New Mom Lives Far Away

How do you handle a shower given in one state for a new mom who lives on the other side of the country? Is it appropriate to mention the difficulty in transporting large gifts? The mom to be will be traveling by plane to and from the baby shower.

Our Answer:

Hi there. Thanks for your etiquette question. I recently helped another hostess with this same dilemma. The easiest solution for this situation is to put a little note on the invitation about the gifts being travel friendly. Be careful not to mention money or gift certificates, as those words indicate "money grab" to a lot of people.

People also like to be given a choice on invitations so they feel you do not expect them to do something. If you can write a phrase like...

"If you choose to bring a gift to the shower, please consider (name) will be traveling home by plane."

(They will know that it is rude to show up to shower without a gift, but since you give them a choice without expectation they will most likely bring a smaller gift or a gift card)

You might also want to make sure that the mom to be brings an empty suitcase as one of her checked bags just to accommodate physical gifts for those who would like to bring them.

Good Luck planning the shower!

Return to Baby Shower Etiquette Questions


Return to Baby Shower Etiquette



Comments for New Mom Lives Far Away

Average Rating starstarstarstarstar

Click here to add your own comments

Rating
starstarstarstarstar
Shower for my Daughter who lives in WA State
by: Nina

I'm having my first grandchild and would like to give my daughter a shower. Does she need to attend? She lives 3k miles away in Kennewick, WA I'm in NH. Please help!! Can you do Skype Baby showers??

Rating
starstarstarstarstar
How to handle mother who wants money?
by: Anonymous

I'm trying to figure out how to handle a situation where the out-of-town mother-to-be has asked that instead of gifts people bring pot-luck food or donate money towards an expensive bike baby chariot that they bought. I have no problem with the pot-luck suggestion, but am trying to figure out how to handle the donation part about which I'd prefer not to say anything on the invitation. Should I ignore the whole thing, or is there a way to make a suggestion in another way?

Rating
starstarstarstarstar
Perfect!
by: Anonymous

Thank you! The wording is perfect! I am going to use it for my daughter's baby shower.

Click here to add your own comments

Return to babyshoweretiquette.

Return To Baby Shower Ideas Home