Bridal Shower Etiquette

[Rhonda]

I've been wondering about this too. My fiance's mother called my mom last week and during the conversation she told my mom that she thought I shouldn't have a shower since we are already asking a lot from everyone to go to our wedding. My mom wants to throw me a shower anyway. She doesn't think that a shower gift is going to break anyone's bank and she thinks every bride deserves a shower (if they want). Now, the dilemma is...I live in CA and my mom wants to throw me an "east coast" shower in NY, but, of course, I can't possibly travel home with a ton of gifts...how do you have a shower without gifts? Isn't that the point? I don't care so much about the gifts, but, wouldn't that be weird We thought about possibly doing a contest of who can decorate the nicest box (don't put a real gift inside), just for fun....is that weird? Anyone else have a similar situation? Or, any thoughts on how to handle this