Most newly married couples head straight off on honeymoon after their wedding and so most won’t even have the time to take delivery of and/or open all their presents before their departure. Although you will probably come across some wedding etiquette books that say the Thank You cards should be sent out a few days after the wedding (or even before as your gift list e-mails come in) realistically this just won’t be possible for most couples.

Generally, people and particularly your guests will appreciate how much time is taken by the couple preparing for the big day and equally how much there is to do (not least take a breather!) after the wedding, so it’s unlikely that people will find it rude if you send out the Thank You’s after you’ve returned from your honeymoon. However, try not to wait for much longer – it’s best to send them out within two weeks of returning from your honeymoon, although it’s normally considered acceptable to send them up to three months after the wedding.

What type of card should I choose?

It’s a good idea to have your thank you cards included as part of your personalised wedding stationery package – this way you can be sure the Thank You cards will match the style of your big day.  The inside of the card should be blank since they should be personal and heartfelt rather than a ‘fill in the blanks’ exercise.

What do I write?

For wedding guests, thank them for sharing your special day and then thank them for the present they’ve given to you. If the person was a member of the wedding party it’s important to also acknowledge the help and support that they gave you in the build up and/or on the day. Also write thank you cards to those people who weren’t able to come to the wedding but did send you a gift.

If you received a gift of money, thank the person for their generosity. There’s no need to mention the amount but you can let them know it will be put to good use ( e.g. towards your house deposit, for new dining room furniture, etc.). If you received a gift purchased from a department store (e.g. via a gift list you had), comment briefly on how useful it will be for you.

It’s always nice to close your Thank You’s with a short reference regarding future plans/ events ( “ ..we look forward to seeing you very soon” or “we hope to see you at Jackie’s birthday celebrations next month..”) and then close appropriate to the person e.g. “with much love”, “with best wishes”.

Some important points to note

It really is important that you show you care about each individual card and that you actively want to send it and mean what is written. This means that you must write all cards and envelopes by hand and avoid anything that makes it look like or the recipient feel like the card is part of a mass mailing exercise. Inevitably this will mean that the exercise will take you much more time, however it will give you chance to reflect on the role of each individual guest and the additional thought that you put in will show through and be appreciated by the recipient.  Try to write the cards together and try to both individually sign all cards as this also adds a personal touch.

One final thing – avoid sending the thank you’s out in batches as it may cause annoyance to one person who finds they haven’t received one yet and realises that some other guests have.

If you would like some advice on your Thank You cards or any aspect of your wedding stationery please contact us and we will help you as much as we can!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 25th, 2009 at 1:56 pm and is filed under Wedding Invitations. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.