A BRIDE-TO-BE has called out her aunt for trying to guilt her out of having a child-free wedding.
She explained that she wasn’t kid-ding about her no-child policy.
Redditor Infinite-Weather-158 shared the wedding drama in a viral post.
“My fiancé and I are getting married in a month, so we just sent out the invitations and are getting responses back,” she said.
“Early into the wedding planning, we decided we [would] make it 18+.”
Though she has distant relatives with children, she didn’t expect the policy to be an issue.
“When we were sending out the save the dates, I made sure to address the envelopes to just the parents to make sure that there was no confusion,” she said.
“We are also doing all online RSVPs, so the guest has to type in their name and RSVP for themselves.
“When they type in their name, it will also come up with anyone they are at a party with. So, if a couple is RSVPing, one person can type in their name, and it will also give them the option to RSVP for their spouse or partner.”
Her mother, however, gave them pushback about their decision.
“I explained to her that my fiancé and I are spending a lot of money on our wedding, and we are having it at a historic venue with a lot of items that can’t be replaced,” she said.
“We want parents to be able to relax and enjoy the evening with us. We are also having an open bar and we just do not believe that it is a place for children. She said she understood, and I thought this was behind us.”
But her mother’s sister also gave her grief about the ceremony.
“A few days ago, I got a text from my aunt on my mom’s side asking why she can’t RSVP for her two kids (10 and 8),” she said.
“I replied back and apologized for the misunderstanding and informed her that we were actually having an adults-only wedding.”
Her aunt attempted to convince her by explaining that childcare is expensive and difficult to find.
No one else has confronted me with concerns, and a lot of my friends who are getting married are also having an adults-only wedding, so I thought it was normal.
Redditor Infinite-Weather-158
“She told me if her kids can’t come, then she and her husband won’t be able to make it, and I said that I totally understand childcare can be difficult to find and there are no hard feelings if they can’t make it,” she said.
“A couple minutes later, I got a call from my mom telling me I was being selfish and I should just let her bring them.
“I told her I can’t do that since we weren’t planning on paying for any kids’ meals and our caterer is also $100 [per] person whether it’s a child or an adult.
“I said that it’s too expensive and it’s also not fair to my fiancé’s family if I make exceptions for my family and not his.”
Her mom once again rallied for her to reconsider the child-free policy.
“No one else has confronted me with concerns, and a lot of my friends who are getting married are also having an adults-only wedding, so I thought it was normal,” she said.
The kicker, she added, is that out of all of her relatives, she thought her aunt would be the most understanding.
“This aunt also had a child-free wedding that I was not invited to when I was 4,” she said.
“Obviously, this isn’t in retaliation to that at all because I genuinely could not care less, but it is interesting that she found it ok for herself but not me.”
People agreed that the decision is ultimately hers to make, not anyone else’s.
“Such is life with children. Sometimes, the kids can be sick and tie you home to tend to them,” said one commenter.
“Maybe you’ll get an invitation to a child-free wedding, and you’ll just have to put on your adult pants and accept that, for whatever reason, your children cannot attend.
“Either it is a child-free wedding, or it isn’t. And that is your call. Nobody gets a say in that. The couple getting married decides, and everyone else just goes with it.”
