Wedding thank you cards – your questions answered

Guests go to great lengths to be at your wedding and to choose you a wedding gift you’ll love, so sending out wedding thank you cards is absolutely essential. Here are some of the answers to common questions couples ask about wedding thank you cards.

Thank you card timetable

Try to have the thank you cards written within two months while you are still on a post-wedding high, otherwise it will be a laborious task. General etiquette dictates that you should post your wedding thank you cards within a month of coming back from honeymoon. Most guests will understand if you do it a bit later, especially if you are moving home or are faced with a busy work schedule.

Keeping track of gifts

If you haven’t registered for gifts, you could print off a list of your guests when you post out the wedding invitations. You can then use this list to write down presents as you receive them. Include the addresses to make writing your thank you notes easier.

If you have a registry, the store you register with should have a list of your gifts and the people that bought hem for you, which will make your task a lot simpler. If you really don’t remember what a certain guest bought you, you can just post a card thanking them for their lovely present, but that could be awkward if they didn’t actually give you anything.

Gifts received before the wedding

In the old days, you were supposed to post thank you cards for presents received before the wedding within two weeks of receipt. However this can be a trickier issue than you think if you got thank you cards printed with your married name on. If you want to send any thank you notes before the wedding you will have go with blank thank you notes and hand write them.

Generally this only applied to gifts from people that can’t come to the wedding. If the guests are coming to the wedding, it might be better to post the card after the occasion so you can thank them for being there as well as for the present.

Guests that didn’t bring a gift

Always post wedding thank you cards to guests that attended your wedding, and say how happy you both were that they shared the day with you, even if you didn’t receive a gift. Their present may have got lost in the post, or might be that one item you lost the gift tag for. Your thank you cards aren’t just related to your gifts, but are also intended to thank your guests for making the effort to attend your special day. As well as giving their time to spend the day with you, they might have spent money on an outfit, travel, or accommodation.

Gifts of money

It’s hard to know if you should tell guests what you will be spending gifts of money on but it’s always good to write something specific about your present. Tell your guests if you are spending the money on something positive like home improvements, a holiday, or some gardening work, but don’t tell guests if you are spending their contributions to pay off your credit card bill for instance.