My parents are giving FI and I $1500 for our honeymoon. They're just giving us a lump sum and we can use it however we want. We decided to take a scenic drive through NM and CO, stopping at popular tourists sights and to stay within the $1500 b/c we don't have anything in the budget to add to it.
A little background . . . my FMIL has already vented last week to us that she is "putting money into this wedding that she doesn't have that she could be using elsewhere" which really irritated both FI and I b/c we never asked her for money, nor did we expect it. But she wanted to contribute (it's her only child), so I totally understand. She decided to take out a small loan and pay half the RD. Awesome! We've told her our appreciation several times, but she pulled the "money card" on us last week and tried to add more people to the guest list (after it's been final for 2 months).
She said that since she's contributing toward the wedding (only the RD!) she should be able to add more people to the guest list!! Well, that got FI and I very upset and there was a long argument that followed, but in the end, we resolved the issue and added only one of her friends, not everyone she wanted. (note: it was a decision FI and I made together. He actually told her no, but I suggested we compromise and add just one of the extra people in order to keep the peace).
Fast forward to yesterday. I went to visit her in the afternoon and just as I was leaving, she started talking about the honeymoon. She knows my parents are paying for it, but all of a sudden, she wants to pay for one of our excursions that we planned (a RR trip). I politely told her that my parents are paying for it, but she insisted. She also wanted to pay for one of the lower class tickets, but I had already narrowed it down to the top two expensive ones since it's our honeymoon and we have the funds. She said "well, let me know which one you want to do and if I can afford it, I'll pay for it." . . .
Um, ok, but we'll probably want the most expensive one since it's way nicer and you've already complained that you can't afford the RD, even though YOU offered and now you want to give us more money, but only "what you can afford"? I wish she would just come out and say "I can give you x-amount of money toward your honeymoon" or something.
I think she feels bad b/c she wants to contribute more, but at the same time, my parents already offered to pay. I don't think they'd mind too much given the situation b/c we could use the extra money from my parents to splurge on something else.