FI made the mistake of going into details with his mom about our wedding. Oh brother...
- We shouldn't have a hosted bar because everyone will just be happy we invited them, and we shouldn't be on the line for other people wanting to drink alcohol and "You don't want to be responsible for all those people driving home drunk!"
- We should do a money tree (I had never heard of this before) because so-and-so did one and they got a lot of money this way! (Apparently it's literally a tree designed on a poster or the wall or something, and people actually attach money to it for you...)
- We have to register at all the high-end expensive stores for things we would never buy for ourselves, and then make sure to tell everyone about where we're registered because "your gifts can pay for your whole wedding!"
- We shouldn't go above and beyond for our guests' comfort because "I paid a total of $460 for my first wedding, and everyone loved it!" so we shouldn't spend so much money.
- "Can't your mom help you pay for your wedding? The bride's mom is supposed to pay, that's why I was so happy I had all boys!"
- We should just ask for cash! "You can make a lot of money at your wedding as long as you don't invite homeless people!"
And these same ideas went on and on for about an hour. At first I tried to politely explain why we were doing things the way we are, but eventually I stopped responding to her and I just let her ramble.
I think FI learned his lesson.