Though I told my mother that a bridal shower was not expected or necessary, she has been gracious enough to throw me one and stated that it something she has always wanted to do. In drafting a guest list, I was going off of the premise of inviting those women who I was close to, rather than just all 50 women who are invited to the wedding. From my past experiences, when I receive an invite to a shower/wedding, even if I'm not super close with the person, I always feel obligated to give a gift - and I do not want to bestow that feeling onto anyone.
I had given my mother a rough estimate of people when she was deciding where to have it, etc., of around 40 people, though with some being out of state, only 30 or so would probably come. In casually discussing the guest list with my future mother-in-law, she was shocked that I didn't have certain individuals on the list (i.e., her close friend whom I've never met, but is invited because it's a family friend of my fiance, and a couple family members, like a cousin's wife and girlfriend, whom I have met once and twice respectively). She is saying that all the women should be invited - even my fiance's female friends who I know somewhat, but I'm not close to), and my step-mother backed this up saying all the women should be invited too. My mom is tight on finances so I don't want to put extra financial burden on her, though, even with inviting *all* of the women, probably the same number of people would still show up.
What should I do? Just invite all the women? Invite only certain ones? I just don't want to offend anyone or look like I'm using people for their gifts. Any advice would be appreciated please.