I’ll be honest, one of my least favorite things to do as a kid was to write thank you notes. But now that I am older, I see how important it is to express gratitude to the ones you love. After your wedding, you will have undoubtedly gained many household items or monetary gifts that your friends and family have put much thought and effort into, so let’s look at how to make the thank-you process just as thoughtful, with less stress.
1. Order Early
One of the best ways to remember to write thank you’s is to order your paper goods at the same time you order your invitation suite. This allows you to have a beautiful design and aesthetic from beginning to end and have a paper that you love. Stationary makes a big impression, so when you are selecting your paper goods, pick a style and quality that you will be proud to give to everyone you know!
2. Be Organized
Create a spreadsheet or list before any of your showers begin and intrust it to one of your bridesmaids to make sure every gift is documented. This will give you peace of mind that you don’t have to remember every piece of china or set of towels and who it came from! When writing the notes, make it a goal to do a certain number of cards every day for a week or two so that you are not overwhelmed and your hand doesn’t start crapping.
3. Make it Personal
In the era of social media and texting, the most impressive thing you can do for your wedding guests is to handwrite personal thank you notes. For smaller weddings, have a general formula of what you want to say, then insert the guest’s name, the specific gift, what you plan to use (or have used) it for, and a personal, not gift related comment. This can even be typed if made very personal, and will make the guest feel appreciated and they will love you even more for it. For larger weddings, if you panic at the thought of hand writing hundreds of notes, create a elegant, general text and have it printed in a lovely font.
4. Have Help
Whether it’s your bridesmaids, mother, or new spouse, have someone to help with the writing. This takes off the burden of writing every note and allows you to have someone to enjoy your time writing. Work and play are always more fun with those you love!
5. Use a Good Pen
While this may seem like a obvious point, it is a problem that many brides and grooms run into. Whether it’s the save-the-date’s or the thank you’s make sure that you have several pens, in a color that compliments your color scheme, that create solid lines and do not smear. I have personal received a couple of wedding thank-you’s that had ink smeared across the page, and it’s sad that all of a bride or groom’s hard work was smudged away. Having a good pen will also make it easier for you to write, freeing up more time to enjoy these much discussed gifts!
Thank you’s can seem daunting, but they can also be fun and an amazing way to show your guests that you care about their contribution to your big day! Happy writing!
