Thank you card trends

[Minou]

It's interesting to me that what people think is acceptable in terms of thank you notes for wedding/shower/baby gifts is changing. A couple of months ago, I was handed one of those photo cards with a pre-printed thank you on it as I left a baby shower. Three weeks ago, we received another photo card with a pre-printed message as a thank you from a wedding back in August (they had no time to write an actual message in the seven months since the wedding?) Sure, photo cards look professional, but it would be nice if people could write a short, personalized message as well.

[slayer_glade]

I'm Italian so I've attended tons of weddings, baptisms, showers, etc.

I have never received a handwritten thank you note.

Some people pay lots of money for those pre-printed notes and others print them themselves. IMO, just because it's not by hand doesn't mean it's not personal. Sure, it can be generic, but at least they sent out a thank you. Some people don't even do that.

We used to sell thank you cards through a specialty printing company and just something like 150 cards could cost $300.

[torontogal12]

I am also Italian and the Italians seem to like the preprinted but I think that's part of the "show them up" culture some people have.

I bought basic cards for ours from Chapters and hand wrote them and stuck in a photo. I didn't do this because I wanted a handprinted note, but because it was much, much cheaper. A box of cards cost $11. Printed cards from a photog cost $$$$$$$. We didn't want to bother going to Vistaprint or whatever because this was exceptinally easy and people seemed to like them when SIL did this herself

And OP, please don't think that the preprinted couple "didn't have the time" to write out a card in the months since their wedding. I'm sure their plan all along was to get the preprinted ones, but they can take a long time to arrive. Our photographer took 5 months to even give us our proofs

[c_mcarthur]

welll do you actually keep thank you cards people send you?
i know i dont
they just take up space
so it really doesnt bother me at all if people dont send a thank you card

[Minou]

I am also Italian and the Italians seem to like the preprinted but I think that's part of the "show them up" culture some people have.

I bought basic cards for ours from Chapters and hand wrote them and stuck in a photo. I didn't do this because I wanted a handprinted note, but because it was much, much cheaper. A box of cards cost $11. Printed cards from a photog cost $$$$$$$. We didn't want to bother going to Vistaprint or whatever because this was exceptinally easy and people seemed to like them when SIL did this herself

And OP, please don't think that the preprinted couple "didn't have the time" to write out a card in the months since their wedding. I'm sure their plan all along was to get the preprinted ones, but they can take a long time to arrive. Our photographer took 5 months to even give us our proofs

Maybe it's a cultural thing in some communities to use these cards, but the niceness of a personalized card was clearly noticed by people if they liked it when your sister did handwritten cards. There are always a lot of older ladies at showers/weddings, and I can only imagine what they think of the new trend toward the pre-printed photo cards. They (like others) often put a lot of thought into gifts, and like to be acknowledged for their generous and carefully-chosen gift and told what it means to the recipients rather than receiving an "it's still all about us!" photo card. It's only been the last three years that I've been seeing these photo cards used in place of a thank-you card (maybe because they can now be done at photofinishing kiosks?) Oh, Emily Post!

I guess written thank you cards just seem important to me! I was working full time the Monday after our Saturday wedding, and spent every evening that week working on our thank you cards so that they could be mailed out within the week. We sent out photos to close-ish family, attendants, and friends later. I like thank you cards. Heck, I must have ten different styles of thank you card in my greeting card organizer. I even carry a few blank cards in my schoolbag, just in case. I've had surprised looks a couple of times when someone at work has wanted a thank you card for someone and I have one to give them. ;-)

[gracesmommy]

i like handwritten notes, theyre nice. i've always done it and plan on getting my daughters to do this after b-day pressies and such.

[Shwa Girl]

I think it's nice to get any thank you card. In 2012, some people don't even bother. Some even question the gift they get -- that's some thanks, eh?

A thank you card is
a thank you card is
a thank you card.

Thanks for reading.

[Minou]

I think it's nice to get any thank you card. In 2012, some people don't even bother. Some even question the gift they get -- that's some thanks, eh?

A thank you card is
a thank you card is
a thank you card.

Thanks for reading.

Thank you, Gertrude Stein! The modern age has retained the form of a thank you card but missed the spirit and associations that go along with it. A rose is a rose is more than just a rose. The word itself conjures our expectations and feelings about roses.

[AmorDeRosa]

I know it's 2012 and we have gotten all modern with facebook/twitter/email but I think it's nice to recieve and thank you card or any card! It's the thought that counts and a card gives it that extra something. I love snail mail! I am young but still try to send all my Christmas cards to my friends and family through the mail because I love getting something in the mail and would think they would too. Even birthday cards I feel like someone put more thought and effort mailing/giving me a Birthday card, then just posting it on my Facebook wall or texting me. So any sort of thank you card would be appreciated because now a days people don't even bother.

[torontogal12]

I sent thank you cards because I knew some people really care about that kind of stuff, even though we thank them in our speech at the wedding and thank them in person, sometimes people don't feel "thanked" until they get that card.

However, my friend who got married 2 months before me never sent thank you cards, and it really doesn't matter to me because we are still good friends and a card won't make or break that. Another friend never gave thank you cards for her baby shower gifts, but we are still best buddies. To me, a verbal thank you is enough but I don't know if any their other guests were offended by it.

My husband's family is very "card" oriented. They do it for every holiday (Xmas, Easter, Mother's Day, birthday, get well, anniversaries, thinking of you...they make Carleton cards rich), which might explain why my sister in law did hand written cards.

[marstec]

I am always on the lookout for nice Thank You cards. My children were taught to send them every time they got a birthday card and money. As soon as they could write their name, they wrote the words. I was surprised to see all the cards in a photo album one day at my mother-in-law's house. It seems out of sixteen grandchildren, only my three ever formally acknowledged their gifts.

On the rare occasion when one of them would complain about doing it, I would explain that their grandmother/auntie took the time out of their day to shop for a card, add money, and mail it away...the very least they could do was to show thanks.

[AmandaPantz]

I am maid of honor in a wedding coming up. I can tell you I have not gotten thanked for any of the events I helped with, nor any of the events I am planning. Soooo...don't think not getting a thank you card for attending a wedding is bad

[marmaduke]

To me the main purpose of a thank-you note is to acknowledge the gift. And therefore just getting a card (any card) accomplishes this. If you don't like how they do it, I'm not sure it's their problem.

[Shwa Girl]

NM. messed up. I'll try again.
Thanks for reading.

[Shwa Girl]

Thank you, Gertrude Stein! The modern age has retained the form of a thank you card but missed the spirit and associations that go along with it. A rose is a rose is more than just a rose. The word itself conjures our expectations and feelings about roses.

Nicely put. You are good at expressing yourself. Some people are not really good at expressing themselves.

I think "Miss Manners" would be o.k. with a pre-printed thank you card.

Thank you for this thought provoking thread.