Baby shower question

beautifullife322 · August 2012

My SIL just had her baby shower in SD. I didn't attend because I live in IA but she was telling my MIL that they got a ton of money. I had never heard of getting money at a baby shower. Is this common?

MamaG1231 · August 2012

I wouldn't say its terribly common around here. Gift cards would be more common than actual money. I don't find it a bad idea to give money, everyone can use money! But usually it seems like people going to baby showers like to buy gifts, IME.

fennyann · August 2012

i have heard of people giving money. maybe they didnt have time to pick up a gift or didnt know what to get. but most showers that i have been to...i havent seen people get a ton of money. mostly presents and gift cards...but people do it.

maiatene · August 2012

From my experience yes. The gift giver wants to give you something that they know you will need/use and in those instances gift cards are cool but cash is king. I gave my best friend $300 at her shower (bc she was having twins and anything less didnt seem like enough) but also bc throughout her pregnancy I bought her little things so between that and her big family she would get everything she needed and the cash would cover any unexpected expenses.

beautifullife322 · August 2012

I want gifts lol! I have such a hard time picking stuff out for myself. I can see where the money would come in handy though. For my shower I am flying to/from Denver, do you think it would be unreasonable to ask for gift card in lieu of packages of diapers. Those would be hard to transport back on a plane.

maiatene · August 2012

beautifullife322:
I want gifts lol! I have such a hard time picking stuff out for myself. I can see where the money would come in handy though. For my shower I am flying to/from Denver, do you think it would be unreasonable to ask for gift card in lieu of packages of diapers. Those would be hard to transport back on a plane.

Hide.... the baby shower police are coming for you lol!!!

Because the shower is a "gift" to you you should be happy with what you get so I dont think you should ask for anything specific - unless you and your family/friends get down like that then by all means tell them how you really feel lol. I would imagine they know you will be flying to the shower so maybe they'll ship your gifts to your home or they'll come up with giving you cash on there own.

finhope11 · August 2012

Not incredibly common. Although I'm guilty of giving people cash for pretty much everything because I hate to shop.

beautifullife322 · August 2012

Oh I was not planning on asking for anything. I would never. I was just going to note on the invitation something to the effect that I will be flying so while appriciated diapers would be hard to travel with. From that point they can do what they wish.

moonglow_84 · August 2012

I've never seen anyone get money at any of the baby showers I went to. Closest thing I've ever seen was gift cards.

moonglow_84 · August 2012

beautifullife322:
Oh I was not planning on asking for anything. I would never. I was just going to note on the invitation something to the effect that I will be flying so while appriciated diapers would be hard to travel with. From that point they can do what they wish.

I did something similar on my invites. I'm the last of my family and friends to have a baby, and so I've already got mountains of clothes of all different sizes, more than my baby will ever need. So I discussed with a few of my friends to get opinions, and decided that I would put "thanks to our very generous friends, our baby's dresser is already full" on our invitations to try to discourage people from buying clothes as gifts. I also included a gift registry card in the invite so people would know that there are things that I've already chosen that I would like to get instead. I think that this is absolutely not a faux pas, especially in this day & age.

If you find a cute and polite way of posting on your invites that you are travelling and would rather get more manageable gifts like money and gift cards, definitely do it!

Perhaps some kind of pun for being charged for excess baggage on your flight or something... it would be humorous, and at the same time serve a purpose. You can also try word of mouth... asking people to let each other know. You will probably still get some gifts and things, but at least it will help

momofmanyinthemitten · August 2012

One person gave me cash and another group got us a gift card. The rest were actual gifts (and mostly from our registry).

Allycat11 · August 2012

beautifullife322:
I want gifts lol! I have such a hard time picking stuff out for myself. I can see where the money would come in handy though. For my shower I am flying to/from Denver, do you think it would be unreasonable to ask for gift card in lieu of packages of diapers. Those would be hard to transport back on a plane.

I would imagine the people attending your shower would be close enough to you to know that you are travelling for your shower. Most people will keep that in mind when deciding what to get you. It is rude to request any specific type of gift on an invite.

LilBlkDress1 · August 2012

Not common, but I did get about 4 cards with money in it at mine. A grandparent was one and one from an aunt who couldn't be there, the other 2 were from aunts who are just busy and don't care to go shopping. (I didn't mind at all)

Shaungela · August 2012

I live in NY, my sister got like $2,000 in cash and GC's at her shower. It may depend on what kind of stuff she had on her registry. Did she put a lot of expensive stuff on it? Or not enough stuff for everyone to get something?

beautifullife322 · August 2012

I honestly don't know, her and I are not close at all.

maiatene · August 2012

beautifullife322:
Oh I was not planning on asking for anything. I would never. I was just going to note on the invitation something to the effect that I will be flying so while appriciated diapers would be hard to travel with. From that point they can do what they wish.

I dont think its an unreasonable request however if this is what you want (cash) I would have my mom/sister/shower hostess do the dirty work for you. Putting any sort of disclaimer on the invite will be perceived by some to be in bad taste so as a work around have someone else mention it when people RSVP. But like I said I would think your guests will be mindful that you have to travel and will hopefully ship any presents to your home i/o expection you to lug them w you on the plane

MonicaClaire13 · August 2012

Shaungela:
I live in NY, my sister got like $2,000 in cash and GC's at her shower. It may depend on what kind of stuff she had on her registry. Did she put a lot of expensive stuff on it? Or not enough stuff for everyone to get something?

My MIL held my SIL's baby shower and she had a door prize where you bought raffle tickets at one for a dollar or 6 for five. And the money went into a Baby Bottle bank labeled "Diaper Fund".
Money is not an uncommon thing to receive at baby showers, it's just about how you set yours up.

Kingston54 · August 2012

I got giftcards! But not a lot of money. I think maybe $100 cash that's all.

beautifullife322 · August 2012

Oh I am not asking for money, quite the opposite acutally. I have a hard time picking stuff out myself so am looking forward to cute things from my friends. I was just curious about the money because my SIL said something about it. The diaper thing was to get a feel if it was something others would add if they were flying.

VinaHoney · August 2012

I'm Asian-American and it is common in my culture to do so for any special occasion. Since I'm apart of the first generation, as with all my friends, we do regular gifts.

So for me it's not uncommon at all. Essentially we get both gifts and money.

Want a personalized experience?

Baby shower question

Re: Baby shower question

Choose Another Board

Search Boards