My fiance and I are both university students, but we are financially able to pay for most of the wedding ourselves, which is what we expected to do. We knew our parents would want to contribute in some way. Neither my fiance's parents nor mine are very well off, although his moreso than mine. To my surprise, my parents are giving us a significant amount toward the wedding, and his parents are giving us about twice as much! Their gift alone is more than my intended budget, which makes me feel immensely guilty for two reasons.
First, my mother was very upset that she could only give as much as she did (though it's extremely generous based on their income!), and expressed multiple times that she would love to be able to pay for all of it. I never expected her to, but she seems to think she's not providing well enough. Knowing that my future in-laws gave double what she did really upsets her, although not in a resentful or angry way, just sad that she can't do more.
Also, recieving so much money is overwhelming for me, especially since they have no requests at all! All four parents want us to do as we wish with the money, including using it for living expenses or the honeymoon. I feel like I should owe them something, but they won't ask for anything!
Does anyone have any ideas as to how I can make my mother feel better about her generosity, and feel less guilty about being given so much money, especially from my in-laws? Thanks!
