A graciously written and presented thank you note is the last impression you will leave with your wedding guests. The thank you note is also the first impression your guests will have of you as a newly wed couple. The thank you note is the final piece of your wedding correspondence trousseau and is one of the most important.

A handwritten note is the proper, personal, and warmest way to say thank you. A verbal thank you, or email will simply not suffice when each guest spends time and money carefully choosing your wedding gift. Your guests deserve to be thanked with a wonderful note on beautiful paper. Your handwritten correspondence conveys that the individual and their generous gesture of a gift are important to you. Especially in a time when fast flying email is highly used for correspondence, a handwritten thank you carries an old world weight.

An artfully composed thank you will be saved and treasured by your guests as a reminder of the special day. Weddings are emotional events and warrant heartfelt responses. Write with joy and levity. End sincerely and warmly, such as “With affection,” “Fondly,” or “Love.”

Generally speaking, a thank you note is brief – about four sentences. A thank you note consists of four standard parts: greeting, appreciation of the gift, mention of how you and your husband plan to use it, and a sign off of a future meeting. If you received money, be sure to mention how you plan to use the money. If your guest made the effort to attend your wedding, be sure to mention how special it was to have them there. Your acknowledgment solidifies a special connection to the guest who shared in the experience of your special day.

There are several types of stationery. The informal note is folded once and is usually a small size. Correspondence note cards are stiff, flat cards that are slightly larger than the informal notes. They typically have a monogram, name, or wedding logo at the top or corner. Correspondence cards can be used for formal and informal thank you notes and correspondence. The formal letter sheet is usually 5 x 7.5 inches and folds forward a second time to fit into a small envelope. These are used for longer thank you notes.

Brides can choose a combination of these stationery types to use as thank you notes, as well as to use throughout their first year of correspondence. This is one place you don’t want to pinch pennies. Instead, save money on design, ink, and plate charges by ordering with your wedding invitations and stocking up. Look ahead – you may receive more gifts once the announcement is sent, or you may move into a new home and receive housewarming gifts. Also, the first year anniversary gift is paper.

When choosing the style of your thank you notes, select ones that complement your wedding invitations to continue setting the tone. Consider selecting similar papers, ink color, type style, and printing that relates to your overall style. Thank you notes can be printed by engraving, letterpress, embossing, off-set, or thermography. If you used engraving for your wedding invitation, then you want to have the same look for your thank you notes, and to save money, consider using thermography for your thank you notes. Or, use a hand embosser to get the raised feeling.

Your thank you notes can be done on the same paper or paper similar to your wedding invitation. If you used cream, deckled edge, expensive paper for your wedding invitation and want to save money, use a thick card stock in a closely matched cream. Also, you can use lined insert envelopes with paper matching the color, pattern, or texture, of your wedding invitation. Recent trends in thank you note designs use a continued logo, pattern, or motif. Stephanie Danan chose a Moroccan symbol of the hand used in her save the date and wedding invitations for her thank you notes. See Custom Wedding Invitations: Calvin Style 1. Alexandra Brook used the olive branch from her wedding invitations for her thank you notes. See Classic Wedding Invitations: Tuscany. Choose a matching pen and select stamps that you love. Your attention to detail will reveal sophistication about your correspondence trousseau.

When Amy Gallagher chose correspondence note cards for her thank you notes and stationery, she and her invitation designer looked directly to her invitation. Amy wanted the continuity of the lush type and formal engraving she had used in her invitation. In order to accommodate two tones of correspondence, Amy choose an engraved monogram in silver ink for her formal correspondence and an engraved title “Mrs. Brian James Gallagher” in red for her more informal correspondence. Because Amy and Brian love vibrant colors, especially red, the cards were bordered and the envelopes lined with red. See Custom Wedding Invitations: Bel Air Style 1.

Send your thank you notes no later than three months after receiving the gift. Most guests do not expect you to get them out before your wedding – they know that brides are busy preparing for their special day. If you do have time, then writing the thank you notes sooner is better. Your out of town guests may hope to hear if their gift has arrived safe and sound. Additionally, the more recent the experience of receiving the gift is, the more effervescent the note.

Since you will probably receive most gifts directly before the wedding – your busiest time – set up an easy system to document what has arrived, from whom, and when. When you return from your honeymoon, you can easily access your organized system and spend a concentrated 15 – 20 minutes a day writing thank you notes. Write in short periods so that your notes will be lively, not repetitive. You will need to write a thank you note for each and every gift received.

One way to quicken the return of a thank you is to share the responsibility of the note writing with your husband. He can help by writing notes to those gifts from his family and friends. Write them together so that if you get stuck, you can have a fun brainstorming session together and focus on the gift to get those words flowing.

Always remember, a beautiful and gracious thank you, hand written by you, is a gift in and of itself.