From the brides point of view, the material gestures are nice and appreciated but really all we care about is you sharing in our excitement and standing beside us on the most important day of our life.
My MOH lives in Massachusetts, which from Baltimore is about the same... 6 hours away. She and my brother are extremely strapped for cash, they recently had to move out of their first home because the mortgage became too much and are renting from our other brother. They bust their humps and my brother was recently laid off from a company he has been with over ten years.
I could have cared less about the "traditional" MOH duties, in fact I planned my wedding myself but sent her pics and kept in constant touch when any decisions were being made so it were as if she were by my side since day one and she gave me her opinion. I didn't have a bridal shower, and we really had joint bachelor/bachelorette parties that lasted for days with all of us just hanging out and goofing around for days before the wedding. It was awesome.
She will understand if everything isn't
"perfect" trust me, if there is one thing she is learning in this experience, it is that! lol And that is okay because it's impossible for everything to be!
Take a little pool from other girls and putting money together as a joint gift. Just don't kill yourself feeling like nothing is good enough, after all love can't be bought it is earned and with her asking you to do her that honor, you have already proved yourself worthy
Just remember it is your duty to be the burden bearer lol (but you must do so secretly in private, always calm and collect in front of the bride even if you have to fib. We can't have a hysterical bride!) & take the time and enjoy the experience for what it is worth, it is a once in a lifetime day and it is over in the blink of an eye.