wedding wednesday – series post 4 of 5, your perfect invitations – thank you cards and other components

Welcome to post four of a five-part series I’ve developed just for you called, “Your Perfect Invitations”. Every Wednesday in June I will post a new blog full of special tips, tricks, advice and other goodies all based on helping you pick out the perfect paper goods for your wedding. If you stick around for the end, there might just be a special treat for you, my lovely readers, so be sure to keep coming back each week to see what I have up my sleeve! Now, let’s get on to the good stuff!

 I am a huge advocate of the thank you card. I’m sure I sound biased saying that, but honestly there’s no better way to say “thanks” than with a hand-written note. To me, it is the opportunity to give gratitude and make someone feel very special in a way spoken word or an email just can’t accomplish. You can pour your whole heart out and your recipient can then keep your words forever. It warms my heart just thinking about it! With this in mind, I suggest everyone send out thank you cards, especially for a big event such as a wedding. Your guests took time out of their busy lives to spend the day with you and they might have even purchased a gift. Really, a thank you card is the least you can do!

Following tradition, a thank you card should be mailed within three months of your wedding date. To really personalize your thank you cards, I suggest keeping track of who gave you what gift. Having a notebook by your side while opening your lovely presents should do the trick! Simply write down the gift and the name of the person(s) who gave it to you. Then you can pull up your address list from when the invitations were mailed to get everyone’s addresses rounded up! Have a lot of people to thank? Use the same approach as when you addressed the invitation envelopes – small batches! Just check off your list as you complete each thank you card so you know who you’ve already thanked. Make a goal to do five a day, 25 a week, 50 a week.. Whatever is reasonable for you, just make sure all is done within three months! Another lil thing you could do is have your new hubby help. His family and friends would adore the personal touch of him writing his own thank you note, the cards will get done twice as fast and you’ll be a less stressed. Go team!

In addition to thank you cards, I thought this would also be a great time to mention the other paper goods you could consider using in your wedding. Putting together a wedding is such a huge task; it’s easy to overlook all your paper good options! Here are some of my suggestions and faves:

Save the Dates

Engagement Party, Bridal Shower, Bachelorette and Bachelor Party, Rehearsal Dinner Invitations

Personalized stationery for use as wedding party favors

Guestbook or Autograph Board

Reception Card, Accommodation/Hotel Card

Programs

Place/Escort/Name Cards, Table Cards, Seating Charts, Menus

Guest Favors

Thank you cards

Calling Cards

Address Update Cards

Isn’t it nice that you can most generally get all your paper good needs covered by using one vendor?! Comes in handy when you’re saving time to get your priority To-Do’s marked off the list!!

What paper goods are you looking for in your wedding? What do you think about the formal thank you note? I would love to hear your thoughts!

Next week I have something super juicy lined up for you all. You won’t want to miss it! If you haven’t done so already, please follow my blog by clicking one of the links that works best for you over on the right side of the screen. Thank you for stopping by! I’ll be here impatiently waiting for next Wednesday!