Come to our wedding and don’t bring the kids

Dear Amy: Later this year I will wed the love of my life.

This is his first marriage and my third; it will be a small, intimate affair. We are both pushing 50, and neither of us has children, but we both like kids.

I have four couples who are friends with small children. After some lengthy conversations among us, we would like to have our day with adults only. Most of these couples will welcome the chance to get a baby sitter and party for a few hours. However, other couples will be offended, and that worries me.

Should I call these couples before I send out the invitations and explain that our wedding is adults-only?

How can I tactfully word it on our invitation?

Worried in Colorado

Dear Worried: You shouldn’t use any specific wording on the printed invitation delineating who in the household is invited and who is excluded.

Address the envelope (and its inner envelope) to the couple in question.

After the invitation is received, you can contact your friends who have kids and say, “We’re sorry we aren’t able to include children in the invitation, but we’d be happy to try to arrange child care locally if you need it. Just let us know.”

Send questions to Amy Dickinson by e-mail to askamy@tribune.com.