How To Write Perfect Wedding Thank You Cards

Certain customs are inextricably linked to weddings in western culture. Everyone enjoys the first kiss, the first dance, and, of course, the cutting of the cake. But there’s one practice that almost no one likes (except the recipients), but everyone has to do it — sending wedding thank you cards.

There’s no way to dress it up — sending thank you cards is a chore. It’s labor and time-intensive, and because you should mail them within the first few months of the wedding, it’s time-sensitive. Depending on the size of your event, you might have hundreds of thank you cards to send, each one personalized and penned by hand. It’s a significant commitment, but one that’s rude not to honor.

The good news is that Simply Noted can help. This article will take the trouble out of composing your gratitude. You’ll find tips on crafting the perfect wedding thank you cards — what to say, how to structure it, and how to keep things focused.

Of course, the real burden is putting pen to paper dozens or hundreds of times. We can help there, too. Our handwriting machines create authentic-feeling handwritten cards using real ballpoint pens. Our smart fonts vary letter sizes and shapes, introducing enough variation to fool even the most astute observers.

On top of that, we can replicate your handwriting for the ultimate, automated, and personalized handwritten experience. Your guests will get touchingly crafted cards that feel as real as anything you could have created by hand. Imagine 250 wedding thank you cards created automatically, each personalized to your recipient. It’s the best way to send thank you cards.

But we digress. Before you can think about writing your cards (or getting them written), you need to compose your messages.

KEEP THINGS SHORT AND SWEET

Writing too much is one of the biggest mistakes people make when sending wedding thank you cards. They compose their cards as if they’re writing a letter. But these thank yous aren’t intended for catching up. They have one purpose and a singular focus.

Saying thank you.

That’s it. Don’t overcomplicate things. You can craft perfect wedding thank you cards using a simple, three-item checklist.

Step One: Say Thank You

It is a thank you card, after all, so get right to the point. You don’t need to mention what you’re thankful for right away. That comes in step two. In your opening sentence, simply express your general gratitude for their attendance (if they came) and their generous gift (if they sent one.)

Step Two: Name the Gift

Step two is your first opportunity to personalize each thank you card. After a general thank you, name the gift that provoked your gratitude. If they attended your wedding but couldn’t provide a gift, simply thank them for their presence.

Step Three: Say Something Nice About the Gift

Add a sentence or two about what the gift means to you. Be specific. You can talk about how it makes you feel, how it improves your life, or how it satisfies a long-standing desire. Use your words to impress on your recipient the extent of your appreciation. Once you’ve said your piece, you can close with another heartfelt “thank you.”

That’s three easy steps to short but powerful thank you cards. If you find yourself writing more then four or five sentences, you’ve written too much.

With few words, the structure above will help you realize the single most crucial tip when filling out wedding thank you cards — personalization. If your cards feel like they could have been written to anyone, they’ll leave your guests feeling cold.

This three-step template structure supplies personalization in spades. It builds your card around each person’s gift and what it means to you. This guarantees that each card is explicitly tailored to its recipient.

A line art floral patterned thank you card.

OTHER TIPS FOR WRITING GREAT WEDDING THANK YOU CARDS

There are additional steps you can take to make your writing experience less painful. They all boil down to planning ahead.

Create a System

Even small weddings can generate a lot of gifts. If you don’t have a system for keeping track of who gave you what, it’s easy to miss a thank you or send thanks to the wrong party.

Spreadsheets are an excellent way to organize your data. Because of your wedding invitations, you likely already have a spreadsheet containing all of your guests addresses. Make a copy and rename it “Thank You List,” adding columns for gift descriptions and the date you sent your thank you card.

Without fail, update each attendee’s entry with a description of their gift immediately upon opening. Have a laptop or tablet with you and have a friend or family member update the data as you open gifts. Similarly, update entries whenever you mail cards to ensure you don’t miss anyone.

Don’t Procrastinate

We get it. You’re in the honeymoon phase! No one wants to interrupt their new, wedded bliss to write hundreds of thank you cards. But putting the task off isn’t a good solution. The longer you wait, the more under the gun you’ll be as your deadline approaches. Remember, wedding thank you cards should be mailed within three months of your wedding.

Get start ASAP.

Close up of someone handwriting a letter.

Use the Batch Method

Handwriting 150 or 250 cards is a daunting process. It’s easier if you break the task into more manageable chunks and portion it out over weeks or months.

Let’s say you have 200 cards to write and ten weeks to write them. Divide the total by the number of weeks:

200 / 10 = 20

This gives you 20, the number of cards you need to write each week to make your goal. Focusing on writing 20 cards in a week is less stressful than having the full 200 hanging over your head.

Don’t Write Them at All

This is the best piece of advice we can give. Don’t handwrite your wedding thank you cards yourself. Let Simply Noted recreate your handwriting and pen all of your cards for you. Our AI-driven smart fonts ensure that each of your recipients will feel certain you wrote the cards yourself.

They’ll feel good, you’ll feel good, and one more thing will be off your plate. Simply Noted makes wedding thank you notes easy.