My guests criticised me for having my daughters at my child-free wedding

A bride has revealed that she was criticized on her wedding day for having her young daughters at the ceremony, despite telling guests that children were not allowed at the event.

Attendees told the couple that the situation was “unfair” because they had to pay nannies to look after their children so they could attend the supposedly “child-free” celebration.

The bride, believed to be from the UK, brought Reddit to defend their decision, saying that they had given their guests two years’ notice and that their daughters were brought home before the reception.

Online users flooded the comments section to support the bride, saying the couple’s children are “always an allowed exception” at a childless wedding.

The bride explained: ‘My partner of 12 years and I finally got married recently. We have two daughters together who are ten and two years old.

They were the only children at the wedding. They were only there for the ceremony, not the reception.

‘The eldest was one of the bridesmaids and the youngest was the flower girl.

“It was made explicitly clear that our children were going to participate in our wedding even as we planned it and sent out the invitations.

“It was also explicitly made clear that our children would be the only children there and that it was a child-free wedding and they would not be at the reception.”

“We emphasized the point that the day was as much about our children as it was about us, since we have been together for a long time.

“To put it selfishly, my husband and I didn’t want other people’s children but our own there.”

She described the reaction from the guests, saying: “We didn’t get a lot of criticism until the day of the wedding.”

“Some people were quite vocal about how unfair it was that we had our kids at the ceremony and we got pretty involved and no one else.

The bride, who is believed to be from the UK, posted on Reddit, explaining that her wedding had been planned for two years and guests had plenty of time to find childcare.

“The ceremony literally lasted about 40 minutes, then my uncle took the girls to his house and volunteered to forgo the ceremony to take care of them.

‘Some people complained that they had to shell out money for nannies and stuff.

“Just a few people were a little upset because they had kids similar to my oldest son’s age or a little older that would have been fine to attend a ceremony for a few hours. For example, some have teenagers.

‘My husband and I feel we gave everyone enough notice; almost two years, and it was our wedding day.

“Others feel differently, and we’re still getting passive-aggressive feedback.”

Reddit users defended the couple saying they have the right to invite whoever they want to their wedding and should not be judged by their guests.

Other Reddit users supported the bride by saying that the couple can make their decisions about who is at their wedding without waiting for judgment from the guests.

One user wrote: ‘Of course your children will be treated differently from the rest and will be involved. You did nothing wrong.’

Another said: ‘The children of the people getting married are always an exception allowed in a childless wedding.

‘That wedding is the beginning of a new stage in your own family.’

Others noted that if guests couldn’t attend without their children, they had the option of staying home.

One user wrote: ‘We had a wedding without children. My niece was my flower girl and she left after the ceremony.

“I understood when people refused and that was their choice.”

Another said: ‘Kids don’t have to be invited everywhere. They didn’t have to come! It’s your wedding, you can do whatever you want.

One added: “I find the kid-free trend ridiculous, but you’re free to invite whoever you want and they’re free to decline if they don’t want to leave their kids at home.”