Photo by Atelier Rosemood
Congratulations on your wedding! Now that you have polished off the last piece of wedding cake and have finished unpacking after your honeymoon, there is no avoiding the last thing on your wedding checklist: wedding thank you cards!
We are sure that your wedding went better than you could have ever hoped, so it’s time to thank those who played a part. Most newlyweds dread writing their wedding thank you cards, but trust us when we say, that the quicker you get them sent out the quicker you can go back to enjoying your newly-wedded bliss!
Writing your cards is definitely less exciting than opening your wedding gifts, but these top tips from wedding stationery supplier Atelier Rosemood should help make it easier! Whether you are searching for the right words to express your gratitude or you don’t know where to start when it comes to finding the perfect design, this guide will give you the ten things you need to know to survive the last of your wedding duties!
Photo by Atelier Rosemood
1. They are a must-do on the wedding checklist
There is no getting away from it! Even if the last thing you want to do when you return from your honeymoon is think about more wedding stationery. Your wedding duties are not over until you have sent your wedding thank you cards!
It’s polite that you acknowledge that your loved ones spent time (and probably money), to help you celebrate your wedding and to thank all those who helped you organise the big day!
2. Send them out in good time
According to wedding thank you card etiquette, you have three months to send your cards! Remember that sending them out in good time will mean that your gifts and memories from the big day are fresh in your mind, so it will be easier to write a heartfelt thank you message!
If you are planning on sending out photo thank you cards, ask your wedding photographer to send you some images in advance of the final collection, as it can sometimes take photographers a few months to get you your final photos!
Don’t worry if in all the newlywed excitement the three months comes and goes before you get your cards sent out. A wedding thank you card a year on is better than no card at all!
Photo by Atelier Rosemood
3. Send them to everyone involved in your wedding
Wedding thank you cards are not only for those who sent gifts but should also be sent to family and friends who helped plan the big day as well as your wedding suppliers.
It is easy to forget certain individuals so make a list of who you wish to send wedding thank you cards to before ordering your cards. As a basic rule, you should include:
- Your wedding guests.
- Everyone who gave/sent you a wedding gift
- All those involved in the preparations, including your wedding suppliers
- Your parents
- The bridal party and groomsmen
4. List your gifts
An easy way to start your wedding thank you card list is to record the cards and gifts you received as you open them! Keep a detailed list of who gave you which gift, including anything you particularly liked about the gift as this will form the basis of your thank you message. You may receive similar gifts from different people, so be sure to note down differentiating factors such as the colour or style so that you remember exactly which newlywed mugs were from which guest!
If you receive money, write down the amount. While you should not include the amount in the thank you card, it is good to think about how you are going to use this money, with the amount giving you an idea of whether it will cover something specific or whether you will be putting it towards a bigger item.
Photo by Atelier Rosemood
5. Personalise the message
If you now have a pile of wedding thank you cards sitting on your desk waiting for your attention then we are sure that you are not alone. Many happy couples will put off tackling their wedding thank you cards as the thought of writing out hundreds of handwritten messages is enough to fill them with dread!
It is, however, important to remember that there is no need to write an essay! Thank you messages can be kept short and sweet as long as each one is thoughtful!
Rotating through a few basic thank you messages is a good place to start, but you will want to then personalise each card with a mention of each specific gift and how you are going to use it. Generic thank you messages do not acknowledge the thought and time that your guests would have put into your wedding gifts!
If you still aren’t sure where to start, here are a few wedding thank you card wording ideas to get you started!
“Thank you so much for being there on our wedding day. It meant the world to us that we could celebrate with you. We hope you enjoyed the day as much as we did.”
“Thank you for being there on our wedding day and for your beautiful gift! We were so happy to receive the lovely crockery set that you so kindly gave to us. We look forward to using it for years to come.”
“We are so sorry that you weren’t able to make it to our wedding. We had a lovely day and were thinking about you. We would like to make sure that you know how much you were missed and that we are so appreciative for the gift that you sent us.”
“Thank you so much for attending our wedding! We had a lovely day and were so happy that you were there. We are so grateful for your generous gift that we will be adding to our honeymoon fund.”
Photo by Atelier Rosemood
6. Handwritten notes are best
Whilst the idea of writing out a pile of wedding thank you cards by hand probably doesn’t fill you with joy, there is no denying that handwritten messages are by far the most sincere way to share your gratitude.
Whilst you can cheat by typing part of your message when ordering personalised wedding thank you cards online, it is still best to add a handwritten note to mention the specific gift you received and to sign off your cards by hand! If you are a bit of a stationery lover, treating yourself to a new pen might be all the motivation you need to start tackling your wedding thank you cards!
7. Choose your cards to suit your day
If you poured your heart and soul into finding the perfect wedding invitations and planned the most elegant wedding reception, make sure that your wedding thank you cards are as unforgettable as the big day itself!
Your wedding thank you cards will be your guests’ last glimpse of your wedding so it is nice to have them reflect the theme and colour scheme that you chose. Your guests are sure to be impressed when they realise that your wedding thank you cards are coordinated beautifully with the rest of your wedding stationery, so consider ordering to match!
Photo by Atelier Rosemood
8. Make use of your wedding photos
Not only will the style of your wedding thank you cards remind your guests of your big day, but it is also your wedding photos that will bring your wedding day flooding back! Your wedding thank you cards are a great chance to give your wedding guests a first glimpse of your professional photos and show off your favourite parts of the day.
From confetti shots to group snaps, there are plenty of options out there when it comes to choosing photos for your thank you cards. Our advice would therefore be, to take the time to flick back through your wedding photos to find the ones that best capture the magic of your day and the photos that mean the most to you!
9. Write them in batches
If you had a large wedding, there is no way that you are going to be able to get through all of your wedding thank you cards in one go and your hand will probably not thank you for it if you try! Instead, put aside a little bit of time over a few days to split up your wedding thank you cards into manageable piles.
You should also divide the workload with your spouse, writing half of the cards each. Try to make it a fun experience for the two of you by playing your favourite music in the background as you go or by keeping yourselves fuelled with your favourite snacks or drinks.
Whilst it can be tempting to draft in others to help, remember that the most important part of your wedding thank you cards is the personal message, and this can only be written by the happy couple! That’s not to say that you can’t ask Mum and Dad to help address and stamp the envelopes though…
Photo by Atelier Rosemood
10. Factor them into your wedding budget
Planning a wedding is a complicated financial matter and you will not want to forget about your wedding thank you cards and wedding photo album when you are putting your wedding budget together!
Make sure that you have some pennies left over after the big day and bear this in mind when choosing your design! There are wedding thank you card options out there for all budgets, with generic note cards available on the high street and a wide range of personalised wedding thank you cards available online!
Photo by Atelier Rosemood
Hopefully, these tips from Atelier Rosemood will help you feel equipped to tackle your wedding thank you cards. Bearing these few simple pointers in mind will help make sending wedding thank you cards as painless as possible!
If after the big day you find yourself falling into the post-wedding blues, making a start on your wedding thank you cards is the perfect remedy! There is no better excuse to get your wedding photos back out and to take another look at your wedding gifts, so get together with your spouse and make a start on that pile of cards!
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