A: That depends! Was the invitation addressed just to you? Or, was it addressed to you “Mr. John Smith and Guest”? If it was the former, the couple is inviting only you. The same goes for children. Unless the invitation was addressed to your entire family, chances are good that the couple is inviting only the adults in your household.

Q: Why wouldn’t they let me bring someone to the wedding?

A: It usually comes down to budget or space. Either they don’t have it in the budget to spend an extra $200 on your date, or they have selected a venue that won’t accommodate the number of guests they’d be inviting with your date and everyone else’s. Often, couples set a limitation on who the “plus ones” will be. For example, they may extend invitations to live-in boyfriends and girlfriends of their friends, but not to casual dates.

Q: I HAVE a serious live-in boyfriend who wasn’t invited along with me. What gives?

A: If something like this happens, it is the result of one of two things. Either your friend has a total case of “bridal brain” and she forgot about your boyfriend, or she is trying to tell you something. Talk to your friend about the situation. She may be choosing this opportunity to put her foot down about this person in your life. You can’t hold it against her, though. She gets to choose who is invited to her wedding. Good luck!

Q: My children are my life! Not inviting them is completely offensive to me. Why would someone choose to exclude my adorable, angelic children from their wedding?

A: See the above answer about budget and space, to start. Another reason that YOUR children may not be invited is that NO children may be coming to the wedding. An adults-only reception is very common and should not be taken personally. Parents really need to respect the wishes of the bride and groom. Treat the night without the kids as a date and enjoy!

Please don’t be offended in any of these situations! Be happy that the engaged couple loves you enough to invite YOU to the wedding. You never know, maybe they have a special someone sitting at your table just for you…