If you want to put a vintage or DIY twist on your thank you notes, for either the bridal shower or the wedding itself (or both), instead of using a prepackaged set of thank you cards, write thank you letters. Look for a pretty set of stationary, and make your own envelopes.
Sorry I haven't been posting-- December can be quite a busy month, with getting ready for the holidays and also at work (I have co-workers trying to fit in the rest of their vacation hours, so I've been taking on some more hours). Yes, I copied and pasted this paragraph to my other blog.
This may be a bit late for this idea, but one way to cut down on the amount of mindless Christmas gifts you receive (and up the amount of wedding registry items that you do receive), is to encourage people to buy you and your spouse to be wedding registry items for Christmas. Obviously, if you do not have many items on your registry (perhaps due to already owning a lot of the traditional wedding gifts?), this idea will not be helpful. On the other hand, getting an extra set of towels isn't a bad thing, as towels wear out (and can wear out rather quickly) and you are going to have to buy new towels several times throughout your marriage.
If you have added donations to your favorite charity (or charities) to your registry, or even if you haven't, you can also encourage friends and family to make a donation to charity in your honor during this holiday season. Christmas is a great time to investigate charities for putting on your wedding registry as well-- be sure to look up your favorites on GiveWell, Charity Navigator, and CharityWatch to get a good idea if your money is being spent well and really going towards the cause. Each charity review organization takes different factors into account, so checking the charity on each-- if it has been reviewed by all of them-- will give you a better picture. GiveWell also provides a guide to DIY charity evaluation, and Charity Navigator and CharityWatch both have a page of tips for choosing a charity.
I encourage you to check out the Advent Conspiracy if you are a Christian (or even if you are not, but you celebrate Christmas).