Lately, everything has been an argument between my mom and I. She and my dad want to keep adding things to a very tight budget and they keep saying they'll pay for it. The problem is I don't want them to keep paying for everything. I just wanted to have a small wedding and they're trying to escalate it into a larger event. I think my parents are upset that I am turning down more of their money, but I don't feel they should be mad b/c I made it clear to them in the beginning how small and simple I wanted everything to be; I feel hurt they aren't respecting that.
Based on the original budget, my FI and I are paying for 50% of the wedding, and both of our parents are paying for 25%. This was done to avoid problems/disagreements like this...but obviously it isn't working. Once my parents volunteer to start paying for things, it feels like they try to take over, and don’t believe me when I tell them otherwise.
I don't want to look back at the planning process and just remember arguing with my mom. I'm trying to come up with other things that I want to have at the wedding that she can take care of because I think that might be why she gets upset at me for not wanting her ideas. Any advice on how to approach planning/budget discussions differently? I would still like them to be part of the planning process, but I really want them to respect my decisions.