When Brooke and her husband gift his brother and new bride the ultimate honeymoon surprise, they expect a thank you… not a takedown. But after being humiliated at the reception, Brooke plays the long game.
Because some gifts come with bows, and others?
They come with beautifully wrapped consequences. At the time, I genuinely thought we were doing something good.
Not extravagant, not showy… just good.
My husband, Zach, and I had talked for weeks about what to give his younger brother and new bride, Adam and Megan, for their wedding.
We weren’t extremely wealthy, but we were doing well enough. It had to be meaningful. It had to be something they’d remember.
And, honestly, I just wanted to make Megan smile.
We’d never been particularly close. Megan had this way of making everyone feel like they were always five minutes late to impress her but I figured a wedding gift could be a kind of peace offering.
Or at least a gesture of warmth. Megan has always had…
expensive taste.
The kind of taste that insists on Gucci handbags on a wedding registry and calls them “standard.”
Once, at brunch, she told me she doesn’t do anything under four figures, unless it’s a tip. I used to laugh it off. But with all honesty, a part of me thought it was just her way of being bold.
Unapologetic.
But that was before the wedding. Before the gift.
Before I realized that my soon-to-be sister-in-law wanted spectacle over generosity. Zach was the one who suggested the honeymoon idea.
“What if we just gave them the whole thing?” he said, sipping his coffee at the kitchen table one night.
“Flights, hotel, everything. A full package. Something they don’t have to worry about.”
“You mean…
pay for the entire trip?
Really?” I asked. “They’ve got enough pots, pans, and handbags on their registry,” he nodded casually.
“You’re not wrong,” I stared at him for a second and then smiled. It started as a sweet idea, something unexpected and joyful.
But the more we talked about it, the more it grew into something meaningful.
Something that we could be proud of… It was our way of celebrating Adam and Megan without playing into the usual wedding-gift script. So that’s what we did.
We booked them a five-night, all-expenses-paid stay on a private island in the Caribbean, airfare included.
The resort wasn’t the Ritz-Carlton or some $1,000-a-night villa, but it was beautiful. Ocean views from the balcony, an infinity pool with cabanas.
The story doesn’t end here –
it continues on the next page.
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