Non religious ceremony with symbolic religious object

So my fiancé and I are spiritual, not religious. We don’t attend a church regularly, we both believe/hope in a higher power but neither one of us knows exactly what that means. We’re also open to the possibility that we’re wrong and there is nothing after death.
Both of our families are Catholic or Protestant (majority: Catholic).
Our ceremony is in going to be held in a beautiful outdoor Botanic garden, in front of a wooden chapel. Surrounded by nature was the perfect statement for us because we are outdoorsy. And to be honest we feel more connected to nature/the Divine when we are outside. But as Catholics, my family expects a church ceremony. I’m not really worried about what they’ll think but my mom recently came to me and asked me to incorporate a cross into the ceremony. Like during Catholic mass: an alter boy usually carries a pole with a cross down the aisle. She wants something like that. My parents are paying for half of the event ($10k), so I guess they have “a say”. But this is supposed to be mine and my fiance’s Day.
What would you do?-Stick to your guns and tell your mom No to the cross?-Compromise and find some other way to incorporate a cross (I don’t really want a big gaudy Catholic cross; we are not gaudy people. The entire event is simplistic, honoring nature. The theme is Boho Secret Garden). What else could we do??-Do the cross and make my mom happy. It’s one thing.