I made a cake for my cousin this past weekend and his mother decided that she was going to pay me... Which i explained over and over again that i do not accept money from family members for wedding cakes . Its just a trend I did not espect to be paid ! So we are at the reception and she hands me this card inside with deep thankfullness and gratitude that me and my husband thought enough of her family to do such a wonderful thing and inside was $150.00 
i about freeked out now i know i have that much in the cake but still like i said i have never accepted money from a family member for this .... what makes it worse is this very same aunt had no money last year and was even on food stamps to feed her children i feel awful for taking this money i could not sleep and had the worse heartburn and my nerves are shot because of all this. She will not take the money back what do i do ?????????? 
Sometimes people who have been very needy remember the help they received and want to pass it on when they can afford to. I would save the money and look for an opportunity to pass it back. Or, perhaps there is something else you can do for her in the future. Just remember, she gave the money to you, you didn't ask for it.
If she wanted you to have this, you should take it. It might hurt her feelings if you gave it back to her.
you could invite her over for tea, and ask again if she was sure she could afford to pay you, because you werent expecting it.
although this post seems odd, you cant imagine how many people dont get paid by family members, because the family just expects a free cake.
i say your pretty lucky, for getting to make a cake for a family members special day and you got paid for it, good deal.
if you still feel bad about accepting the money, maybe you can give it back to her, maybe you can pay her gas bill this winter or something. ???? hope you get other responses
good luck!
Hmmm, was this your gift to the couple? Did you bring anything else to the reception?
If not, could you say it was your gift to them and return the money in a card to her, thanking her for paying you but insisting that the cake was your gift to the couple? You could also add in the card that you do this out of love for your family and do not feel right about accepting payment, especially since you have not accepted payment from the other family members.
Maybe if you mail the money back in a card to her she wouldn't argue with you so much? Send cash and then there won't be a check for her not to deposit.
If you don't feel right about that, perhaps you could keep a small portion of it (like $50) and then buy a gift card with the remaining $100 to a store you know she would shop at (like KMart or Target) where she could buy food or clothes for her kids. Then send that in a card and say "thank you, I put the $50 towards baking supplies but I insist that you spend this on yourself. Making the cake was my gift to your family."
Good luck to you.
yeah, I would definitely send her a card letting her know you never expected to get paid but that you appreciate her generous gift to you.........it would be rude to insist she take it back. I would do like was mentioned above........remember her, maybe put together a nice cookie bouquet as a thank you or something and look for an opportunity to pass on the thoughtfullness she showed you! I don't think she would have offered so much money if she couldn't afford to do it.
Sometimes when people are able to give something to someone who doesnt expect it is not the receiver who gets the biggest blessing, it is the one who is giving from their heart. Please do not rob her of her blessing. Graciously accept the money and then pay it forward. You are kind and unselfish and in the end it will not go un-noticed. I hope you received a blessing too....
You could invite her out to a very nice dinner and then tell her that you did not expect to get paid and that since she would not let you give the money back you are using it to pay for the dinner. If you are some where that they have good broadway type shows you might even take her to something like that. Just a thought.
I'm like you in not wanting to accept it. BUT....she would not have given it to you unless she could afford it in some way. And you would probably offend her. Just keep the money as a job well done and invite her for coffee....with cake of course! Also, I would purchase something with the money to do with cake decorating and show or tell her how you appreciated the money because you bought (whatever) with it. It might make her feel better knowing you used the money for something.
Here's my thought on this, because it has happened to me also. The aunt who gave you the money probably felt very moved by your gift to the couple. If she has had money problems in the past, I'm sure it was a big deal for her that she was able to give you this money on her own, and a source of pride for her. Be careful not to hurt her feelings. When this happened to me, I ended up keeping part of the money, and returning part of it. It let her maintain her pride, and me my clear conscience.
If your aunt really insists that you keep all of the money and you can't get her to take anything back, put the money in your kids' savings accounts and bake the aunt some cookies.
That's my opinion. I'm sure others will have different ideas, and one will work for you. 
Happy Baking,
Beth
I agree w/ Tonja - do not take away from her something that was meant from her heart. If you really don't want the money, give it to a charity or some worthwhile cause. She'll never know, you still appreciate the thought and generousity, and the money is used in a constructive way and is out of your hands!
I used to have an elderly customer who would pay me extra over and above the fee I charged her (and I always charged her WAY LESS than I would anyone else ... a fixed income can only go so far!). Eventually I just stopped charging her for cakes ... the sweet old gal still gave me $$ to cover my expenses, but I felt better.
Nowadays, it seems we've gotten away from decency and good manners. The fact that your aunt even thought enough to hand you a card with "deep thankfullness and gratitude" is more than a lot of us may get for a wedding cake. Many times, we hear a few good things, but having something tangible and handwritten means so much to us because we DO provide a service that not everyone can do!
As for your situation, I would suggest that you take auntie aside, maybe to a nice restaurant where you can sit and have coffee and dessert. Tell her how honored you were that they asked you to make the wedding cake and you hope it was exactly as they wished for it to be. Then explain to her that her card was FAR AND AWAY the best payment you could have ever received. You can also mention that you know money has been tight previously for her family and with the cost of weddings, it must have been tough to pay all the wedding bills; that you simply cannot, in good conscience, take her money for the wedding cake and you hope she understands.
If she still won't take the money back, offer a compromise: instead of you keeping the money, or auntie taking it back, go to a nice store together and buy something nice for the newlyweds with the money. That way, you don't have to feel guilty for taking something you didn't ask for in the first place. If auntie won't go for this, then either buy the newlyweds something nice with it anyway, OR get something nice for auntie and her family. Or even give it to charity in auntie's name. Either way, if holding it is causing you all this stress, then get rid of it.
Who knows? Maybe the family had the wedding money put aside and earmarked for that particular wedding and chose NOT to spend it on food previously so the wedding would be what the newlyweds wanted. You just never know why some people do what they do.......
I have been where your aunt is. Sometimes when you are poor, and barely making ends meet, it gets old. And, although you appreciate others helping you, you wish you could do something for them. Now that I am blessed, it gives me great joy, and I do mean great joy to be able to help others. When I was poor and could once in a while do something for someone else, that also gave me great joy. It really is better to give than to receive, and sometimes receiving takes more of an effort than giving.
Even if the aunt is still poor, even if she had to scrape up every bit of that $150 quarter by quarter, I just really think it would not be nice to take that gift, the ability to give something for a change, away from her. Let her enjoy it. Say thank you, and move on. Trying to return it could embarass her and make her feel bad, and I know you don't want that.
I agree with arosstx, that you could give the money to a charity if you don't want to keep it. Or put it back for your kids' education....... or maybe buy her kids a saving bond, and keep it for years. Maybe when they graduate you can give them that gift, and nobody knows from whence the money came.
But I think the best thing to do would be to buy YOURSELF something really nice, and be sure and let her know what a wonderful gift she gave you and how much you enjoyed spending it, and are going to enjoy what you got YOURSELF. I think she would get great joy from that.
I am sure your aunt knows what a gift you gave her. Maybe she was guilt-ridden about getting the cake free. Maybe now she can live with herself knowing that she didn't pay you what it was worth, but at least she gave you something. If you have $150 in the cake, it's what, at least a $500 cake. She probably knows that.
Please don't take her joy from her. I know this probably never occurred to you, but maybe returning the money would be saying "No, no, no, we are the only ones allowed to be generous, you cannot get that blessing." Perhaps she just wants you to go get yourself a new pan, or a turntable, or a beautiful wedding cake stand for future use. Do that, and make a big fuss of showing it to her. Watch her face while you do, and see if it doesn't light up.
Because sometimes, when you can barely afford to do for yourself, it's so nice to be able to do for someone else once in a while.
Tonja and Ksue sare right. Pay it forward. There will come a time when someone you know is not expecting anything from you for a service provided and you can pay that person for their effort then. Or if it is really eating you up, why not donate the money to a charity that your aunt believes in, but do it in honor of her. Being that last year she was struggling and can probably now afford the cash she gave you speaks loudly of the blessings she feels that she has received. Why don't you donate the money to one of the service organizations that has helped her? Food stamps only go so far. I'm sure she can tell you of a local food bank that can use the cash.
This post and the replies it recieved brought me to tears.
I've been in both positions in my life, and I agree with most of the replies. - Keep it, and let her know what you did with it. She knows that you made the cake with love, and she paid you with love. Use it to spread the love to someone else...
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