My parents' wedding contribution came with sixteen extra guests. Do we take the money?
Weddings"Send me the invitation link and I'll forward it," Mum said. Then she sent sixteen names. We'd planned dinner for eighty people.
My parents offered $4,000 towards the wedding two months ago. I said thank you without asking what they expected. We haven't spent it or sent invitations. Now Mum says these are the friends who brought meals when Dad was ill, and inviting them is part of what she's helping us celebrate.
The venue says ninety-six people would mean moving to its larger room for another $600. At our quoted $90 per dinner, the extra meals would be $1,440. We can afford our original eighty-person plan ourselves, but accepting the contribution would leave us more breathing room. My partner doesn't want to make room by removing friends we actually see.
I suggested eight of Mum's friends. She heard that as asking her to rank people who helped our family. Dad said, "We thought this was something we were doing together."
Did I make this harder by accepting before discussing guests? I want to settle what the contribution means while returning it is still a practical option, without treating their friends as sixteen unwanted plates.