Registering for out of state wedding shower...

Melanie7967

This summer, my mom and bridesmaids are throwing us a shower in NY (we live in FL).  My mom and others have been asking if we're registered anywhere but we're not yet.  We do plan on being registered before the wedding.  However, we're concerned with how we're going to get presents back home should people buy a lot of items.  My mom doesn't quite understand this, my soon to be mother in law just realized it but we don't know how to handle the situation.  We're not against a registry and appreciate the generosity of friends and family...but we're traveling quite a distance and it's not like we can bring them as carry on's.  I understand that some people would probably ship the items to us.

I had a friend tell me that when she had her own out of state shower, she just returned everything the nextday then rebought it all when they came home.

Is it a huge no-no to ask for gift cards instead of rgistering for items?

fionahalliwell

You could just do the "register-for-everything-as-though-it's-normal-and-return-it-all" thing, but that seems a little tacky. I don't know. I mean, my parents did that. Acknowledging that this could be positively horrible advice. 

Cackle6

I had an out of state shower as well. My registry consultant at Bed Bath actually recommended that I return any items that wouldn't fit in my suitcase to the out of state location, and then repurchase them at the store near me. I fit as much in my suitcase and carry on as I could, and then made a list of all the items I returned so I could repurchase the same items, and it all worked out great. There were 2 items that my local store didn't have, but they were able to order and ship them right to me with no shipping fee, so that was no problem.

AJuliaNJ

I'd plan a road trip. Or how often do you go to NY? Maybe you can do it in a few trips.

daveANDkristen

In Response to Re: Registering for out of state wedding shower...:
[QUOTE]Options: 1) register for smaller items and ship them home in a flat rate box and lighter items to ship home by standard mail 2) pack only a carry on, check two bags and ship anything else 3) "Mom, thank you for the wonderful offer but due to the cost of shipping everything home, I'll have to decline the shower." 4) Road trip it in an SUV or van, or get a mini U-Haul tow trailer or cartop carrier to transport everything home.
Posted by gottahavashorti[/QUOTE]

These are all great options. 

I don't agree with registering for gift cards at all (same as cash registries), but even putting that aside, you should not ask people to buy you gift cards for a shower.  Most people agree that the point of a shower is to give you physical gifts.  If I were invited to a "gift card shower", I would probably decline.