My kid wasn't invited to my sister's childfree wedding - she's 17

"You should tell her you can’t attend because you don’t have childcare for your child."

Image: IStock / Pexels

Imagine a mum's surprise when she received her sister's wedding invitation, only to realise it was a strictly childfree event: meaning her 17-year-old daughter wasn't allowed to attend. 

"My sister wants a very small wedding with only immediate family," she explained to Reddit's Am I The A**hole forum.

"Yesterday we got her wedding invitation and it said that the wedding is childfree and my child isn't invited. My child will be 18 soon.

"She's the only one under 18 in our family (and in the groom's family), so she is the only one being excluded."

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Image: IStock / Pexels

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"Just say you want a 'my child' free wedding"

After realising the snub, she called her sister and asked, "Are you f**king serious?!"

Her sister responded by emphasising it was a "childfree wedding", but the OP wasn't having a bar of it and called out how ridiculous this technicality was. 

"I told her to just say you want a 'my child' free wedding and get it over with because this is exactly what you are doing," she said.

"We got into an argument and she told me to stop throwing a tantrum and my child doesn't need to be included in everything. I told her that we won't be attending her wedding then and she called me an asshole for not supporting her."

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"No justification for it"

Most commenters sided with the woman, saying her sister was being extremely exclusionary.

"I’m proud of you for defending your daughter, OP. She's acting like she’s not a person with feelings, an entire human being because she is 17. It's entirely disgusting and there’s absolutely no justification for it," the top comment out of 7.9k comments read.

It continued, "I wouldn’t support my sister doing that either. This isn’t some friend and OP’s daughter isn’t some auxiliary guest. She’s a member of the family, and the only one being excluded."

A second person agreed, adding, "Usually I would say, 'their wedding, their rules," but not in this situation. Your grown child is literally the only one being excluded. I can't imagine what is probably going through her head right now. You should definitely talk to her and make sure she knows not to take it personally."

"NTA. I’m childfree and all for childfree weddings, but setting a 'no under 18s' rule when there is exactly one relative about to turn 18 sounds deliberate. Your sister can set any rule she likes, but your family is free to not attend," a third stated.

And a fourth jokingly suggested, "You should tell her you can’t attend because you don’t have childcare for your child lol."

This article was originally published in February 2024 and was updated in September 2024. 

Originally published as My kid wasn't invited to my sister's childfree wedding - she's 17