How to Politely Invite Only Some of the Family
Worried that uninvited guests will show up at your wedding? Have a huge family and need to limit your invites to only certain members of the family (i.e. the parents, not the children)? The only "etiquettely" correct way to do this is to explicitely list each invited guest on the invitation inner envelope. Unfortunately, you really need both an inner and an outer envelope to use this method. Here are some examples:
Outer: Mr. and Mrs. Robert Smith
Inner: Mr. and Mrs. Smith
or
Outer: Ms. Sarah Smith
Inner: Ms. Smith and Guest
or
Outer: Mr. and Mrs. Robert Smith
Inner: Mr. and Mrs. Smith
John, Mary, and Michael (these are the children)
Now for the more fun, non-"etiquettely" correct ways of limiting the number of guests invited to your wedding. There are a few different ways you can use your RSVP card to accomplish this goal. The first idea would be to include a sentence at the bottom of your RSVP card like the following:
"We hope that the two of you will be able to join us."
The second idea would be to include a line on your RSVP card like the following:
"_____ of 2 will attend"
If you are specifically choosing to limit your wedding to only adults, you could discreetly include one of the following phrases at either the bottom of your invitation or at the bottom of your reception card:
"Adults only" or "Adult reception"
Finally, you could simply ask your parents and/or your bridal party to mention to your guests that children are not invited or that the number of people you can invite is limited by your reception location (may be a lie, but at least it will prevent people from being angry at you).
