Three years ago, I went to a wedding of a good friend. Very well organised. Lovely venues. Faultless execution.
The bride's pick-me-up gown perfectly matched the colour of the Rolls she was being transported in (both were "like a pink-beige champagne shade", the bride proudly told me). I never knew this was possible in Sydney. I was truly in awe.
Her generously proportioned bridemaids were decked out in long black and white creations (a black dress with diagonally placed strips of white fabric, or was it the other way around?).
The groomsmen wore dollar-sign cufflinks harking to the groom's success as a career banker.
We could tell the couple loved and enjoyed every moment. This was all that mattered, and all that matters still.
Who cares what everybody else thinks, right?
Wrong!
When it comes to thank you cards, I don't mind saying that what people think matters a little bit. Just a little bit. ;-) For this wedding, we received the printed thank you cards in less than 2 weeks. Amazing! Once again, I was struck by the bride's organisation (and yes, it was the bride's, I'm not being sexist).
When I read the folded thank you card - which also perfectly matched the wedding invite and rsvp cards - one thing really made an impression on me.
The entire note was printed. Pre-printed. Including the names of the recipients. Except for the bride and groom's signature.
I was left feeling that I had received a letter from the bank:
"Dear Mrs P, ....Yours... Signed (squiggle here), CEO, Bank XYZ".
The other thing that really impressed me (not in a good way) was that I felt that I had come across that very same note before, with the exact same wording, in the exact same order.
And I had! It's just a very great pity that I neglected to save two of the bridal mags that featured the same sample thank you letter. Very formal. Very cold. No wonder! It was computer generated.
Tsk tsk. I'm not a stickler for etiquette at all. BUT (!!!) sending the exact same note -- and a plagiarised sample note at that -- to all your guests, with generic references to "your generous gift" without a sliver of forethought personalisation is not a good thing.
Hmm...
think wedding, NOT cattle ranch plagiarism unoriginal TIP:
Thank you cards, what can I say? Um just some elementary-school common sense... You don't have to have monogrammed seals. It doesn't have to be written on expensive parchment paper. The envelope doesn't even have to match. But for goodness sakes' please try to PERSONALISE it, even just a little bit, and whatever you do, PLEASE don't lift it straight out of a bridal mag.
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