The Art of Thank You

After the confetti is thrown and the sand from your honeymoon is dusted off your toes, there’s still one final step to complete your wedding – writing thank you notes.  Here are a few suggestions for writing your thank you cards with the same finesse you applied to your wedding day.

Plan in advance

The easiest first step is order your thank you cards when your order your wedding invitations.  There are many options for thank you cards including matching your invitation, using photo cards or monogramming them with your new initials or married name.  If the cards and stamps are waiting for you when you return from your honeymoon, you will already be ahead. 

Your List is Still the Master

The master list that helped you get your guests to your wedding will be your saving grace with thank you cards.  Whether you are using an Excel spreadsheet or old school pen and paper, make a gift column after your guests’ name and address.  When opening your gifts, resist the urge to tear into them like a kid on Christmas morning!  You may receive several crystal frames and it will be hard to remember which one came from Aunt Kathy and which came from Mrs. Jones.  Having the gift, the giver and the address in one place will keep you organized and save you time.  

Keeping It Real

Whether you had 100 or 400 people at your wedding, take a deep breath and accept that handwriting your thank you cards will take some time.  Yes, we said handwriting. Although we all enjoy the convenience of text, email and automated services, these are not recommended forms for sending a thank you card.  The same personal attention and detail that went into your wedding day needs to be carried over into your thank you cards.  Even though you may have verbally thanked your guests at the wedding, it is still important to write a thank you card to acknowledge the gift they bought you and the time they spent to celebrate with you.

Saying it Write

If you received a gift for your wedding, thank the person for the gift but do not mention if you plan on returning or exchanging it. For monetary gifts, it is polite to mention how you will be using the money, but not necessary to state the actual dollar amount. For example:

Dear Aunt Joan and Uncle Pete,

Thank you so much for your generous wedding gift.  We are looking forward to buying a house and will be using your gift towards the down payment. It was so thoughtful of you and very much appreciated. We especially want to thank you for traveling from California to be here for our wedding. It meant so much to us and we thank you for sharing in the joy of our special day.

Love,

Emily and John

Or for a specific gift:

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Jones,

Thank you so much for the beautiful crystal vase.  We are looking forward to using it as the table centerpiece for the special occasions we will host together.  We are so happy you were able to share in the joy of our wedding day.

Thank you again for your thoughtfulness.

Sincerely,

Emily and John

Timing is Everything

The standard for sending thank you cards is 2 weeks after the honeymoon and up to 3 months after the wedding.  For gifts received before the wedding, the rule is to send a thank you card within two weeks. Although it seems like a daunting task, if the two of you can set a realistic goal of writing 15-20 cards a few times a week, you will knock that list out before you know it.

Remember....good manners are timeless!