Our daughter is wanting a budget but my attitude is first tell us what you want and unless it is beyond our means you can have it. My feeling is that when you give somebody an amount, then it ususally all gets spent. The objective is to get the biggest bang for the buck and avoid unneccesary expense. It seems the first step is to determine what your ideal wedding costs and then make necessary adjustments so that you can afford it. Also, her fiance is pressuring her for an amount and seems to want to put on a wedding to impress his family and social connections. My daughter wants to keep it simple. How much say should the groom and his family have? It seems like the wedding is governed by the brides prerogatives and not the grooms family.
I want to be generous but some of the weddings I have been to seem ridiculous. I love my daughter and want her to have a nice wedding. I don’t know the groom all that well and don’t want to pay for something that I find objectionable. I want to collaborate and respect everyone’s wishes insofar as that is possible.