Baby Shower Etiquette

mtam · April 2014

Hi ladies,

I have a shower etiquette question. I have two close friends that mentioned they wanted to plan my shower very early in my pregnancy. My issue is, they (along with all my friends and family) live 300 miles away so I would be traveling there for the shower. Doc says I shouldn't travel in my third tri because of possible complications so I'm limited to the next 7 weeks. They haven't mentioned the shower since the initial time. Is it rude to tell them about my travel restrictions? I don't want them to feel uncomfortable if for some reason they can't or don't want to host anymore. But I know most showers happen in the third tri so they may be planning for that but not telling me yet. My main concern is that I don't want them to feel obligated to throw a shower if I tell them about my travel restrictions. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

tbarker14 · April 2014

They already offered to host one... I would tell them about your travel restrictions since I would hate to do all the planning to find out you can't attend.

Nuclearcupcake · April 2014

I would tell them to keep them in the loop but I would also say something like "I don't want you to feel obligated" or whatever you feel works. It's not like your fishing for a shower offer.

MrsLaLaBug · April 2014

^wss. If they already offered, it seems legit thing to do.

greeneyed_bride · April 2014

If they are close friends, it wouldn't be weird to tell them about your travel restrictions. You may not even need to bring up the shower at all. Next time you talk to them, just tell them that you're bummed because your Dr. said you can't travel beyond (whatever date he/she mentioned.) They can probably figure out that no travel means no traveling for a shower, and they can bump up the date accordingly.

mcstrepp · April 2014

They might be trying to keep the date a surprise. As PP said if they are close friends you can totally bring up the travel restrictions without even mentioning the shower.