Your wedding invitations are out and the wedding gifts begin to arrive. It’s time to begin the monumental task of writing thank you notes. Do not think you have to wait until after the wedding to get started. You can jump right in, writing and mailing thank you cards as the gifts arrive. If you plan to use informal notes with your married names on the front, however, these should not be sent before the wedding. Instead, use notes with the bride’s name only or just your first names. If you still want to use informal notes personalized with your married names, you can write and address the thank you notes as you receive gifts and have a friend or family member mail them for you the day after your wedding.
To make the process easier, follow these general guidelines for writing thank you notes. The first sentence should thank the giver for the wonderful gift. The second and/or third sentence should mention how you plan to use it. If it is money, briefly tell them what you plan to use it toward. For example, if you are spending it on something special or putting it into a savings account for a home. The fourth sentence should say that you are looking forward to seeing them at the wedding, how thrilled you were that they joined in the celebration or how sorry you are that they can/could not make it. You can end your thank you note several ways depending on the type of stationery used. If it is before the wedding and the bride’s maiden name or monogram is used on the informal card, you could say “the groom’s name joins me in thank you and sending our love,” best, etc. with the bride’s name on the signature line. This format can also be used after the wedding if only the bride’s married name or monogram appears on the notes. If you plan to use stationery with your married names or joint monogram, say something like this “again thank you for your generosity,” etc., with both names appearing on the signature line.
If you ordered your wedding invitations from The American Wedding, we offer thank you notes and informal cards that match your invitations that you can use to write your thank you notes. Or you can always send a nice piece of personalized stationery.