So here's the deal: my mom's family lives halfway across the country from me. They have asked to throw me a shower in the town where they live, but the problem of course is that at the end I'll have gifts (some of which may be large/heavy) that I need to get back home. They have brought up the idea of an "envelope shower" where they ship the gifts to my home, and at the shower I open envelopes with the gift receipts (NOT gift cards/cash/etc. that I've heard about at other "envelope showers").
Is this etiquette approved? I can't think of any reason why it wouldn't be off the top of my head (other than potentially you may be shifting some shipping costs from the gifter to the bride), but I've never seen this done before and I'm not sure how it would play out. For context, this would be a very small group of women (8-15) who are all close family members.
If this is a no-go, does anyone have any alternatives to a traditional shower that I could suggest to eliminate the gift shipping dilemma? My MIL is hosting a larger traditional shower for me where I live, so frankly I could care less if this other soirée is a gift giving event, but the idea of a bridal tea/luncheon did not go over well and I am not keen on the idea of opening lingerie in front of my aunts, so the idea of a lingerie shower does not thrill me.