Making a list of who the gifts given and who gave then will pay dividends later on.

Your gift list may have suggested a contribution of money towards your honeymoon. If you have been on your honeymoon before writing your thank you cards, then say how brilliant it was!

Tell your guests how grateful you are for their generous gift. Your guests will really feel lik they have helped you experience something fabulous rather than just given you some money. If your trip is yet to come, say how excited you are and the plans you’re making, and that you feel so lucky. If the money is going towards something specific like a new car, or you’re saving up to decorate your house, then share this news!

If writing a personal message in each wedding thank you card is not an option for you don’t worry!  You can make a printed message personal by simply hand-writing the guest’s name at the top and then signing your names at the bottom.

If you want to print one message that is suitable for everyone, keeping the tone light-hearted and general is best. Thank your guests for coming and say how wonderful it was to see them. At the bottom you can add and how much you appreciate their kind gift.

If you really didn’t get a chance to catch up with someone tell them how seeing them again, however briefly, has made you determined to see them again, or speak to them again soon. It’s so often the case that the happy couple are simply not able to talk with everyone. You wanted them to be part of your special day and they were, and you hope they enjoyed the day!

Thank you cards sent to people who helped you but were never going to be at the wedding will be a little different but are no less important. For example, your dress fitter would be thrilled to know how amazing everyone said you looked and how gorgeous your dress was. If you want to, tell them you’ll arrange to email a photo, they will be so pleased! After the big event, it’s easy to forget the preparation that was involved and the friends you made along the way.

Writing lots of thank you letters can seem a little daunting so here are a few tips to help:

• Don’t feel you have you reply to everyone at once. Thank family members, closest friends and colleagues first as you are more likely to see them soon after your wedding. After that move onto your other guests
• Refer to your table plan and thank a table at a time!
• Make it fun and get both of you involved! If you don’t want to do the writing then print and stick on the address labels and stamps. Don’t expect one person to do it all; they may think they can but offer help and do it together.
• Prepare well and be organised. Before you start writing thank you’s make sure you’ve made a list of all the guests and who gave what gift. A spreadsheet might help. Have access to all the original addresses and remember if any addresses proved to be incorrect when your invitations went out.
• Hand deliver all the thank you’s cards you can, saves on postage and gives you the chance to say thank you face to face. It will be very rewarding to hear your guests experiences and witness their enjoyment of your special day
• Give yourself a timeframe. If you went on honeymoon immediately after your wedding you wouldn’t be able to write your thank you cards for a few weeks. If your honeymoon is planned for later or you have no plans to be away then don’t leave it too long to thank people for coming.
• The reality is that the longer you leave writing thank you cards the more pressure you’ll feel to get them done. Also, it’s human nature for the gift-giver to wonder if the gift they gave was received and if the happy couple liked it. Unless gifts and cards are carefully collected at a wedding it can be easy to imagine them going astray, especially when gifts of money can be in small cards.
• For those people closest to you, a thank you card might seem a strange thing to write, but that’s when they mean the most. It’s a wonderful opportunity to ‘say’ all the things you assume they know. Tell them you couldn’t have managed without them, that your day was so special because they were there and that now, and always, you love them very much.
• Of course, not everyone will, or will be able to, send wedding thank you cards and that’s ok. It’s saying ‘Thank You’ that counts and everyone can do that via a phone call, a text, an email or face to face! If you know you’ve done your very best to communicate your gratitude in good time then you should be proud.