When to cash checks?

acalloway75

My fiance and I are getting married on November 20th (about 4 weeks away). We've already started receiving gifts in the mail (some are checks). My question is, is it impolite to cash checks before the wedding?

I'm just wondering because we would like to use some of the money on our honeymoon. Is it okay to cash them once the "thank you" note is mailed, or should we wait until after the wedding regardless?

heartxsongs

You can cash the checks when you receive them.

marissa_claire

Cash them right away and get a thank you in the mail right away.

opalsky007

Cash them immediately so that people don't have to keep track of their uncashed check amounts, and send the thank-you note.

Then just wait to use the money until after the wedding.

TurtlesAllTheWayDown

You should cash them and send a TY note immediately. That way, people don't have a check floating for 4 weeks, which can get annoying. You aren't supposed to spend the money before the wedding, but the HM is fine. :-)

I had a rule that I would cash the check when I sent the TY. Which made me write the TY, since I didn't want to wait to cash the checks.

kristinanddan

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_cash-checks?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:54d6844b-d771-4169-979e-f052e71c9a64Post:26d64860-e767-46c8-b1e8-51e8dea9b5e0">Re: When to cash checks?</a>:
[QUOTE]Just make sure the date isn't your wedding date or the bank will hold them until then. It has happened to me =] <strong>Also, if it is made out to Al & Amy Smith You'll have to have a joint account to put them into (at least thats what they told us at the bank) </strong>and I had to sign with my married name and maiden name since it wasnt legally changed yet.
Posted by milkygal[/QUOTE]

Not necessarily. We wrote 'For Deposit Only' on these with my husband's account number and put them all in the atm with zero issues.

milkygal

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_cash-checks?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:54d6844b-d771-4169-979e-f052e71c9a64Post:7eff58ac-9bc8-4b11-9d3f-f129c42676c5">Re: When to cash checks?</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: When to cash checks? : Not necessarily. We wrote 'For Deposit Only' on these with my husband's account number and put them all in the atm with zero issues.
Posted by kristinanddan[/QUOTE]

Well thats good to know. Now I can thak the bank for wasting and hour dealing with setting up a new account... ugh.

[Deleted User]

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_cash-checks?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:54d6844b-d771-4169-979e-f052e71c9a64Post:26d64860-e767-46c8-b1e8-51e8dea9b5e0">Re: When to cash checks?</a>:
[QUOTE]Just make sure the date isn't your wedding date or the bank will hold them until then. It has happened to me =] Also, if it is made out to Al & Amy Smith You'll have to have a joint account to put them into (at least thats what they told us at the bank) and I had to sign with my married name and maiden name since it wasnt legally changed yet.
Posted by milkygal[/QUOTE]

I didn't have any problem with our bank. My husband added me to his accounts right after we got back from the HM. His Dad deposited our checks in our account while we were on the HM. I signed them with my married name even though it hadn't been officially changed yet.

TurtlesAllTheWayDown

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_cash-checks?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:54d6844b-d771-4169-979e-f052e71c9a64Post:26d64860-e767-46c8-b1e8-51e8dea9b5e0">Re: When to cash checks?</a>:
[QUOTE]Just make sure the date isn't your wedding date or the bank will hold them until then. It has happened to me =] Also, if it is made out to Al & Amy Smith You'll have to have a joint account to put them into (at least thats what they told us at the bank) and I had to sign with my married name and maiden name since it wasnt legally changed yet.
Posted by milkygal[/QUOTE]

Depends on the bank. We needed EITHER a joint account or to both be there in person. Not sure why, since I had H endorse the checks... And my bank just set up my account with a note with an alias. So I'm my name, but aka Meredith Hislast, too on my bank acocunt, I guess.

marinabreeze

I'm with opalsky, cash them now (if possible) and thank them now, but wait until after the wedding to spend (though HM is fine).

ariannewton

Yay! We're date twins! Yep, I think it's totally fine to cash them. It's like, if someone were to send you a gift of the same amount, like a new coffe maker for example, would they expect you to not use it until after the wedding? Besides, I really can't stand it when people hold on to MY checks for a long time... so annoying.

Oh and I guess it depends on the bank and their rules, but when we received a check in both of our names, I just deposited it in whichever name was first (his). Bank of America didn't have a problem with it, and it went through right away.

acalloway75

Thanks, guys! Yeah I agree-it is annoying when my checks are held. I guess I just didn't know if cashing them right away made us look money-hungry.

Thanks for the tips!

mcornelissen

I agree with PP, you can cash them right away. And do the thank you note at the same time.

banana468

You can deposit now but just as you shouldn't use any gifts given until you're married, you shouldn't spend any money given to you until you're maried.  So ariannenewton, you shouldn't use that coffee pot either.

And send the TY note right away.