Tackling Thank-You Notes

The wedding is over. You’re back from your honeymoon and you think to yourself, what’s next? If you hadn’t already started, the daunting task of writing thank-you notes is hanging over your head. Writing thank you notes for 150 wedding guests can be a time consuming task that sometimes takes brides up to three months to complete.


This article will give you some etiquette, tips, and tricks to tackling the task of writing thank you notes.


- Etiquette states that thank you notes should be written on ivory or white notepaper. You may choose a basic style, others choose to have it monogrammed with their new initials or name. Also, only black or blue ink should be used when writing thank you notes.


- Also, etiquette requires a timely response to the receipt of your gifts. The rule is that before the wedding, you should write a thank you within 2 weeks of receipt of the gift. After the wedding, you should send thank you notes within one month of returning from your honeymoon.


- Always personalize each note, specifying the gift given, and a special message to the guest.


- For monetary gifts, it is a nice courtesy to tell how you plan to use the money.


- For gifts given by a group of people, (8 or more) one thank you note is acceptable, but it is etiquette and courtesy to at least make a phone call to each person in the group to thank them individually.


- When sending out your invitations, use index cards or make a list with all of your guests’ addresses. After receiving a gift from that guest, you can list the gift specifically, and check off when the thank you was written and mailed. This will help you keep track of addresses and thank you notes.


- When opening your gifts, list the name of the giver, and what they gave, in detail. For instance, instead of writing “picture frame,” you may want to write “crystal 8x10 frame.” This will make your thank you notes a little more personal to each guest.


- Set up an area that is designated to write your thank you notes. Make sure that the area is well lit and comfortable.


- Don’t try to write all of your thank you notes at one time. It won’t happen. Set a time once or twice a week to write thank you notes until they are complete.


These tips should help out in making the task or writing thank you notes a little less time consuming and ease the frustration. With that in mind, good luck, and happy writing!