How would I go about asking for monetary only gifts when traveling is an issue?

pinapple: How would I go about asking for monetary only gifts when traveling is an issue?
My daughter is having her first baby, and I am planning a baby shower for her. The problem is, she lives close to 3000 miles away and we are planning the party here. If she receives gifts, it would be very hard for her to get them back home. What should I do about asking for money gifts? Thanks for any help.

Answers and Views:

Answer by K
Cute. No. Not even appropriate to be soliciting gifts for the family in the first place; grandmothers-to-be are not supposed to throw showers. If it doesn’t fit in her suitcase she can give it to charity; there is no polite way to say “cash only.”

Answer by Mia’s Mommy
I was in this same situation, we live 2000 miles away from my parents. Wherever she registers, make sure her home address is the shipping address. Explicitly state that gifts bought from the registry need to be sent to her home. Just explain the situation, people are going to want to give something. Just tell them buy it off of the registry or give a gift card. It might be a little “tacky” but the gift givers would not want their gifts given to away to charity. That’s even more tacky!

EDIT: I forgot to mention, that my mom called it something like a Mia’s Piggy Bank Party, it was cute and everyone loved it. She made a big “piggy bank” and that’s where the gift cards and pictures of items bought off the registry went.

Answer by Daisyhill
On the invites you should have a funny little poem about it…something like

Please come to share our special day…we’re expcting a bundle of joy
A baby shower is on the cards whether it’s a girl or a boy
One thing to remember, is traveling time
Carol lives miles away!
So instead of a gift please donate to the pot
and help her to set up the nursery.

Thats not very good I know…but something like that….and then in the room have a box all decorated for people to put their cards/cheques and cash into.

Answer by Eight Nights A Week
Sorry but you can’t really do it. It’s just rude to include that information in invitations or make an announcement.
Your best bet is to tell a couple people very close to you and your daughter (like a sister) that if anyone asks, monetary gifts or gift cards would be best because of the travel. But you can’t put it on the invitation or anything. Tell your daughter not to do a registry; that will make more people ask what to get her.
It might even be cheaper to just ship the stuff to her house after she’s back. I guess you could maybe return big stuff to a large chain likes Babies R Us and use the gift cards to buy it again after she gets home.

Answer by BoSox
Quite honestly, you shouldn’t. That’s really, really tacky. The best you could do is have your daughter make a registry of things that can be ordered online, and request that the gifts be sent directly to her house. The whole fun of the shower is for the guests to see all of the cute baby things. If you simply ask for money, it’s not a shower – it’s panhandling.
*ETA* To the person below me, you said it perfectly. By the way, I’m due on February 3 as well! =)

Answer by Due Feb 3, 2011
K is absolutely correct, there is no appropriate way to say “Hey guys, instead of your well intended gifts, we’d rather just take your cash…it suits mom better”

So, basically you’re throwing a party to talk babies, play games..and take guests cash? Cmon, even parties with registries at least have the ‘fun’ of opening presents (even if they are already hand-picked).

Answer by Hannah’s mommy
You can’t ask for money gifts. Tacky, tacky, tacky.

If she gets a bunch of things that don’t fit into her suitcase, you all will have to suck it up and ship them to your daughter.