"Preprinted" thank you cards

lisabeats

I've seen things on here about not using "preprinted" thank you cards, which I'm assuming means ones with pre-typed messages that go out to the masses. I totally get that, there's seemingly very little sincerity involved in a generic, photographer-produced "Thank you so much for coming and for your generosity..." without a personalized message.

My question is about using cards from a photographer or other source, without this pre-typed wording. For example, can we use a picture from our photographer of us holding up a "thank you" sign as the cover of a card, (or any wedding picture) and have the inside blank, where we then hand-write our personalized thank you? I'm assuming this is fine, but I would like clarifiction from posts I've seen in other threads. Any input and reasoning is appreciated. "Thank You"

misshart00

I have no problem with card like that as long as you write a message inside. However, thank you cards should be out within a couple of weeks of returning from your honeymoon. Photographers usually take about 3 months to get those cards to you. Don't wait to send cards just because you want the special picture.

MoxieMickie

Tye paper can be decorated any polite way you want. Your note should be personalized for each recipient. some on here advise against photo cards bc of the extra delay.

AddieCake

That's perfectly fine!

Jen4948

As long as your message is handwritten and customized for each recipient, I think that would be nice.  Just don't delay sending your thank-you notes, even if you don't have photos available.

lisabeats

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_preprinted-thank-you-cards?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:4b5c174e-77c9-4435-abe1-fe931bd41aecPost:8c4edf87-5a64-485d-90b1-8e0fa5ca331d">Re:quot;Preprintedquot; thank you cards</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re:quot;Preprintedquot; thank you cards : Miss Hart makes a good point. We took pics of a TY sign and asked the photographer to get us those ASAP. We had them in a week and ordered the cards from VP, so that we could send them in a timely manner. It would have taken longer if we waited to get all of our pics back, but since it was only a few, our photographer edited those for us first. Easy.
Posted by Liatris2010[/QUOTE]

Touche. My wedding's not for ya know... 4.5 months so I know I'm possibly seeming a bit crazy. I just like this idea and wanted to know if I should continue liking it or get over it bc it's rude. We will have to make that decision down the road based on what our photographer says and such. But I fully agree, I'm not going to make everyone wait for an expression of appreciation for their support and generosity so I can send them a picture of myself. Or a picture of my BM's nails.

Knottie_22382102

I would go as far as to say that a card like that might even grace my fridge under magnetized splendor for a while

Kate61487

I've actually seen the strictest of old-school etiquette supporters say that a thank you note with "Thank you" preprinted on the front is tacky and lazy.  Because the card shouldn't say "thank you" for you, you're supposed to say it, yadda yadda yadda.

I dunno about you but I don't have personalized stationary on which I send all personal correspondence.  Your guests will enjoy a photo thank you as long as it arrives in a timely manner.  Actually making a "thank you" sign dropped off my to-do list as the final days dwindled, so I just picked a photo I loved and smacked a printed "thank you" under it on Vista Print.  But my photog was awesome and had all of our photos to us online within 48 hours.  I also used another photo to print business card sized inserts on which I listed our photographer's website and event password so our friends and family could look at / order any photos they wanted.

misshart00

In Response to Re::[QUOTE] Or a picture of my BM's nails. Posted by lisabeats[/QUOTE]

TK win.

OwningAHome1981

What about a combo of pre-printed and personal? My sister's was pre-printed but then she also wrote a small message to me and my FI to personlize it.

I didn't find it offensive or anything like that but I'm generally not a fan just b/c I don't think they are all that heartfelt... even if the intent is to be.

hoffse

I'll be honest here - thank you notes are my soapbox issue.  I hate the photo thank you cards for two reasons.  1) They take too long.  2) They also tend to encourage couples to break etiquette for probably half the gifts they get.  Let me explain.

Unless you can guarantee to get those photos back from your photographer within a week or so, you won't even have the cards ready to write on for maybe a month (or more) after the wedding.  Liatris' story is the exception to the rule.  Most photogs take at least a month to turn around anything, and your thank yous should have all been mailed by then.

And the breaking etiquette statement: you should be sending out thank yous as gifts come in.  A gift comes in on day 1, and on day 2 or 3 you write a mail a thank you.  When couples plan to use photo thank yous, most don't send any notes at all for early gifts.  Our earliest gift came about 3 months out.  It would have been rude as hell to wait 3 months (and then potentially another 1-2 months after the wedding while the thank you notes were being printed) to properly thank that person.

I am also not sentimental and don't care about them at all.  

Point is, if you decide to do them, make sure you get your photos back within a week or so after the wedding.  And also have another set of stationery that you can use for early gifts.  People who wait until the very end to write thank yous are the ones that we hear about taking 4 or 5 months.  You should get them out within 2-3 weeks tops, and it's not that hard to do if you follow etiquette and just stay current with them.  I'm 11 days out, and we're still current.  The thank you note process has not been overwhelming or difficult at all by following this method, and we've received gifts from about half the people attending our wedding so far.  So that's half I don't have to write after the wedding is over.

Personally, I would save the wedding photo for your holiday cards.  

banana468

Old school etiquette states that the card shouldn't even state "Thank you".  

I don't care about that as long as the message inside is handwritten and heartfelt.    Plus ditto PPs that they need to be prompt.   Our TY notes were all sent before our photographer had his shots ready for us to view.

Knottie_22382049

Like PP have said I think it is fine as long as you send out the thank you's in a reasonable amount of time. 

Loopyseven

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_preprinted-thank-you-cards?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:4b5c174e-77c9-4435-abe1-fe931bd41aecPost:5c44bbab-860c-4724-83a6-0c542f4905f5">"Preprinted" thank you cards</a>:
[QUOTE]I've seen things on here about not using "preprinted" thank you cards, which I'm assuming means ones with pre-typed messages that go out to the masses. I totally get that, there's seemingly very little sincerity involved in a generic, photographer-produced "Thank you so much for coming and for your generosity..." without a personalized message. My question is about using cards from a photographer or other source, without this pre-typed wording. For example, can we use a picture from our photographer of us holding up a "thank you" sign as the cover of a card, (or any wedding picture) and have the inside blank, where we then hand-write our personalized thank you? I'm assuming this is fine, but I would like clarifiction from posts I've seen in other threads. Any input and reasoning is appreciated. "Thank You" :)
Posted by lisabeats[/QUOTE]<div>
</div><div>Absolutely.  As long as there is an additioanl message is personalized for the recipient, you can use whatever kind of card you like.  Although they might get confused to get a thank you card with a big FU on the front or something :).

</div>

[Deleted User]

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_preprinted-thank-you-cards?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:4b5c174e-77c9-4435-abe1-fe931bd41aecPost:1e5890a9-9fe2-41eb-80da-aa18c3b1be1d">Re: "Preprinted" thank you cards</a>:
[QUOTE]What about a combo of pre-printed and personal? <strong>My sister's was pre-printed but then she also wrote a small message to me and my FI to personlize it.</strong> I didn't find it offensive or anything like that but I'm generally not a fan just b/c I don't think they are all that heartfelt... even if the intent is to be.
Posted by OwningAHome1981[/QUOTE]<div>
</div><div>You should probably reread her post, because that's exactly what she's doing.

</div>

OwningAHome1981

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_preprinted-thank-you-cards?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:4b5c174e-77c9-4435-abe1-fe931bd41aecPost:6f480a38-8acc-4693-a4c1-9e1aebb4ece8">Re: "Preprinted" thank you cards</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: "Preprinted" thank you cards : You should probably reread her post, because that's exactly what she's doing.
Posted by Domino04[/QUOTE]

No, OP is not having pre-typed wording. My sister's had a pre-typed wording thank you message along with a personalized message that she handwrote. This is not what the OP is doing.