It can be very rewarding to help a family member financially in a time of need.

But sometimes if you give them an inch, and they’ll take a mile.

In this case, a man offered to contribute to his niece’s wedding, but they thought he would pay for the entire event and went all out with expensive choices.

Let’s read the story.

AITA for refusing to pay for my niece’s wedding after promising to cover it?

So, I’m a 35-year-old guy, and I’ve always been close with my older sister, Emily (38 year old female), and her daughter, Lily (22 year old female).

Emily had Lily when she was young (16), and since she was a single mom for most of it, I’ve always tried to help out where I could.

Over the years, I’ve paid for Lily’s summer camps, her college applications, and even her first car. I did this because I love them both and always wanted to support them.

That is very thoughtful of him.

A year ago, Lily got engaged to her long-term boyfriend. When they announced the engagement at a family dinner, I said I’d be happy to help with wedding expenses.

I never said I’d pay for everything, but apparently, my offer was interpreted as me footing the bill for the whole wedding.

Uh-oh.

It became clear when Lily and Emily started planning a big, extravagant affair—a destination wedding, 200+ guests, you name it.

I sat them down and said I’d contribute $15,000, which I thought was a pretty generous amount. But they both seemed really upset.

Lily said I “promised” to pay for the wedding, and Emily backed her up, saying I “always supported them” and this was the least I could do. Apparently, they were expecting I’d cover a $50,000+ wedding. I told them that wasn’t happening. $15,000 was all I could give.

And this is a very generous amount.

Now, here’s where things get worse.

Lily and Emily stopped including me in the wedding planning entirely.

I didn’t hear much from them for a while, and it turns out they booked everything for the wedding thinking I’d eventually cave and cover it.

Now they’re in over their heads, and the wedding is just three months away.

Emily called me, crying, saying they were going to lose deposits and that I “ruined” the wedding by not coming through.

Lily isn’t speaking to me.

This is very inconsiderate of them.

Here’s the kicker: Emily and Lily are now saying I’m being manipulative, offering to help and then taking it away at the last second, making them look bad in front of the groom’s family.

They claim they never would’ve planned something so extravagant if I hadn’t promised to cover it all.

But I never said that. I said I’d help.

I feel like I’ve done more than enough over the years, but now I’m being treated like the villain for not paying for this giant wedding.

AITA?

What a pickle.

Let’s see what Reddit has to say about this.

A reader sounds baffled.

This commenter shares their disbelief.

Another reader shares their opinion.

Someone gives a suggestion.

Another commenter shares their thoughts.

This person shares their point of view.

They got it so wrong.

I honestly feel badly for this man.

If you thought that was an interesting story, check out what happened when a family gave their in-laws a free place to stay in exchange for babysitting, but things changed when they don’t hold up their end of the bargain.