Everyone says thank you cards (TYCs) should be the finishing touch after the wedding, the bow on top of the gift, if you will. I think TYCs should at least be in the back of your mind, near the start of the wedding planning process.  If only I had realized that I should open the gifts right away to create a list of, “who got what.” When you create this list ASAP it prevents losing the information over time. If you keep a record of all your gifts and givers, they can be mentioned within your thank you cards. Stay Organized, I had to play mix & match, and make some calls to find all the missing Amazon thank you cards. Luckily my best friend nicely put those aside for me.

Use me as an example: One thing I wish I had known in the beginning of all this, wedding planning, is to get the Thank You Cards[TYC] started as the gifts roll in. I thought I was being cute by not opening our gifts on arrival and saving them for the wedding day. I had one of my best friends open all the amazon boxes and wrap all the gifts we received, from our registry. Side note: I had this done so we can have a gift table at the celebration. It was a great idea and a horrible idea.

By the time my husband and I got back from our trip after the wedding and opened the gifts. We were so excited that we just opened and kept opening We mixed up the cards and some of the amazon gifts didn’t have names of who they were from. Also, I didn’t think of writing down “who got what” until almost halfway through. The next time I open gifts from my family and friends, I will take a way better approach. It’s very important to send out authentic genuine cards. My experience with the TYCs is why I’m here trying to help you out now. Often, it’s the tiny details that get overlooked.

Luckily, I was able to remember the gift givers, and finish the rest of the list out of memory. Now I’m hoping I didn’t mix up or misplace a few gifts with givers. The cards I wasn’t 100% sure of had to get a little more creatively worded. There are many ways to properly thank the givers even if you’re unclear of their gift. There’s also an entire proper wedding etiquette response, of course.

‍

THANK YOU CARDS STRATEGIES

Today, I’ll give you three separate strategy plans you can choose from to help you out during your TYC extravaganza that comes along with the fun of opening your brand new, shiny wedding gifts:

Strategy #1 Make a List: If you have a wedding registry and your most loving and responsible family and friends are sending you gifts well before the date of the celebration, start taking notes. As soon as those gifts start rolling in, open them up and take note of who purchased what and write their first & last names, gift name and givers address down on a list. Even better, create a G-Drive folder named “Our Wedding Gifts”

Strategy #2 Write TYC Now: You can definitely be an overachiever and not just open them as they come, but try to write the thank you note right then and there. Pack it nicely away in a safe place, or like earlier mentioned, type it up, for now, into your G-Drive under “Our Wedding Gifts → thank you notes”. And then later handwrite it after the wedding.

Strategy #3 e-TYC: $money saving tip$ You can make the Thank You Cards e-based. Put a nice little graphic together, I usually use Canva. You just ask for everyone’s email address, since everyone has one, except for maybe grandma(mines 91), so you can snail-mail hers, she’ll love that! I snail-mailed to grandma and even added some printed photos for her, she loves printed photos!

These strategies are pretty basic, I know, but if I were back in your shoes, I would have really appreciated having these ideas. I was too busy trying to plan all the big stuff that I overlooked this very important, small step in the process. Make sure to check out our bonus strategies and TYC Tips below.

TYC BONUS STRATEGY & TIPS:

Bonus Strategy #4 Going Old School: Good ol’ fashion, have your bridesmaid, mom, or closest friend/relative write the gift list for you as you open it. Choose whoever has the best handwriting, or again have them G-Drive it for you.

Tip: Make sure to mention at the wedding for everyone to include their address in the Guestbook when they sign

Tip: Open the gifts at the party and thank everyone in person haha! I’m not sure if this is wedding etiquette appropriate, but you know your family and friends. Only do this if you know for sure it would suffice as a legitimate thank you. P.s. This would take way too long .. but it would definitely kill 2 birds with one stone.

‍