I’ve always thought child-free weddings are superior – even after I had kids

The former Love Island star is marrying her fiancé, Blackburn Rovers footballer Bradley Dack, later this year and clearly knows who will and won’t be invited.  

‘Even if I had my own children, I wouldn’t invite them,’ she said on Jamie Lang’s Private Parts podcast. 

‘I haven’t got a baby yet, so I don’t know that love that they talk about, but when I see the bride with like, this little thing hanging off her dress, its little grubby hands, I’m like, “What the f***?”’

She went on to describe the noise of young children during the vows to the call of the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park.

Now, I may not have worded it quite as strongly as Olivia did, but I have to say, I completely agree with her. I just don’t think it is appropriate for children to be at weddings.

It was easy for me to say that when I got married. 

Like Olivia, when I got engaged to my husband Tom, we didn’t have children yet and so, selfishly I suppose, I didn’t really want other children there.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’ve always loved children and have always welcomed them with open arms at all other social occasions. Birthday parties? Of course they’re invited! Anniversary dinners? Bring them along!  

While some people don’t think children belong in restaurants, I’ve never been bothered if I can hear a baby screaming when I’m eating out and I’ve always gone out of my way to talk to mums of crying babies on trains and planes to make them feel more comfortable.  

But when it came to my big day, I felt completely differently. 

I couldn’t help but think that having children there would turn it into a completely different type of occasion to the one I wanted. I wanted our guests to be able to relax and enjoy themselves – and, yes, focus on us and our celebration.

I didn’t particularly want my ceremony to be interrupted by children needing the toilet, to have the speeches halted by a baby crying, or have the dance floor taken over by an unruly game of tag.

So, we decided to bite the bullet, be honest and tell everyone we were having a child-free wedding.

I have to admit, I was nervous. Wedding guest lists can be notoriously controversial and I didn’t want to upset or offend anyone. 

Thankfully, all our friends with children completely understood and embraced the fact that they’d get a day – and night – off parenting duties. 

We made two exceptions – our nieces and nephews and my boss’s baby, who was still being breastfed. 

Tom’s nephews, who were teenagers, and his niece, eight, were old enough to be part of the celebrations, but I spoke to my sister and my boss and we decided to organise a babysitter to look after the younger ones from 6pm, so they would be free to enjoy the night too.

My best friend and bridesmaid, Caroline, even arranged for her parents to come over to the Isle of Man, where we were getting married, to look after her children and turned it into a mini holiday for the whole family. 

I will be forever grateful to her for being so thoughtful.

And I have absolutely no regrets. Everyone danced and drank and thoroughly enjoyed themselves until the early hours, when we all eventually collapsed in a happy mess after the last song.

The only slight hiccup was when my husband was giving his speech and raised a glass to my boss for doing a reading – only to find she wasn’t there because she’d nipped out to change her baby’s nappy. 

I certainly wouldn’t be offended if my children weren’t invited to a friend’s wedding. To be honest, I wouldn’t bring them even if they were.

Don’t get me wrong, Tom and I are dedicated parents who spend most of our week ferrying our children to swimming lessons and dance classes, organising playdates and cinema trips and working our plans around party invitations. 

We love spending time with them and making the most of our time together outside of nursery, school and work. 

But weddings are a special occasion. Hopefully, a once-in-a-lifetime event. 

The bride and groom have put a huge amount of effort (not to mention, money) into planning their special day and, if they’ve been kind enough to invite me, I want to be present for all of it.

I want to be able to have more than one drink, to be able to chat to other friends, to enjoy the wedding breakfast and catch a few moments with the happy couple. 

Not to have at least 50% of my time and focus trained on my children and what they are doing or what they need.

I want to be able to laugh and dance and go home when I’m ready, not because my children are tired and grumpy.

If other people want children at their weddings, that’s great! You do you! 

We were invited to a friend’s wedding 18 months ago and they had children there.

Their little girl, along with a couple of other family members, were flower girls and their little boy was a mini page boy. 

It was a beautiful day. 

We loved meeting their friends, the ceremony was gorgeous and the children were absolutely adorable. 

But, as Tom and I clinked our champagne flutes, savoured our food, then threw some moves on the dance floor, I was so glad Theo and Immy were tucked up at home, while their grandparents looked after them.

And I bet Olivia’s guests will feel exactly the same way.