By Lisa Gunther
A wedding is the biggest party of your life. Several hundred guests may also be giving you hundreds of gifts. You must thank people for their generosity. Here are some helpful tips to make this monumental job easier. You need to be organized to keep this process as efficient as possible.
1. Order your thank you cards (with envelopes) when you order your invitations. Order 25 extra just in case you get some unexpected gifts or you make a mistake and need to re-write a thank you.
2. Write the return envelopes when you are writing out addresses for the wedding invitations. Whether it’s a calligrapher or you and all the bridesmaids writing out the invitation envelopes with addresses, this is the time to write out the thank you envelopes too. File these in a box in alphabetical order by last name.
3. Use your wedding guest master list when opening presents. This is the computer age, so you probably have your master list of guests in a Microsoft Word or Excel spreadsheet document. Print this out (sorted by last name) and have it handy on a clipboard. Every shower or wedding I’ve ever been to scribbled down guest names and what was given as a gift on the backs of napkins or loose paper. If you’re opening gifts in front of others, have your maid of honor or trusted friend be in charge of recording who gave what on this master list. If just you and your new husband are opening gifts, you can take turns opening gifts and being the recorder. The huge benefit of having your master list already printed out is that you don’t have to try to figure out how to spell anyone’s name. It will all be right in front of you.
4. Write out two or three generic templates you can use. I would recommend writing one to two sentences on each thank you so that your guests don’t feel that you rushed through the thank you’s. You really need to write more than “Thank you for the nice wedding gift. Love, Amy and Robert” for instance. Let’s go with a better example: “Thank you so much for coming to the wedding. It meant a lot to us that you were there. The (fill in the blank) will come in handy in our new kitchen (home) and we will think of you each time we use it. Love, Amy and Robert.” Something like this. Mix it up a little. The first couple thank you cards will go slowly but you’ll get into a groove once you get going.
5. As soon as you get back from your honeymoon, do 10 thank you cards a day until you are done. Some days you’ll be on a roll and do more than 10. Other days you might only crank out 5. But think about it. If you had 200 thank you cards to write, it will take you 20 days. That isn’t even a month. Your guests will be impressed to get their thank you cards so quickly and it will make you and your husband look organized, responsible and grateful. Might as well start off your married life together on an organized front!
6. Keep track of who you’ve sent thank you’s to. Be sure to make a mark (like a “T”) next to each name as you write the thank you. Otherwise, you won’t be able to remember who you’ve sent thank you’s out to. And that would be embarrassing! Drop off your sealed thank you envelopes each day at the post office or leave in your mail box with the flag up so the mailman knows you have a pickup. The job is not done until these thank you’s are in the mail and on their way.
Congratulations on your wedding. I hope you find the above tips helpful. Don’t delay in sending out your thank you notes. It will only stress you out. There is nothing worse than your mom calling you up and saying something like “Aunt Susie said she didn’t get a thank you card yet. I’m just calling to make sure Amy got the gift.” Don’t go there. Get your thank you notes done and over with. Then you and your husband will have more time to enjoy married life.
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Lisa Gunther is a freelance writer and product reviewer. She loves to give advice to young couples. Gunther Invitations is the perfect place for your Save the Date, Wedding Invitations and Thank You note needs: http://www.guntherinvitations.com. If you need bridesmaid gifts try ttp://www.gunthergifts.com/groomgifid.html for groomsmen gifts. Gunther Gifts has engraved and personalized gifts for all occasions such as weddings, birthdays, Mother's Day, Father's Day, graduation, holiday or "just because." Visit Gunther Gifts today at http://www.gunthergifts.com.
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