Mom Brings Baby To Childfree Wedding After Refusing To Leave Him With Family Babysitter
He cried through the ceremony.
Lopolo via Shutterstock / Vitor Monthay via Unsplash With the average cost of a wedding putting a $30,000 hole in the bride and groom's bank account, most would agree that whatever the bride and groom say goes. Which is why, when a child-free wedding is requested, it's up to parents to either leave their kids at home or decline the wedding invite.
One mother, however, decided she had a third option when invited to a child-free wedding: bring her baby anyway.
There are many reasons why a couple may decide not to have children at their wedding, from wanting to avoid crying during the ceremony to wanting parents to be able to enjoy themselves fully.
Sometimes, child-free weddings have nothing to do with the kids at all, but rather the bride and groom's budget. Many venues require couples pay per person, regardless of that person's size, making each child who attends an added cost. This is why one mother's cousin and his fiancée requested their wedding guests leave their kids at home — however, she decided to skirt the rule.
In a Reddit post, the mother explained that she was uncomfortable with leaving her 10-month-old son with the babysitter her family hired to watch their kids. Instead of RSVPing 'no' to the wedding, however, she decided to subtly let the bride and groom know she wouldn't accommodate their request.
“I wrote on the RSVP that I was bringing him," she wrote, believing that his presence wouldn't be an issue because "he would be sitting on my lap and I would bring my own food for him. My cousin didn't say anything so I assumed that he was OK with it.”
The baby's presence at the wedding caused some family drama.
The woman wrote that the baby was well-behaved for the majority of the wedding aside from crying at the ceremony, but explained that her aunt, the groom's mother, confronted her about the issue after the wedding and called her "rude" for ignoring the couple’s request.
"She said that my cousin and his bride had a problem with it but the bride didn't want to start any drama because she doesn't know me well," she wrote, adding, “And some of my cousins were upset because they thought that the groom gave me special treatment by letting me bring my baby and making them leave their kids with a babysitter. I didn't mean to start any drama.”
Child-free weddings have proven controversial, but are becoming more common.
According to the 2024 Zola First Look Report, which surveyed over 7,000 couples getting married in 2024, over 79% of them are in favor of child-free weddings. And though that may not sit well with parents, as etiquette expert and wedding stationery business founder Lisa Forde told Hello! Magazine that if the bride and groom make it clear they don't want kids at their wedding, it's not a request — it's a rule.
"The world doesn’t revolve around you and your choices," one person wrote. "You don’t get to write 'I’m bringing my kid' on an [sic] a child-free invite."
The overwhelming majority of commenters on Reddit agreed that the mom acted selfishly by ignoring the child-free request, adding that if she "wasn't comfortable" with the babysitter her family chose, she could have found someone of her own.
“You had plenty of time to find a babysitter or other family member to watch your kid while you went to the wedding but decided that you were just above the rules,” one comment read.
Jonathan Alfano is a writer who focuses on news and entertainment topics.