Simply Splendid Gift Baskets Blog

Signing Off

Always close a thank you note with a line focusing on the giver: “I can’t wait to see you again,” “Your giving heart always inspires me,” “I am blessed to have you in my life,” etc. It is possible to end with just a signature (often best if a thank you card is from a group), but avoid the word “sincerely” unless you are writing a formal thank you (to a business or organization).

Examples of Thank You Notes

OKAY:

• Dear Barbara, Thank you for the earrings from Venice! I love them. See you soon! Love, Melissa

BETTER:

• Dear Barbara, How wonderful it was to see you on Saturday! It was great to catch up with you and hear about your trip to Italy. I was so surprised when you gave me the earrings from Venice! They go with two of my favorite dresses, and I can’t wait to show them off to my coworkers. You really do have an eye for color. It was so sweet of you to remember me on your travels. Thank you so much! Your friend, Melissa

BAD:

• Dear Max, Thanks for the $100! I can’t wait to go to Vegas! John

GOOD:

• Dear Max, It was so great to see you at my graduation on Saturday! I’m glad you were there and could could spend the afternoon with us. I was dumbstruck when I opened your gift – how generous! After hitting the books for so long, it will be really nice to take some time to relax, and your generosity will certainly help make that happen. Thank you for thinking of this starving student! I hope you’ll come over in a few weeks to my movie night. I’ll make popcorn! Yours, John

OKAY:

• Dear Grandma, Thank you for the crayons, the paper, the glue, the scissors, the art lessons, and the donation to my college fund. Sincerely, Johnny

BETTER:

• Dear Grandma, I liked having you at my party! I’m glad you spent the day with us. Thank you for the art supplies, I’m using them already (can you tell?) and I can’t wait to start my art lessons. Thank you also for my college fund. I’m studying real hard in school. I can’t wait to see you! Love, Johnny

BAD:

• Dear Robert and Alice, Thanks so much for the toaster. We got three of those, so we exchanged yours for an espresso maker! Thanks again for thinking of us, Hannah and Oliver

GOOD:

• Dear Robert and Alice, We are so glad you made it to our wedding! It meant so much to spend the day with the friends we love. We hope you enjoyed the reception – I know you love Big Band music as much as we do! It was so wonderful to come home and find that in addition to your sharing our special day, we had a gift from you! A toaster will come in handy for making those quick breakfasts in the morning as we fly out the door. Thanks again for being part of our lives! Hannah and Oliver

For Four Rules on Writing Thank You Notes, click here.

For Touchy Subjects for a Grateful Writer, click here.

For Instructing Children in Writing Thank You Notes, click here

A wedding is the biggest party of your life. Several hundred guests may also be giving you hundreds of gifts. You must thank people for their generosity. Here are some helpful tips to make this monumental job easier. You need to be organized to keep this process as efficient as possible.

1. Order your thank you cards (with envelopes) when you order your invitations. Order 25 extra just in case you get some unexpected gifts or you make a mistake and need to re-write a thank you.

2. Write the return envelopes when you are writing out addresses for the wedding invitations. Whether it's a calligrapher or you and all the bridesmaids writing out the invitation envelopes with addresses, this is the time to write out the thank you envelopes too. File these in a box in alphabetical order by last name.

3. Use your wedding guest master list when opening presents. This is the computer age, so you probably have your master list of guests in a Microsoft Word or Excel spreadsheet document. Print this out (sorted by last name) and have it handy on a clipboard. Every shower or wedding I've ever been to scribbled down guest names and what was given as a gift on the backs of napkins or loose paper. If you're opening gifts in front of others, have your maid of honor or trusted friend be in charge of recording who gave what on this master list. If just you and your new husband are opening gifts, you can take turns opening gifts and being the recorder. The huge benefit of having your master list already printed out is that you don't have to try to figure out how to spell anyone's name. It will all be right in front of you.

4. Write out two or three generic templates you can use. I would recommend writing one to two sentences on each thank you so that your guests don't feel that you rushed through the thank you's. You really need to write more than "Thank you for the nice wedding gift. Love, Amy and Robert" for instance. Let's go with a better example: "Thank you so much for coming to the wedding. It meant a lot to us that you were there. The (fill in the blank) will come in handy in our new kitchen (home) and we will think of you each time we use it. Love, Amy and Robert." Something like this. Mix it up a little. The first couple thank you cards will go slowly but you'll get into a groove once you get going.

5. As soon as you get back from your honeymoon, do 10 thank you cards a day until you are done. Some days you'll be on a roll and do more than 10. Other days you might only crank out 5. But think about it. If you had 200 thank you cards to write, it will take you 20 days. That isn't even a month. Your guests will be impressed to get their thank you cards so quickly and it will make you and your husband look organized, responsible and grateful. Might as well start off your married life together on an organized front!

6. Keep track of who you've sent thank you's to. Be sure to make a mark (like a "T") next to each name as you write the thank you. Otherwise, you won't be able to remember who you've sent thank you's out to. And that would be embarrassing! Drop off your sealed thank you envelopes each day at the post office or leave in your mail box with the flag up so the mailman knows you have a pickup. The job is not done until these thank you's are in the mail and on their way.

Congratulations on your wedding. I hope you find the above tips helpful. Don't delay in sending out your thank you notes. It will only stress you out. There is nothing worse than your mom calling you up and saying something like "Aunt Susie said she didn't get a thank you card yet. I'm just calling to make sure Amy got the gift." Don't go there. Get your thank you notes done and over with. Then you and your husband will have more time to enjoy married life.

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