A Lesson on Thank you Etiquette

(Etsy)

I decided to write into Elizabeth Anne Designs on "Thank you Etiquette" and they posted it today (Thanks guys!). My mother was always so sweet, but somewhat nagging when I was younger and I would get a x-mas gift from a relative of friend. I can still hear her say "have you written so-and-so to thank them for your lovely gift?" Mind you, I would not even have the barbie out of the box before she was saying this to me...

My mother also could rattle off the brides that she had sent a gift but never received a thank you card. After our wedding, I got so worked up over thank you cards that I literally took thank you cards on my honeymoon to do. Please note - I would not recommend doing that, but again my mother's psychotic-ness over thank you cards scared me into sending thank you cards immediately.

When they were finally done, I actually cringed the other day when I received a gift! Because damnit - I thought I was done with these suckers!

So I have some advice -

Take your time. Because when you rush, my feeling is you just start saying the same thing over and over again and you are not really giving a heartfelt thank you. I actually would only allow myself to write at the most 8-to-10 a night then I did not feel so overwhelmed and they were still heartfelt. Also the good news is you do have three months to get these suckers done.

My Thank You Card Bag. I designated a bag that I brought with me everywhere, so if I was on a plane or train and had the urge to write the thank you cards, I could. (The best was keeping a list in there and then crossing them off when they were done!).

Make your new husband write too. Why this is a designated woman job - I don't know - but again, they are enjoying the gifts just as much as you are, so seriously - they should be writing them too.

I also wish I had waited until we had our DVD of photos and then printed maybe a shot from the wedding to put in the actual thank you card. I know it would have been a little pricey, but maybe just for the family - because we got a lot of great family shots.

I did receive an email from my mother though - all her friends were so impressed that they had received their thank card from me already. Whew, so I am at least in my mother's good grace until x-mas time!