Gift card bridal shower

You should tell her that you appreciate the thought, but you cannot tell people what to get you.

I believe if you do register they can just have the items shipped to where you guys are...

Why don't y'all just do a lunch instead of a bridal shower.

Ask her to request something, anything, like a recipe.

Yes if you register the gifts can be shipped to your residence. Its wrong to tell people what to buy you, I like pp ideas of lunch, or you can do what I did. I didn't really want a bridal shower but I am having one anyway, not that I am not grateful, I truly am. I just don't want people to feel like I just want more gifts or any at all. So I told guests by word of mouth pertaining to the wedding and bridal shower that gifts aren't necessary, while we appreciate the thought, the pleasure of everyone's company is the real gift and we are grateful just to have family and friends we love, to celebrate with.

Maybe just ask to do a bridal luncheon and don't ask for any type of gift? If I were invited to a bridal anything I would probably bring a card with money. And on top of that, do you know the people she is inviting? If I were in your shoes I would feel extremely uncomfortable opening gifts in front of people I don't know.

Have a nice lunch and forget the gifts. Two people decide to marry and economic stress follows for many.

You can register and your guests can ship it to you. We did that for my cousins baby shower and it worked well

Lots of people have suggested the shipping option.. if your FMIL wants to ensure you receive gifts a unique idea is to have your FMIL explain to the guests the difficulty of transporting physical gifts back home and instead request the guests to ship to your address (or store near you) and ask them to print a photo of the item to include in a card or small gift bag. This way you get to "open" the gift and be surprised by the picture at what they got you. At this request most people will probably just buy a GC anyways without directly asking them. A little lame but perhaps accommodates both you and your FMIL.

I agree with what @Ashley said. That's a great idea.

I guess I don't really see why you can't just take the gifts back with you in the car?

I always ship gifts if the bride is coming in from out of town.

Can you request all gifts sent to your home address on the invitation?

Well, technically, a family member shouldn't throw a shower for a bride or groom, though of course it happens. It looks gift grabby, and requesting gift cards just re-enforces that.

Just do a luncheon, if the company is the point.

@annakay511 that's what I said, it wouldn't be that much of an issue. She simply has it in her head that this is the easiest way.

@Celia, from what she said several ladies in the church asked her about having one, so she's simply pulling it all together, I really don't know. She's kinda hard to communicate with sometimes xD

Thanks for all the advice! I'll see what I can do

I was in a similar situation. I live in CA and my bridesmaids hosted a shower for me in PA (a lot easier for 1 person to fly there than for 30 to fly here...). My MOH simply stated where I was registered and added a note on the back that just said heavier or larger items can be shipped directly to me (both registries have my address saved) since I will be traveling. I think she said something like "her gifts need to fit in her suitcase". Which they did. I did get a lot of gift cards. Some people sent gifts ahead and put a photo of the gift in the card that I opened at the shower so I knew who bought me the gifts coming in. But some bought easy gifts- kitchen gadgets, towels, lingerie, etc. Three aunts went in on big items (crock pot, processor, etc) and those were shipped to me about a week before. No one was told what to bring/buy but everyone knew I was traveling. Common sense worked!