kids to a Wedding
This blog post is inspired by a recent Ask Emmaline question we received. Bride-to-be, Erika, wants guests to know kids are invited to the wedding. Rather than having an adults-only reception, she and her fiance are planning a reception with kids welcome.
She writes,
“Dear Emmaline, our wedding guest includes several families with kids. We are inviting children to our wedding, so how do we inform guests that kids are welcome to attend? I want to make sure the families can come and won’t need to find sitters. Thank you so much!”
Great question, Erika! How fun: I’m sure the kids will enjoy celebrating at the reception!
As a rule of thumb, the best way to inform guests and invite kids to the wedding festivities is through the invitation.
The envelopes when you address invites AND the reception card (with special wording) work in unison to confirm that all ages are welcome to attend.
Here’s a little more about each method in depth.
1. Addressing Invitations To Include Children
When you address the outer and inner envelopes of your invitations, you’ll include the names of the child(ren).
OUTER ENVELOPE: “Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Harding and Family”
INNER ENVELOPE: “Michael, Lucia, Matt, Lucy, and Timothy”
2. Kids Welcome Wording on the Reception Card
Then, on the reception card itself, you’ll use the simplest kids welcome at wedding wording ever:
Simply put:
“Kids welcome”
Yep! That’s it!
► You can get this kids welcome reception card here.
And there you have it! Now you’ll be assured that guests know children are welcome to attend in the festivities.
In addition, you can include a mention of it on your website: “Kid-friendly reception”. But you don’t have to, as long as you’ve already put the other items into place.
Congrats on the upcoming reception! The kids in attendance will love these kid-friendly wedding favors, FYI!
And remember:
• It’s OK to have kids at a wedding.
• It’s OK to have no kids at a wedding.
You do whatever you want because it’s your wedding! :)
There’s no right or wrong way here, as each couple is different, budgets vary, and so do guest lists. Everyone does it their own way and that’s what makes it oh-so-memorable.
Hope it helps!
xo
Emma
