A while back, I referenced a Tyee article about cancelling your wedding. A visitor wrote in with this question?
My daughter is thinking of eloping and cancelling her formal wedding. She wants to have a party, after the marriage, for her friends and family, and guests. Should she send back the bridal shower gifts that she already received, or may she keep them?
Mother of the “eloping” Bride
What do you think? I’d say she’s okay there. After all, she’s going to have an event, and she’s still going to get married. The wedding gift is hardly a contract “in exchange for one formal wedding plus reception”, right?
DarrenBarefoot.com 
I’d have to agree with you on this one, I don’t see anything wrong with keeping the gifts. A bridal shower is something you have prior to a wedding, it doesn’t matter the type of wedding you have in order to have a shower. That’s just my opinion anyway.
i’m with you, too. keep ’em. 🙂
Keep ’em. She’s still getting married, ergo she still gets the loot.
I agree. If people are giving bridal shower gifts because they feel it will guarantee them an invitation to a wedding, they don’t deserve the stuff back. In my mind shower gifts & wedding gifts are all the same, and I’d give one to a friend who was getting married to celebrate the marriage, not just because they invite me to the wedding and feed me 😉
Bridal shower gifts are pre-nuptual treats, they have nothing to do with the actual wedding.
She should get extra gifts for having the guts to change her plans.