Bride declines her best friend's wedding 'gift,' 'she's trying to control what we do.' AITA?

"AITA for declining my best friend's wedding 'gift?'"

I'm (29F) I having a Vegas wedding in August and my fiancé (31M) and I decided to make it a weekend celebration with all kinds of activities leading up to the big day. One of the activities on the itinerary is to attend a brunch/pool party spot where you have to pay to rent cabanas and chairs.

My best friend (30F) said that as a "gift" from her and her boyfriend, they would rent a cabana for the four of us. I put "gift" in quotes because in my mind, when you give something as a gift, you relinquish all control over that item and the person you gave the gift to has complete control over what they want to do with said gift.

So since she said the cabana was a gift for me and my fiancé, we said that we don't mind sharing it with the rest of our guests. However, my best friend is really adamant about my other friends/guests not being able to join us in the cabana unless they pitch in some money. So I assumed, if she's trying to control what we do with the cabana, then it's really HER cabana and she's just sharing with us.

So I told her that I appreciate the gesture, but I'd rather rent my own cabana and share with everyone because if I'm going to have a huge cabana anyway, I'm not gonna charge my friends to sit with me. I don't mind sharing with my friends.

And I get that my friend group is not affiliated with her, she doesn't owe them anything and that's fine, which is why I told her that she can go ahead and get her own cabana and I'll just get my own that I can share.

But she's arguing that her intent was not to "buy her own cabana" but to buy it for me and my fiancé and she doesn't see the point in having two large cabanas. Now she seems to be pretty disappointed that I refused her "gift." AITA?

Here's what top commenters had to say about this one:

Cavane42 said:

NTA. Your interpretation of what a gift is and what it means is spot on. It sounds to me like she wanted to have a nice experience for herself and saw a way to ALSO use it to cover her obligation* to get you a wedding gift.

usernamesarehard723 said:

NTA, but I don’t necessarily think your friend is either. I think she had decently good intentions but executed them poorly. Really her gift to you was more so an activity for y’all together, so it wasn’t really just for you.

Unlikely_Fuel_6728 said:

NTA, your best friend fails to understand (1) you're a part of different friend groups as well, and (2) want to celebrate your special day the way you want it- and she has no right to control how you plan your parties.

CandylandCanada said:

NTA. She only wants to pay for food and libations for the four of you. This is not a gift; it's a pool parking spot with optional catering.

Consistent-Leopard71 said:

NTA, you're right, the cabana wasn't a gift. It was your best friend trying to control your event. As you stated your friend group is not affiliated with your best friend and it seems that she's not comfortable with that. So, she tried a power play with a cabana that they weren't allowed to sit use.

iaintdum said:

NTA - your friend needs to grow up and play nice with your other friend groups.