Shower for Out of Town Bride

The whole point of a bridal shower is the gift giving, so I don't think you could politely ask people to ship them to your house. I would probably skip the bridal shower or borrow a larger car from someone you're close with (FS maybe?). I don't like opening gifts in front of people either, I don't think anyone does, but that's really the only way to go about having a bridal shower. Unless you skip gifts altogether and just have a bridal luncheon or something along those lines, which is totally fine.

I agree with PPs. If you don't want to open or receive gifts at your shower, don't have one. That's the purpose of the shower. Not to mention wrapping paper is much more eco friendly than the ridiculous amount of shipping and packing materials that most retailers use, plus actual process of shipping...Have a bridal brunch or skip the event entirely.

Ditto all of this (especially about wrapping paper vs. shipping materials). I don't care for everything that goes with showers, so I didn't have one. I felt plenty celebrated and gifted at my wedding, and didn't miss having a shower in the slightest.

I was dreading opening presents in front of women at my shower, but it wasn't that bad. I did it quickly and it only took about 20 minutes. I think if I received an invite that told me specifically where to send my present (and not just bring it to the shower like every other one I've been to), I'd be a little annoyed at the request since people expect the bride to open gifts. And there really isn't a nice way to say you don't like wrapping paper. I'd just have a plan to recycle all of it and drive home with the gifts or not have a shower at all. Even if they shipped to your house, a lot of people add gift wrapping & it's sent with a bunch of paper, tissue paper, and bubble wrap anyway.

I second the renting a car thing. We're much closer (200 miles each way, give or take) from our current home to our hometown (where we got married/had our shower) and decided to rent a larger car for the event so we could take stuff home and I'm glad we did. We both have very small cars (mine's compact, his sub-compact) so we rented a fairly large SUV. We were able to bring home everything in one shot with no issue.

I get the eco-conscious thing, but you won't win with everyone on that one.

You can not have a shower, but then don't expect the gifts from the shower for it. I would also expect some upset guests if you don't have a shower (I also toyed with this idea and got A LOT of flack for it).

Definitely not eco friendly but you could ship all of them to your home once the shower is over. I have also heard about "unwrapped" bridal parties.

My brother and his wife lived 14 hours away from our family when they were pregnant with their first child. My mom threw them a surprise "remote" shower and asked everyone who was interested to send a gift within a certain timeframe. It was a great surprise for them and fixed their travel issues since they weren't able to come home for a shower.

Not really the same circumstance since you aren't the one planning the shower but it's a know your crowd thing. If your guests wouldn't be offended with just sending their gift directly to you then I think you could request that...especially since you are still taking the time to see them all in person at the physical shower.

It's been a while, but I remember years ago I went to a few "themed" bridal showers where the guests were invited to bring a specific type of gift. One shower was Christmas ornaments for decorating the couple's tree, another board games and popcorn stuff for a game night themed shower, another was everyone bring a recipe to make a favorite recipe collection. I haven't been to one of these in years so maybe it's gone out of style and guests wouldn't understand the idea of a theme, but if it is still a thing, you could make your theme "something small", or "restaurant gift card", or "donation in couple's honor to X charity", etc. Something that can fit in your car and won't use much wrapping paper.

Here's a link to a random website that confirms this used to be a thing!

https://emilypost.com/advice/ideas-for-theme-wedding-showers/

I get what you are saying but that is the sole purpose of the shower. Forfeiting you opening your gifts in front of everyone and being "showered" means forfeiting the shower altogether. Typically only wedding gifts are shipped to you.

I 100% do not agree with everyone saying you have to open gifts just because it's called a Bridal Shower and you need to be "showered" with gifts. This is such an old-fashioned and shallow thought process. It's your shower. If you don't want to feel uncomfortable opening gifts, don't open gifts. If your guests know you well enough, they will understand. I don't want do open gifts at my shower in March, so I'm not doing it. I am sending a little something like in the photo attached and if people are upset by it, that's their own problem.. Just like when planning your wedding, don't let other peoples' opinions get in the way of what you want to do.

Display Shower

Umm, you sound reasonable, maybe it will be okay to explain the whole situation? I don't think anyone will get offended!