A wedding invitation is always a welcome site in the mailbox. However, if proper wedding invitation etiquette is not followed, problems can arise. When sending out wedding invitations, take extra care to not confuse or possibly insult your guests. Following proper wedding invitation etiquette and protocol is crucial to not giving anyone the wrong impression. Although you may not be able to meet everyone's expectations, by following proper wedding invitation etiquette, you can lower your chances of insulting a potential guest. Adhering to generally accepted guidelines to deal with sensitive invitation issues, such as not inviting children, can make the whole process leading up to the wedding run much smoother.

As mentioned before, one of the most glaring points of contention and potential insult comes with the issue of children at a wedding. Many younger couples like to avoid having the little ones at the ceremony and reception because of the potential for misbehavior. Depending on the individuals, it can be difficult to ask a parent to not include their children in any activity. The easiest and most appropriate way to not invite a child is simple; you should leave their name off the invitation entirely. If the name of the child does not appear anywhere on the outer or inner envelopes, then the guest should assume that their child is not invited. Without proper indication, guests may assume their entire family is invited.

If you are worried about this happening, even if the child's name is not mentioned on the invitation, there are a few steps you can take. A subtle and indirect method of uninviting children is to let the information that no children will be at the wedding pass through your family and friends. Tell a few people that should not be offended by the fact that the ceremony and reception are for adults only. Then, if anybody has questions, they may likely hear the answer through one of the other sources that children are not invited. If your group of guests may not be in close enough contact with one another, or you are still worried that some parents may try to bring the children along, you can simply specify on the response cards that an adult reception will be held after the ceremony. This will subtly inform your guests that only adults are welcome without singling out any particular family. A final measure that can be taken to ensure that children do not attend is to simply fill out the number of guests slot on the invitation ahead of time. If you specify how many guests are allowed, the invitee should be able to pick up what is going on. These actions are all socially acceptable ways to ensure that children are not at your ceremony.