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When to cut the shower guest list?

At what point does a baby shower turn into "too many" people? I recently attended a shower where she got so many gifts it could have filled a school bus and then some. Mostly it was her mom's coworkers. But it got me to thinking, can you invite too many people to a shower? Wedding or baby?

Public Comments

1. I'd say there are 3 considerations: 1. Do you have the room for them? 2. Do you plan to/can you afford to feed them? 3. Do you mind being with them? Other than that, invite as many as possible. Better too many gifts that need to be returned than not getting everything you want/need.
2. Showers should be limited to close friends and relatives. A mom's coworkers means she was begging for gifts. How tacky.
3. At some point the stack of gifts becomes obscene. There is no need to invite everyone and her brother----these are suppossed to be fairly intimate gatherings of really good friends/family known well by the bride or mother-to-be-----not her mother. But whatever------it seems to be all about quantity these days.
4. It really depends. You don't know the relationship that the mom has with her coworkers. Grandmoms-to-be get really excited about babies and so do all of their friends (generally). I don't think there's a limit as to how many people should come to a shower. I don't think it looks like she's begging for gifts. As long as her guests were fed and entertained, then it's no big deal. I think, it's alright for your mom to invite some of her friends, and you invite yours...but don't go digging through facebook inviting people you haven't seen in years. (I think it's tacky when you invite a lot of people AND expect them to bring food and a gift...) **I guess most people disagree with me. But in my family, it's the moms who get really excited and want to invite everyone. It's not a gift begging event. It's just that babies and weddings are those celebrated things that everyone gets to join in. If the coworkers weren't close in your situation, they could have declined the invite.
5. You can. First, showers are meant to be thrown by friends and relatives. This dictates the invitees. There is no set number to how many showers you can have, but some showers have more import than others. For instance, your best gf may throw a shower with the ring of gfs, so you might get risque-ier gifts. Your mother's best friend may throw a shower, inviting your immediate family women and women friends that have supported you in life. Mom's coworkers don't really fit in anywhere, to tell the truth, because where do they fit in to your friend's life? That sound's like a gift grabber procured by the mom. The number of people at a shower should be limited mostly to about 20-25 people. The shower highlights a single person, and beyond an hour or so, that person can't possibly spend enough time with them. It's better to have several small showers that include similar rings of people. That way, best gfs dont get side shuffled by people like coworkers, who have a different friendship level. Fair enough?
6. A shower should be relatives and close friends of the bride. Mom's co workers shouldve been limited to 2-3 of her very very close associates. The largest shower Ive attended ( was mine) and about 25 people. Some of those were my younger girl cousins, whose mom brought a gift