So in an ideal voltmeter, all you would want is something that measures the voltage WITHOUT interfering with the rest of the circuit. Therefore, it must be in parallel because if it was in series, it would interfere with the entire circuit. Next, you would want the voltmeter to have a large internal resistance because the higher the resistance, the less current going through the voltmeter. The less current that goes through the voltmeter, the less it would interfere with the actual circuit.
Hope this helps.