Bridal shower & out of town guests

Futuremrsmurphy18

Most of my fiance's family lives out of state.  This includes his step-mom, step-sister, cousin, and 4-5 aunts.  There are probably about 5 women on his side who live locally.

Is it appropriate to send the out of town women invitations to my bridal shower?  I don't want it to look like we're just looking for gifts but I also don't want them to feel like they aren't welcomed if we don't invite them.

What's protocol for out of town guests for the bridal shower?

AJuliaNJ

I think they should be invited. There's no way to know for sure that they can't or wouldn't want to come so I think it's best to extend the invite. They know they can decline if they can't make it. I think this is preferable to them potentially feeling left out.

FruitSnack84

Yes, invite them. I'm in the same exact situation, FI's family lives 4 hours away, but they're being invited just in case they can make it.

lyndausvi

We invited DH's side even though there were 4 hours away.  All 5 of them came.  Cousin drove down the mini-van and made a trip out of it.

erinlin25

majority of my family (grandmother, aunts, etc) live out of state and we are stil sending an invite so they are "included."  As long as they are invited to the wedding they can be invited to the shower.

CallaLily25

I would definitely invite them. Who knows? They may be able to make the trip and it'd be a nice chance to see them!

Futuremrsmurphy18

Great input, thank you!
So I assume I would still invite someone to the shower (and wedding) if I know for a fact they cannot attend the wedding?  Two people already told me they won't be able to make it to the wedding. 

ZiggyZos

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_bridal-shower-out-of-town-guests?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:91f0b707-f03d-4712-9812-5065d32382d4Post:05191bb2-eb47-4daa-b8bf-0bf280103027">Re: Bridal shower & out of town guests</a>:
[QUOTE]Great input, thank you! So I assume I would still invite someone to the shower (and wedding) if I know for a fact they cannot attend the wedding?  Two people already told me they won't be able to make it to the wedding. 
Posted by Futuremrsmurphy18[/QUOTE]

Yes, they still need a wedding invite, at minimum. Plans change. We had a ton of people tell us they couldn't make it prior to invites going out that wound up attending (and likewise, we had people who "couldn't wait"/"wouldn't miss it" unable to attend for a variety of reasons)..

AJuliaNJ

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_bridal-shower-out-of-town-guests?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:91f0b707-f03d-4712-9812-5065d32382d4Post:690f1b30-354f-4eef-a286-e1b446275daa">Re: Bridal shower & out of town guests</a>:
[QUOTE]Yes, invite them. I'm in the same exact situation, FI's family lives 4 hours away, but they're being invited just in case they can make it.
Posted by FruitSnack84[/QUOTE]

I bet some of them will! Four hours isn't that bad. I would even do it in one day if I had enough notice.

winelover123

I'm inviting my OOT family - most of them are 5 hours away, some are a little closer.

Simply Fated

In Response to Re:Bridal shower :[QUOTE]Great input, thank you!So I assume I would still invite someone to the shower and wedding if I know for a fact they cannot attend the wedding?nbsp; Two people already told me they won't be able to make it to the wedding.nbsp; Posted by Futuremrsmurphy18[/QUOTE]
Yes because their plans could change and should still be given the option to attend.