Wedding Etiquette Forum

Two bridal showers?

My parents have been a little.. possessive (?) over our wedding, and have gotten to be more involved than FI's parents. His parents would like to be involved but also don't want to be annoying (and they're NOT annoying, they're awesome) so they've been more hands-off. My parents threw us an engagement party, and now my aunt-- with the help of my mom-- are planning a bridal shower for me, which I'm really excited about. FSIL and FMIL are both going to be invited, of course. 

FSIL mentioned a few months ago to FI that she wanted to throw me a bridal shower. I've had a lot of family drama and stressful issues, so I think she felt bad, wanted to do something nice for me, wanted to make sure I got to have a shower, and also wanted to get involved in our wedding stuff. I thought at the time that FI let her know my aunt was already planning a shower, and then the conversation was pretty much put on hold. 

Last night FSIL sent me a text saying that she and FMIL want to throw me a shower. I was extremely flattered and excited. I'm not going to tell her she can't do this if it's something she wants to do. Our parents live several hours away from each other and we have one set of friends in my parents' town and then another set of friends closer to his parents' town so it seemed like a good way to be able to include both groups; the group in my parents' town gets invited to the shower my aunt is hosting, the group near his parents' town will get invited to the shower FSIL and FMIL are hosting. But when I mention to FI that his sister wants to throw me a shower, he immediately says "You told her you're already having one, right?" 

Well, no. I thought this had been discussed before. FI now can't remember if he told her about my aunt's shower or not. We're going to be hanging out over the Thanksgiving holiday at which point FSIL and I had planned to talk details about this potential second shower, so I'm going to make sure she knows my aunt is already hosting one, but I don't want it to sound like "MY family is already doing this for me, so there's no room for you and your family to do anything." Ya know? I really want his family to get to be involved and help however much they want to and celebrate with us as much as they want to. I feel bad that they've kind of inadvertently been cut out of stuff so far. 

But is it ok to have two showers? I don't want to seem selfish or gift-grabby. And like I said, the guests from shower 1 would be a different set of people than the guests at shower 2. What's the etiquette on this? Is it totally out of line? What should I say to FSIL about it? If she wasn't aware that my aunt is hosting a shower, maybe she won't want to host one anymore but will feel stuck because she already offered, so should I give her a way out or something, and how do I say that without sounding like I don't want her to do it? 
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Re: Two bridal showers?

  • I had two showers. I am from Florida and my mom and friends threw one there. H is from NY, so his mom threw one here for me

    It was fine, and there was no overlap in the guest list. My mother invited MIL and SILs, but they didn't come to FL. My mom was actually able to come to the NY one, but she and I were the only people at both events.

    There was no telling either mother "no". I didn't really like the idea, but it ended up being fine.
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  • beachyone15beachyone15 member
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its First Answer
    edited November 2014
    I totally had two different showers (hosted by different people, with a different guest list). It's completely ok and it's so nice of your FMIL and FSIL to want to host one. I say let them!

    Edited bc my brain isn't working today.


    Daisypath Anniversary tickers



  • It's fine as long as the guest lists don't overlap. If you want to, you might invite both mothers and maybe FSIL to the other one.
  • Thanks for the responses! The way FI reacted made me feel like I was doing something horribly wrong. I've never heard of having two showers before, so I thought I should check first. 
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  • I think it's perfectly ok to have 2 showers given this situation.  As PP have said, you just don't want the guest lists to overlap.  It's very sweet of them to want to throw you one, and I don't see an issue with it :)
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  • Another two-shower bride here!
  • Most people I know end up with two because of the locations of various families, actually.  When the guest lists don't overlap this is totally ok.

    I know a girl who had five. No, just no. 
    ________________________________


  • It might technically against etiquette (although I'm not sure!) but I wouldn't side eye it, especially if there is a distance factor. Plus, it's not like you're hosting two showers for yourself, which would definitely get the hardcore side eye from me.  

    I think you're good.  


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  • Big sigh of relief! If it's Knot approved, then I'm ok with it :) 
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  • Just chiming in. We had three showers. A surprise shower thrown by H's family friends in his hometown (no overlap here, his family lives in Indiana and mine is in Georgia so it was all his family friends/family), a couples shower thrown by my MOH that just involved close friends of ours, and a shower thrown by my mom's two best friends that was your more traditional bridal shower. I think what your FMIL and FSIL are doing is totally ok. There's distance between the showers and there shouldn't be an overlap in who is being invited to each shower. I wouldn't side eye it.



  • Big sigh of relief! If it's Knot approved, then I'm ok with it :) 
    You're definitely fine. I had two showers, one for each side. The only overlap was my MOH & the moms. I actually appreciate it because it (presumably) makes the shower smaller, which means no three hour gift marathons. 
  • I agree with the others that 2 showers are fine as long as the guest lists don't overlap. However, there are plenty of things you can do if you don't want another shower for any reason. How about a bridal luncheon or something like that? I didn't want any shower, so instead my mom put together a great night out with 16 female friends/relatives at a place that does cooking classes and lets you bring wine. We all cooked and drank and ate and had a great time, with no presents. 
  • No big deal!  I had 2.  My best friend/BM threw a small one for local friends of mine and my side of the family (very small) and there were about 12 ppl there.  

    H has a gigantic Italian family that all have a ton of kids and everyone is super close (cousins, 2nd cousins, getting into the "removed categories too...) that live far away from my family. His aunts and sisters threw me one in his hometown and there were about 50 people there.  

    The only invite overlap were my bridesmaids, mom, gma, and MIL.  

  • Most people I know end up with two because of the locations of various families, actually.  When the guest lists don't overlap this is totally ok.


    I know a girl who had five. No, just no. 
    Yeah, the wedding I'm in, she's having 4. With HUGE overlaps on the guests lists. and expecting all of he bridesmaids to be in attendance at all of them.

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  • Yeah I agree with everyone I don't think it's an issue, especially because you don't have overlapping guest lists :)

    Formerly martha1818

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  • I hadn't really thought about this but I guess I technically had 4 showers. One with H's side of the family, one with my side of the family+a few close friends. Then H's 4th grade class hosted a "shower" for us where we ate donuts and opened two gifts, and my co-workers surprised me with a small "shower" too consisting of pizza, cake, two gifts, and advice. 
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  • Most people I know end up with two because of the locations of various families, actually.  When the guest lists don't overlap this is totally ok.

    I know a girl who had five. No, just no. 
    Yeah, the wedding I'm in, she's having 4. With HUGE overlaps on the guests lists. and expecting all of he bridesmaids to be in attendance at all of them.
    Yikes. 
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  • The only time I side-eyed someone who had two showers was a girl who had one, decided she didn't get enough stuff, so she threw a second one (for herself) with the SAME people + extras.

    So...yeah I think you're fine. 
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  • daria24 said:
    The only time I side-eyed someone who had two showers was a girl who had one, decided she didn't get enough stuff, so she threw a second one (for herself) with the SAME people + extras.

    So...yeah I think you're fine. 

    I want to know how many showed up to the second one. And if they brought a second gift.
  • In my family it's not uncommon to have 3 showers. 
     My extended family is very close and very large, so one for them, one for friends of the bride and one for the groom's side. 
     No guests overlap except the mothers and sisters of the bride and groom.
    :kiss: ~xoxo~ :kiss:

  • Actually, it seems to be the norm nowadays.  When a couple that I'm friends with registered at BB&B, the first thing they were asked was, "So, when is your first shower going to be?" (which they thought was hilarious).  The majority of people I know only have one, but it's not uncommon to have more than one, nor would many people find it odd I wouldn't think.  My older sister was married quite a while ago actually (like 14 years) and she had 2 showers so it's not even a super new thing.  I will only have one but that's because I am someone who has a few close friends rather than a large number of acquaintances so I wouldn't have enough people to fill two showers!!  The way my sister did hers if I am remembering correctly (I was fairly young) was to have one for family which a few close friends attended as well and then another with all her friends (which meant some friends came to two).  This way she got the calm, quiet day for the elderly aunts and grandmas and still got to have more of a party with her girlfriends (she is a loud party type person).

    In talking to FIs family I wouldn't even really phrase it as though it were a problem.  I would just make a comment about how thrilled you are that they were thoughtful enough to want to do this for you and that you know your friends in their town were going to be really grateful that they got to go to a shower for you since they wouldn't get to go to the one your mom is throwing you in {the other town}.  You might also extend an invitation to them to that shower and say that while you know its quite a drive and that you wouldn't expect them to do it for you, that they would be welcome.  Something like, "I know it's a long way so you certainly don't have to feel obligated, esp since you're throwing me this amazing shower here in town, but I just wanted to let you know that if you did want to come to the shower my mom is throwing you would be more than welcome."  I don't know if they would even be interested, but if you think they might I'm sure this would be an appreciated gesture.

    Honestly, I would just be honest and show how thrilled you are to be able to have a day to spend with your friends there as well as a day with your friends in the other town.  Make it clear that they aren't stepping on anyones toes (they might think your mom would be miffed so maybe mention that your mom is so excited about it as well) and I can't see why anyone should be upset.
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