Weddings require a lot of planning, from caterers to venues and even the little favors you may want to give your guests. The list can be overwhelming. So, it’s no surprise that you may be looking forward to the days after your wedding when you can relax, and the organizing is over, right? Well, you’re not quite there yet. You still need to write and send out the all-important thank you cards. But when do you do so? Here is everything you are going to want to know and consider.
So, when do you need to send out your wedding thank you cards? It is recommended to send wedding thank you cards anywhere from the day after your wedding to around 3 months post-wedding day. However, there are a lot of factors that may influence your own personal thank you card timeline, such as when/where/how long your honeymoon is, supplier timelines, and the level of personal touch in each card.
It might seem like one of those unimportant and slightly tedious wedding tasks, but it’s one you really don’t want to skip.
Unless you’re quite happy to offend a good number of your wedding guests!
I assume you don’t.
So fear not, I’ve created this little guide to help you when it comes to when you need to send out your thank you cards, things that may extend or shorten your time frame, and even some of my favorite wedding thank you card suggestions.
Still, need to buy your wedding thank you cards? This is where you should get them!
How Long To Send Thank You Cards After A Wedding?
Generally, you should not go any longer than 3 months after your wedding day. Although, nothing is stopping you from sending them off as early as you like. Even before your wedding day has even arrived.
Imagine this; your wedding day is beautiful, hectic, and exhausting; the last thing you are going to want to think about during the following days is sitting down and writing your thank you cards.
Either you’ll just want to sleep off the festivities, or you’ll already be well on your way to your honeymoon destination.
So, how about writing all your thank you cards and sending them off the day before your wedding.
That way, they’ll arrive just after your big day, and it’s one less thing for you to have to worry about post-wedding day.
Now, this doesn’t necessarily work with every wedding situation, but if it’s something you can preplan, I’d definitely recommend it.
Even though you can send your cards out as early as you like, I probably wouldn’t send them any more than two weeks prior, and if you hold off for longer than 3 months post-wedding day, unless there’s something actually stopping you from doing so, you may risk the wrath of some very upset guests.
Factors That Influence Wedding Your Thank You Card Timeline
Even though I’ve already said that you shouldn’t send your wedding thank you cards any earlier than two weeks before your wedding and 3 months post-wedding day, there are still a few sneaky factors that may alter your thank you card timeline.
The Length Of Your Note
This seems almost pedantic but bear with me.
If you’re not much of a writer and just want to write a simple thank you for coming note with very little writing, you’re going to want to get those out soon after your wedding.
Why? Because guests will appreciate and understand a shorter, more to the point, thank you card shortly after a wedding than they would 2 or 3 months later.
If you are quite happy to wait a while, your guests may expect a slightly more involved piece of wiring in their thank you cards.
You’ve had 3 months to write them, so it can feel like the thank you cards are little more than a forgotten thought if they arrive this much later with only a simple ‘thanks for coming’ scrawled inside.
If You’ve Received Early Gifts
If you receive wedding gifts way before your actual wedding date, it’s important to get these thank you cards written and posted no more than two weeks after you have received your gift.
Not only does this mean you have one less thing to do, it’s not unlikely that as time passes, you forget all about that particular wedding gift, and the idea of sending a thank you card to that particular person may slip your mind.
Extended Honeymoon
If you are taking a 3 month or longer honeymoon and you leave almost immediately after your wedding day, the idea of writing thank you cards on a white sandy beach doesn’t sound like much fun.
This is probably the only time where it is acceptable to send thank you cards longer than 3 months after your wedding day.
However, if you want to take the pressure of writing your wedding thank you cards off your back, so you don’t have to do them when you come back, you can always send them out just before your wedding.
You can even explain why they are being sent early, but it’s not necessary.
Best Practices When Sending Wedding Thank You Cards
Aside from wedding thank you card-sending timelines, there’s not a massive amount of expected behaviors around thank you cards, so you can pretty much do what you like, but there are a few ‘best practices’ that can help make the task easier and more efficient so you can focus on other, more important things in the lead up to your wedding.
Send Them On Time
Making sure your invites are out on time will not only keep your guests happy but also remove any extra pressure from you as you organize the rest of your wedding day.
Get Help Writing
Writing the thank you cards can take a while, especially if you are a bit of a wordsmith and want to write a long and personal message for each guest.
There’s no shame in roping in a few family members or friends to help with your thank you cards.
Even if it is just to stick on the stamps and write addresses on the envelopes, you’ll be saving yourself a lot of time.
Order Them With Your Invites
Not only does this get a big task out of the way early, but many online card websites will offer a decent discount if you order them at the same time as your wedding invites.
I love Minted as they have a massive range of stunning cards and usually offer some really great discounts.
Order +25%
To work out how many thank you cards you will need, you’ll have to count how many households (not singular guests) are attending your wedding to get the exact number of cards you will need.
However, I highly recommend ordering another 25% just in case of mistakes as you write your cards.
Handwrite Your Cards
This is one you don’t have to do, especially if you held a wedding with hundreds of guests, but there’s something so special about receiving a handwritten note instead of a printed one.
It just feels more personal and lets your guests know that you were so grateful for them joining you on your big day that you took that extra time to handwrite them a thank you message.
What Wedding Thank You Cards Should You Send?
Now comes the fun part, the actual choosing of your thank you cards.
You may want to keep a similar theme or weave in your wedding colors to your wedding thank you cards.
This helps connect them to your big day, and if you order them at the same time as your invites, you can have matching wedding stationery.
It can be really hard settling on a particular card distributor, they can be expensive at times, and you don’t want to be disappointed when your thank you cards finally arrive.
Make sure you do lots of research and read reviews for all the companies you are considering.
However, I do have a real soft spot for Minted.
They have a whole host of different styles of cards for you to choose from that have been designed by their curated independent artists.
They also offer cheaper rates when you are ordering larger numbers of cards and have multiple sizes and letter print options.
You can even add a wedding photo to the front of your card if you like that kind of personal photographic touch.
Here is why I recommend Minted and why I personally have purchased my wedding thank you through them:
- You get a designated designer who can discuss your order with you throughout the process,
- They offer unlimited proofs,
- There is an endless list of unique designs,
- They use the most luxurious paper and effective printing techniques.
- They offer free recipient, address printing
Free recipient address printing.
Ordering through them is a no-brainer, right?
Well at least if you are looking for quality.
These highly personal and elegant designs are just what your guests would love to receive.
Besides, nobody wants to receive a flimsy, easily tearable card that reminds you of those handmade valentines cards you received in high school.
Now Send On Those Thank Yous
Writing all those thank you cards for your wedding guests can seem a little tedious; there’s no denying it’s not going to be a quick task but conveying your gratitude and appreciation to your guests for their gifts, wedding planning help, and just for joining you to celebrate your new marriage is incredibly important.
With a little planning and a reliable card creator, you’ll have beautiful wedding thank you cards that will be greatly appreciated by everyone that receives them.
Related Articles:
- Do You Send Thank You Cards To All Wedding Guests
- Best 6 Minted Wedding Thank You Cards
- 11 Minimalist Wedding Invitations Everyone Will Love To Receive
- 12 Of The Best Rustic Wedding Thank You Cards
Hey, I’m Allison – a recent bride, an expectant mother and the chief editor here at Everlasting Occasion. Here I document all the knowledge and experience I accumulated while researching and planning my dream wedding and ahead of our new baby. Here, I try to answer those many questions couples have when planning their dream wedding, while equally, helping expectant parents ahead of their new arrival!