Weddingbee boards

When someone contributes to your wedding, it is nice to take their input but you should consider the money a gift.  It is good to be extra-considerate and political because you have been given such a generous gift, but ultimately if you have a strong opinion about something your opinion is the one that wins out.  How does your FI feel?  Does your stepmom understand where you're coming from?  If it would go a long way towards preserving good will (like if you talk to her and she says "I would really love to have them there, it would mean a lot to me"), would you be willing to compromise?

I am allowing my mom to invite a few distant relatives who I don't know because she really wants them there, but I feel like they won't come because it's a second wedding for me (hopefully they won't even feel obligated to send a gift because of this).  I'm not saying this is the right choice for you, I just thought long and hard about it and decided that it was an easy compromise to make on my part because I honestly don't care if a few people at my wedding are people I don't know well (I am so used to it, big Italian family on mom's side that rarely gets together and an even bigger Norwegian family on dad's side that almost never gets together).

It is perfectly acceptable to hold your ground and tell your stepmom that you wouldn't be comfortable inviting them; I wouldn't mention that you're afraid they won't come but will be pressured to give a gift (because that might lead to her calling her and bullying them into coming), but you can always be diplomatic and say that you're afraid that it would open the floodgates to inviting more people on your FI's side.