shower for bride who is moving out-of-state right after the wedding

mkalways

i just got married this past summer and this coming summer it's my sister's turn!  i'm super excited to help out and throw her shower with my younger sister.  together, they gave me the cozy homey shower i wanted.

my sister is different though, and while she likes that sort of thing too, i know she would prefer to be different.  she will also be relocating from PA to GA and she and her hubby will be starting completely from scratch.  she is not too keen on the idea of opening a lot of gifts but i know our relatives (and his) will be expecting it.  plus she will have to get everything from PA to GA at some point...not an easy thing.

i am just looking for some ideas/themes that mean our family could still give some small gifts, but in the end, will make moving EASIER for her.  any ideas?

sings4him

I am a bride who is from GA moving to MS right after the wedding... one of the things I am doing is having a gift card shower. I'm sure that if the guests understand that it would be hard on the bride to move all of her stuff, they will go along with the idea... Even older people who like to give an actual gift. I would encourage the bride to register and ask the guests to purchase gift cards from those stores. If they still feel that it is impersonal, then have them buy a gift card for the amount of the gift they would have purchased and specify in a note or card what the gift is.

Instead of spending the time at the shower opening gifts, you can play fun wedding shower games (There are some great ones on this site!)! You can have a basket for gift cards on a table or something. That's what my girls are doing for me! I like the idea of having fun playing games rather than opeing gifts, too.

banana468

A gift card shower is a BAD BAD BAD idea.

Instead, why not focus on ways that you can ship the gifts for lower costs like the USPS flat rate?

And have an intimate shower with fewer gifts.

Don't do anything that's essentially asking the guests to give cash.

AKG_JGJ

I've heard of ladies returning the gifts bought off their registry after the shower and buying them once their home for long distance showers to avoid shipping costs, etc. She could do a similar thing, assuming the store she's registered at is near where she is moving. Might not be an ideal situation, but it's better than a gift card shower. The point of a shower is to shower the bride with gifts, and watch her open them!

TurtlesAllTheWayDown

If she knows her new address, I have heard of guests shipping gifts out of state, then bringing a card with a picture of the item to the actual shower. However, I think that only works if you know everyone really, really well.

Ditto having her return and rebuy the gifts.

ninjasgirl

I am moving across the country a week after our wedding.  I will be starting from stratch and I still registered for everything as normal.  I am just leaving the items I am not returning in their boxes so they can be moved straight into the moving truck. 
I agree that a gift card shower is rude.  When your sister registers, if she is not looking to move a lot, just have her register for small, movable items.