A mom had no issue with the fact that her cousin chose to have a childfree wedding — until she spotted other children at the ceremony. Prior to her cousin’s special day, the woman and her husband received a wedding invitation that specified that “no children” would be allowed at the event.
After seeing this, the mom, whose daughter was 2 years old at the time, decided to contact her cousin to confirm that the wedding would indeed be childfree. Come to find out, the wedding wasn’t actually childfree — it was only free of their child.
The bride and groom shared why they chose to have a ‘no children’ policy.
In a post shared on Reddit, the mom explained exactly what happened. After she received the wedding invitation, she reached out to confirm the details, and found out that the bride and groom chose to not invite children to their wedding because they were having it at a winery. They explained that just a few kids would be there: the flower girls and the ring bearer. This made sense to the mom, so she didn’t take her child to the wedding.
She and her husband asked someone to babysit their daughter.
Knowing that they wouldn’t be able to take their daughter to the wedding, the parents had to arrange child care for their toddler. The wedding was being held in another city, and they ultimately decided to have the woman’s mother-in-law travel with them. That way, she could watch their daughter while they attended the wedding.
However, when they arrived at the venue, drama ensued.
After going through the trouble of making sure they had someone to care for their child, the woman and her husband were shocked to see children at the “childfree” event. The fact that their daughter had been excluded made them “furious.” While they chose to stay for the actual ceremony and dinner, they left after that, missing out on the cake cutting, dancing, and other traditions. They were so angry that they didn’t even say goodbye before leaving.
To make it even worse, some guests asked them why they didn’t bring their daughter.
The woman and her husband had reason to think that other wedding guests never received a “no children” invitation. While they were at the event, several people, including the groom’s brother, asked them where their daughter was — almost as if they had no idea the wedding was allegedly “childfree.”
The mom’s response? “We made sure to tell them that we were told it was a childfree event so my husband’s mother was watching her,” she explained.
Redditors had mixed reactions.
Some Redditors could understand why the mom was so upset. A few people suspected that the woman’s cousin had lied to her. However, others suggested that the wedding probably was supposed to be childfree, and other parents simply didn’t listen.
“You left early because you saw other children at the wedding and assumed that they were invited while your child was not,” one Redditor wrote. They added that the woman and her husband had “no idea if the children were actually invited or if the parents thought the rules did not apply to them.”
Though some people could understand why the mom had an emotional reaction, they still thought it was rude to leave without saying anything.
“Unless your daughter has some sort of [behavioral] issue you’ve omitted, the cause of children being there was most likely parents disregarding the invitation,” a second Redditor commented. “I think it is very unfortunate for the bride and groom to both be punished by parents selfishly bringing their children without permission, and by parents who are offended.”
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