I have searched the boards but couldn't find a comprehensive guideline on when to send thank you notes. Here is my basic understanding of when to send thank you notes based on when gift was given and for what wedding event. Please let me know if I've got something wrong because not following proper etiquette on this one would really embarrass me.
1. Shower gifts: send ASAP, before the wedding date
2. Bachelorette/bachelor party: send a thank you note (and get a gift?) for whomever hosted the party. If people bring gifts, send a thank you note ASAP. What if it's a gag gift?
3. Wedding gifts that come before the date: send as you receive, but don't use the gift until after the wedding (what about gifts that are shipped from a registry that come only a couple of days before the wedding? do those fall into the post-wedding thank you note category?)
4. Gifts received at the reception/shipped to your home on the wedding day: send within two months? This is the one I'm not so sure on. I'd rather send them sooner than later
5. Cash gifts in the form of checks: If it comes before the wedding, send a thank you note when you receive it and wait to cash it until a couple days after you sent the note. If it comes on the wedding day, it still falls in the 2 month deadline but still wait to cash it until after you've sent the note (so it doesn't look like you just cashed it and aren't going to send a thank you note).
Do I have it right? Did I miss anything? Thanks!