Wedding Planning Tips // Joel and Amber Photography // Huntsville Wedding Photographers
I still have a vivid picture in my memory when it comes to writing thank you notes after the wedding day.
Two weeks into our marriage, we were living in a tiny 3 room apartment above my great uncle’s garage. Joel worked a really early morning shift, so I had a few hours to myself before heading into work at 10am.
I’d sit in the little corner space we’d carved out for our office. Armed with a stack of thank you cards and my favorite G-2 Pilot pen, I watched replays of Britain’s Got Talent on the computer and wrote. And wrote and wrote.
When it comes to wedding thank you cards, it can be a little overwhelming. A blessing, for sure, to have so many people who have touched your newly married lives and deserve a thank you card. But overwhelming, none the less.
If you’re one of those people who write thank you notes as the gifts roll in – awesome! A admirable feat, for sure. But if you’re like the other 99% of us, they’ve already started to accumulate. We’re here to help the 99%.
Today we’re sharing 5 tips for rocking the “thank you card” part of your to-do list!
1. Schedule a specific time. Unless you are one of those people who honestly love to sit down and write thank you notes, you’ve probably been procrastinating on this. If you don’t assign a specific time to sit down and knock it out, you’ll keep putting it off. And before you know it, those cards will be embarrassingly late. Bite the bullet, put it in your schedule, and make yourself do it. The freedom you’ll feel afterwards will be so worth it – I promise.
2. Turn on some music or put on a show you’ve already seen a dozen times.
It helps to have something to keep you slightly entertained as you trudge through note after note.
I say a show you’ve already seen because you don’t want to get too caught up in watching TV instead of writing. My favorite mindless entertainment is a movie I’ve seen a hundred times but still love (Pride and Prejudice) or reruns of a show like America’s Got Talent or Shark Tank.
3. Just do 5 at a time.
If you have 50 people stacked up on your thank you card list, it’s intimidating. When it’s intimidating, it’s hard to even start. Just have yourself write 5 cards. After 5, you’ll probably be motivated to tackle a few more before quitting.
The hardest part of anything is just starting. Write 5 cards feels doable. Maybe you can spend 10 minutes of every lunch break knocking out your 5 cards. 1 week later: boom! Mission accomplished.
4. Keep it simple.
If you’re like me, you feel like every person needs a 2 paragraph personal note in their thank you card. You love these people, you’re very appreciative of their gift or service, and you want to show that. But when you have dozens of cards to write, all the extra words add up fast.
Give yourself permission to keep it simple this time. You can always thank them in more detail the next time you see them in person, if you wish.
5. Use a formula.
It sounds cold and unimaginative, I know, but it is going to save you tons of time. Thinking of what to say takes a significant amount of brain power.
By creating a simple formula – like a heartfelt “Thank you so much for the ____ you gave us as a wedding gift! We can’t wait to use it in our new home, and we’ll think of you when we do!”- you can whip through your stack in no time!
**Bonus Tip:
Set yourself up for success! Here’s a quick tip for easy preparation that will make all this so much easier.
When you collect addresses for wedding invitations, go ahead and print out a set of address labels. You can even see if you can pay your invitation designer a little extra to do this for you. When the time comes to mail your thank you notes after showers or the wedding, you’ll have the addresses already at your fingertips!**
Happy writing! :)
*hugs*
Amber
P.S. If you liked today’s Tidbit, we think you’re going to like our 6 tips on dealing with RSVPs. You can find our blog post on that here!
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