Another strange shower invitation

[KiminChicago]

Add me to the list of people with relatives who just don't get it.

My cousin is getting married in two weeks. He's almost 20 years younger than I am, so we never spent much time together when we were younger. As a matter of fact, I wouldn't recognize him if he walked into the room now; it's been that long since I've seen him. However, his father is my godfather and I do see my aunt and uncle quite regularly. His two older brothers are also closer to my age and we see them at all the family gatherings. Which is a long-winded way of saying that although I'm not very close to this particular cousin, we (DH, DS, DD and I) are planning on attending the wedding (thank goodness the kids were invited too!).

Anyway, I went out to the mailbox today and what do I find? A shower invitation for this Saturday! One week before the wedding and only three days from now. It is also apparently a pot luck since the invitation says to bring a dish to share. The worst part is there isn't even a phone number included to RSVP or to ask what kind of dish to bring (what are they going to do if everyone decides to bring potato salad?). Of course, with this little notice, there's no way I can go to a shower; our weekends are usually planned a month in advance. I'm going to be kind and assume that the reason why the invitation didn't include a way to RSVP is because the people throwing the shower (and I don't know who they are either since they only included first names) realize that it is very short notice.

My mom (cousin's godmother) says she won't be able to go either. She's planning on calling my aunt to let her know, but she's afraid that my aunt and uncle will be upset but really, what else can we do? I kind of feel that this is a late attempt at a gift grab but my mom and my siblings are planning on getting a Target gift card (where the couple is registered) and sending it to my uncle's house (since we have no idea whose address is on the shower invite). I told her I'd ship in too, but I have to say this is the oddest shower invitation I've ever received. It's almost as strange as my other cousin who sent out an engagement announcement that asked us to let them know if we wanted to receive a wedding invitation. Apparently that cousin was only sending out invites to people who were sure to come to the wedding.

 

[scrapquitler]

Anyway, I went out to the mailbox today and what do I find? A shower invitation for this Saturday! One week before the wedding and only three days from now. It is also apparently a pot luck since the invitation says to bring a dish to share. The worst part is there isn't even a phone number included to RSVP or to ask what kind of dish to bring (what are they going to do if everyone decides to bring potato salad?).

It sounds to me like someone decided at the last minute that there should be a shower. Perhaps someone (another aunt or something?) found out that no shower was planned and said "Oh boy, we NEED to throw these people a shower". Probably no RSVP number because they figure that it is last minute and they'll be happy with whoever can show up showing up. And really, with Pot Luck, it doesn't matter much because if everyone brings something to eat, there should be plenty of food. I go to a number of pot lucks where there is absolutely no direction about what "type" of food to bring, and its never a problem, there's always a good variety, it just seems to always work out, and if there are five different potato salads nobody ever seems to get overly concerned about it...thats the thing with pot luck, its all based on luck and you get what you get If everyone brings way too much of the same thing, it will be a memory that everyone will laugh about later, and eating a plate full of potato salad for lunch won't kill you.

Maybe not the best organization, but the way I see it, someone probably felt bad there wasn't going to be a shower and decided to pull it off, done with the best intentions in a haphazard way, perhaps, but I'd see it as a kind gesture rather than a gift grab. But then I always try to look on the positive side (not always successful, but I do try). Other people are going to reply that it is tacky, a gift grab, OMG I can't believe I'm being invited and it's pot luck, etc. etc.