DEAR ABBY: I have a BIG problem. I am getting married on Nov. 23. My fiance and I are having a wedding reception with more than 200 guests. There are NO children invited.
According to the etiquette books that I have read, it is not proper to put "No Children" on your wedding invitations. (Mine are already printed up the proper way.) Anyway, one of my aunts is upset because her son and his wife have a 2-year-old boy who has cerebral palsy and some mental retardation. They claim that they cannot get a baby sitter for the boy and that they are bringing him to the wedding. They brought him to a family wedding last year, and everyone was buzzing about it.
I don't understand why they can't get a sitter. They have plenty of time to find one. And I don't want you to think that we don't want the boy there because he has a disability. (My fiance also has a physical disability.) But it is not fair to my fiance's family, some of whom have small children, too.
How do I handle this? I have already told my aunt "No" in so many words. She's one of those hardheaded people who wants her way all the time, and I am determined that she is not going to win this time. I don't even understand why she is getting involved when it is her son and daughter-in-law's place to talk to me about it. -- PRESSURED IN PENNSYLVANIA
DEAR PRESSURED: Wait until your cousin and his wife respond to your wedding invitation with the number of guests that will be in their party. If they put down more than two, then you have every right to call your cousin's wife and explain to her that this is an adults-only affair. You are right -- there is ample time for them to arrange for a sitter. And if they can't find one, then they should send their regrets instead of bringing an extra guest for whom their hosts are not prepared -- which is the height of rudeness.