Kids at Wedding Debacle
Hello!
I am in need of some desperate advice on how to handle NOT having kids at our wedding.
Our intention was to have 21 and older guests at our wedding. Reason why we don’t want to have children there is due to the fact that we are not close with any kids in our families, the disruption they may cause, we don’t have any of our own, and we want everyone to be able and drink and have a good time without worrying about their kids.
The problem is that my parents are already paying for the wedding. Which is not a problem, obviously, rather it’s very very generous and I’m highly thankful. BUT, I have cousins on my side that range from 3-18. My parents are especially close to these said cousins and I just never have been. I would see them maybe 2-3 times a year. Now, I wouldn’t mind maybe the older kids joining. However, the issue is the picking and choosing. I don’t want to hear about how we invited a 16 year old on my side and not the 16 year old on my fiancés side. And let me just add that his side of the family is very large and there are several children of all ages that are chaotic and spoiled. We can’t pick and choose. That wouldn’t make sense to me. And I want to fight people about their kids.
And when I stand my ground to my parents, I’ve had it thrown in my face that they are paying for the wedding and that they should have more of a say. I need advice on how to go forth with this. Do I bite the bullet and lower the age restriction? How can I verbalize what we want without pissing off my parents? Should they have such a large say so?
Previously, they said they had no issue with not having kids there. But I don’t know if they thought the age number was lower or what. It’s just hard to say no or explain yourself to my parents when they are investing so much money and feel that they have a large say so… what do I do?