Out of State Shower

[Deleted User]

I have family that is all in another state and they want to throw me a shower, but the problem is I cannot figure out how to get the gifts home. I would love to be able to go and have a shower with all of them, because me traveling to them is much easier and cost effective than it is for them to come to me, but driving is not an option, it will take to long and I do not have the time to request off work. So what do I do? I suggested that my family ship my gifts here, and I could come down, and maybe they could print off a photo of what their gift was to me. So that we all could spend time together, and I could thank people in person, but my aunt basicly thinks "Whats the point?"...

Has anyone delt with this? any suggestions?

Brie2010

I wouldn't do the photo thing.  People like to see you open the gifts!  Opening a bunch of photos would be no fun.

We recieved several large gifts (a crock pot, a toaster oven, hand mixer) off our registry from family for Christmas, which we flew to in another state.  They were all bought at Bed, Bath, and Beyond, and we returned them to a store in that area, got store credit, flew home, and purchased the exact same gifts at a store near our home right away.   It worked perfectly and was pretty much no hassle at all. 

(I also suggest flying Southwest if at all possible--they let you check two bags for free, plus a carry-on, so you would be able to fly home with a fair amount of stuff without paying for the baggage!)

skippylouwho

How are relatives that will attend the shower getting to your wedding? If any will be driving, can they bring the gifts with them when they come?

rainedrop6

Will anyone from your family be driving to your wedding? If so, they could bring them to you when they come. I was originally going to fly to my out of state showers in NY in January and my FMIL and Aunt were going to bring the gifts down to NC when they came for the wedding in March. In the end, my FMIL and Aunt were sweet enough to plan the showers for the same weekend so I was able to take one long weekend and drive up. But I considered USPS or a shipping company like UPS or Fedex, they weren't terribly expensive so you might want to check into that too.  

sunnysnow44

I just got back from out of state and my family threw me a "virtual" shower.  They wrote clues and hints as to what the gifts were and the bride and the guests had to help figure out what they were.  It made the time really fun and we all had a blast trying to decipher clues. Just another spin on opening pictures, but at least we were all together and there was still some surprise in it!

MyNameIsNot

It would be rude to ask people to come to a shower and to ship their gifts elsewhere.  Talk to the stores where you've registered and see if they can help you return and re-purchase locally.  If not, arrange to ship them to yourself via UPS or FedEx after the shower. 

jinxed8605

I'm having a bridal shower 2700 miles away. I will be shipping the gifts back home.

squirrly

You can do what Brie did.  You can ship the gifts.  Or, you can have a quiet chat with the person hosting the shower about how hard it would be for you to carry bulky heavy gifts home, and let her be creative.  People could ship gifts to you but give you a box with a photo of what they shipped.  They could give you only linens or other non-bulky, non-breakable (aka easy to pack) items and you could fly home with one duffel bag of only shower gifts. 

Or, maybe, in lieu of a traditional shower they could host a brial luncheon or tea for you and you could just have lunch/snacks with the same people, socialize, and enjoy their company, sans gifts.