My fiance and I have a logistically challenging situation. I live in Illinois, he lives in New York. His family lives in Maryland, mine lives in California, the wedding will be in California this coming August. Since his Manhattan apartment is essentially a closet, our plan is to request that gifts purchased online be shipped to his parents home in Maryland where they could then feasibly be driven to NY once he and I move in together (which will take place about 9 months after we get married). His parents have graciously agreed to store gifts for us.
I very recently sent out save-the-dates, and just today his parents already received our very first gift! I had thought that it made sense to ask his family to open them for us so that we could promptly send thank-you notes, but my mom disagrees and feels that we should wait until a time when we can go to maryland and open things together as a couple. Her point is that this is a fun and important experience to share- and she is concerned that cards could be misplaced if boxes are opened, and thank-yous not sent to the right people. However, a trip to maryland is not in my forseeable future, unfortunately, due to school. I doubt I will have the time or money to fly out there until some time after the wedding.
So the question is, what do I do? Save the gifts and open later? Miss out on all the fun and ask my fiance's family to open them?