A recent post on YourTango by writer Chaunie Brusie is getting a lot of attention after she said that as a parent, she thinks it’s rude not to allow kids at your wedding.
“While I totally get that most couples don’t want to fork over the cash to pay for some snotty-nosed children to eat a few rolls and bust a move in the chicken dance, adult-only weddings have become my nemesis. … The truth is, I just can’t afford so many kids-free weddings,” she writes. “For couples that have kids, an adult-only wedding is a painful decision-making process that includes weighing the cost of a babysitter with the most special night of your lives, which is just another weekend in ours.”
Brusie says that the cost of hiring a babysitter to watch her kids while she’s celebrating a couple’s nuptials can be steep.
“For us, to attend the ceremony and a reception, I’ll easily shell out over 100 bucks on a babysitter, plus the wedding gift. It’s a horrendously expensive date night, and I’m sorry (and no offense to you and the love of your life), but that’s really asking a lot of your guests with young children,” she writes. “If you’re like the rest of us, hosting a pretty standard wedding and reception and aren’t inviting kids because of the cost, it’s a tough pill for me to swallow. I’d rather bring my kids after dinner or pop them on my lap to share my buttered roll, so we could all attend your special day without it costing me an arm and a leg to be there.”
The story got about 12,000 shares and was even a topic on the Today show Monday morning.
Today surveyed viewers, and 88 percent of those who weighed in disagreed with Brusie, saying it’s not selfish to have a no-kids rule at your big day.
Brusie stuck with her opinion, saying she thinks everybody wins with kids at the affair.
“Who else can you do the robot with and not feel like an idiot? Everybody dances more when there are kids around, and parents don’t have to hurry home to pay the sitter.”
