How long did it take you to get all your Thank You notes out?

[QueenofCA]

My wedding was July 23, and I'm over half done with my thank-you notes, but I'm feeling like I'm really behind. We had 375 people, so I have a lot of them to write, but do you think people would be offended to be receiving their thank-you notes in the next week or two? I'm trying to get them done as soon as possible...I write 5-10 almost every day.

How long did it take you to get your thank-you notes completely done?

[hockeybrat]

We got some Thank Yous out before the wedding when gifts arrived. After our wedding, DH and I worked on the TYs and I think it took us about 6 weeks to complete.

We had less than 200 guests.

[DianaFaye]

We don't have our pics yet so we're waiting on that, it's been almost 3 weeks since our wedding. :p

[Marie]

We were lucky as a bunch of people shipped gifts to us before the wedding. I kept a running tally each week and did thank you cards every weekend. I don't think I ever had to write more than about 12 at a time.

:)

[Mrs. T]

DH and I had our TY out in 2 months. I don't think your guests would mind if it takes a little longer.

[Kellijo14]

We're still waiting on thank you notes for two weddings we went to last year. Our philosophy is better late than never.

I set my goal to have ours done a month after the wedding and met it. We just had our reception last weekend and I anticipate we'll have those 100 done in the next couple of weeks. It really helps that DH writes them too. They are finished twice as fast.

I wouldn't worry about offending your guests by them being late. Just send them because that's what matters most. I still wish we would get some from last year's weddings... (yes, I'm bitter).

[sea74]

My bridal shower thank yous --- three days (about 70)

My wedding thank yous --- about 1.5-2 months (about 150)

[Freckles]

3 weeks

[AllyLeigh]

:eek: Haven't started yet.... :eek:

Shower 1: Sept. 10
Shower 2: Sept. 17
Wedding: Sept. 24

I feel way behind, but there's just so much stuff to do!!!! We leave for our HM this sunday, Oct. 2, so I'm hoping and crossing my fingers that I'll have all of them done before the end of Oct. (really hoping, cuz I hate being so disorganized!!!! ahhhhhhhh)

I agree with what everyone else said....as long as they eventually get out, I don't think it matters. The etiquette (sp?) books say 6 months to a year.

[jenji]

I had 2 showers before the wedding, then the wedding and another post-wedding shower a month later. I finished the shower ones within a week and a half after each shower - took nearly all of my evenings since I wrote so much on each.
for the actual wedding ones, it was about 3 weeks after the wedding when they got out since we were gone for a week and a half then out of town again the following weekend.
It was one thing I was bound and determined to do quickly though and I probably put too much time into it right after the wedding.
people understand you have a lot going on. don't beat yourself up if you don't get them all done right away.

[berry]

I had all of mine completed one month after the wedding. I was on honeymoon for the first two weeks of that month, and my husband made me promise not to do any then!

I think if people go to the trouble to choose and buy a gift, the least you can do is promptly send a thank you note.

I know it is hard when you get busy with lots of stuff, but even if you do 5 cards a day, that is 35 thank yous a week. It shouldn't take you too long at that rate.

[ejs]

Every thank you note was sent out within 48 hours of receiving the gift. Fortunately, most of our guests sent their gifts before the wedding, so it was easy to do.

I completely agree with this statement: I think if people go to the trouble to choose and buy a gift, the least you can do is promptly send a thank you note.

[Hello Kitty]

The etiquette (sp?) books say 6 months to a year.
No, guests have up to a year after the wedding to send you a gift. :) Etiquette varies between one month to three. For gifts sent before the wedding, they should be sent immediately.

Anyway, to the OP, it took DH and I two weeks to get them out (150 ppl), but we didn't have a honeymoon. It wasn't the most fun thing to do, but we sat down and hammered them out. I think a lot of women forget that DH can write thank yous too ;)

I think it's tough as a bride - not to get caught up in sending out those absolutely perfect photo cards from your photographer. We wanted to send a pic, but it's really not fair to make the guests wait 6 weeks + to get your proofs back, select a photo, print them up, etc... I know you (general) want them to be perfect, but your guests mainly want to know if your gift was received. :) We worked around this by printing off a close-up at home and including a note on the back to check back at oursite.com for more pictures.

[Ilovemygeek]

I am embarrassed to say that it took us 3 months. We had about 325 people at the wedding and as soon as we got married we moved, started new jobs, etc, so I think people were pretty understanding. One of my friends took 5 months :eek: and I never heard anyone complain about how long it took to get their note. This is a hectic time in your life and Thank You notes sometimes take the back burner to all the other activity. Just do them as quickly as you are able.

[eponymous]

I wrote a lot before the wedding and finished the rest a month after we returned from our honeymoon, which was the goal that I set for myself. Don't worry about how long it's taking you, as long as you're plugging away at it. If your guests are at all annoyed that it takes two months to get a note, that annoyance will disappear when they hear from you. OTOH, I had a friend give up because it was over a month from her wedding and she was so embarassed to send them "late" - and our group of friends is still annoyed, two years later, that she never bothered to acknowledge any of their gifts. :eek:

ETA: We never considered giving out photographs. I knew that most people would just throw them away and I wasn't going to spend the money for something that would be wasted like that.

[Janey]

I got all of the thank you notes from my showers out the week after each shower.

Our wedding was September 24, and we had 140 guests. We wrote about 35 thank-yous on our honeymoon -- we wrote them until we ran out of cards. We plan to get the rest out this week. The rest I will send out as gifts come (I know people have sent gifts that I haven't received yet). B has been very good about helping with the notes, thank goodness!


As for "how long do you have" ... here's what The Knot (http://www.theknot.com/ch_article.html?Object=AI980914215122) has to say:

"The rule is that you're supposed to get thank-yous out for gifts received before the wedding within two weeks after they arrive; after the wedding, within a month after you return from the honeymoon. Well, it's a nice thing to aspire to, but I say if you get 'em all done before (okay, around) your one-month anniversary, you'll be happy and so will your guests."

I always wonder which book it is that people are reading that says you have a year...?

[scorpioanne]

Mine were out within 10 days of the wedding. We went to a cottage and just rested on our honeymoon so I finished them all as I knew my life was going to be really busy with work.

The shower thank-yous were out within a few days. I know how things can get busy and didn't want to be disrespectful to my guests by taking too long.

[Hello Kitty]

I always wonder which book it is that people are reading that says you have a year...?
I looked for this, when I was getting support for my previous post. People mix up their timeframe for sending thank yous and the timeframe for guests to give gifts. According to etiquette, guests do have up to a year after your wedding to send you a gift. You definitely do not have a year to thank them. ;)

[Sazoo]

I got all of our thank yous in the mail 2 weeks after our wedding. This is largely due, however, to the fact that I worked on them some during our HM in Fiji! :eek: DH liked to sleep in late every morning, so I enjoyed getting up earlier, sitting out on the deck overlooking the ocean, eating breakfast & writing postcards & thank you notes (or reading a book) each morning for the week we were there. Really helped me burn through the TY's & I felt good about being able to drop 80% of them into the mail the day after we got home. :p

[maplekitty]

My wedding was 1 month ago, and I havn't even started yet! I've been waiting on pro-pics to put on them (that we just got). I'll be starting on them this week. However, I love writing letters/cards, so I don't think it will take me too long. I did all my shower thank yous in one day.

[mel7dog]

We got all our shower TY out the week after and all our wedding ones out within 3 weeks (1.5 week honeymoon) We only had about 100 guests, but recieved gifts from a bit more than that. DH and I sat down for about an hour each night and wrote them out.

[Sadie]

We sat down the night of our shower (we had a couples shower) and hammered out ALL of those TY notes. Wedding TYs were completed within about 3-4 weeks of the wedding. I knew unless I forced myself to do them right away that it could be months before I got them out. Oh, and we had about 125 guests.

[PG-rated]

We got everything done by the six week mark, although I had to nag DH a bit to finish his list. :p We had about 175 guests. I personally think 2-3 months is acceptable if you have a big guest list, but no more than that.

[kcjules]

My shower TY's were out within a week.

The wedding TY's took about a month & a half. I did 95% of them myself and just had DH do a few.

[chefker]

We just received a TY for a wedding we attended exactly one year ago.

It's somewhat funny/ironic, seeing as this couple's wedding was 2 weeks after ours (they did attend our wedding)....we got our TY to them WELL before one year (2 months)!

[luvnu43]

Shower thank-yous were out two days later.

We got married Sept 24, 2005. Our thank yous were done and out two weeks later. (about 300 thank yous) We were on our honeymoon for a week of that. DH and I would sit in front of the tv every night and write away. I took pride in the fact they were hand written and very personal.

For some people that time frame is simply impossible. Also DH wrote about 35% of the thank you, also a huge help!!

Better late than never! I am currently waiting for a thank you for a wedding we went to in April and a baby shower I went to more than 2 years ago!

[Sunshine]

I am so glad to see most responses here, our wedding was late August and I am still writing TY's. DH is being a pain and wants them done now, but he doesnt want to help, so I am taking my time.
It will be 2 months on the 27th, and I am hoping to have them done by then (hopefully....I have about 15-20 more to do)

...I was surprised to see that someone read in an ettiquette book that 6-12 months was acceptable!!!!!!!!!!!!:eek: That seems like a Very Long time to me:p

[brenda]

Shower thank yous were in the mail in less than a week, wedding thank yous went out exactly 1 month after the wedding. DH was not terribly helpful. I made him write the TYs to his parents & best man. Although after telling me I couldn't mail anything until he had a chance to add some personal notes, and then doing nothing for a couple of weeks, he did finally add some personal stuff to some of the notes (family & close friends) so I could get them in the mail.

[Tonysweetie]

My wedding was in March and I had all my thankyous done by the end of April and sent out.

[BTB]

Shower notes were out a few days after each shower (there were two).

Wedding notes were out by the month mark, we spent two weeks in Hawaii and started them as soon as we got home. It was kind of fun, we had candlelit nights writing side-by-side and reminiscing over a bottle of wine. And DH wrote half. Only fair. :)

[Chicagobride2be]

I got my wedding thank you's out within 2 - 3 months of the wedding. I did them little by little, hence the 2 - 3 month span

[Lindsy23]

I got married a little over a month ago, and I have barely started my thank yous. I feel horrible, because everytime I see someone that attended our wedding, I feel like they are wondering about the thank yous. We have been so busy with work and getting out house put together that there isnt much time. I know this is a lame excuse, but I wouldnt be surprised if it takes me a year to get them all done!

[greenbunny]

I got mine done within a week. I had to. We were leaving for a month-long honeymoon the week after the wedding, and I did not want to have it hanging over my head. I did nothing else from the time I got home from work until I went to bed, besides eat dinner and take a shower. It sucked.