General Etiquette > Life...in general

TY Note - which is better?

(1/1)

Rose2Bear:
I have family members that do both of these styles I am about to mention, and I really do understand that its the fact that they are sending a thank you note in the first place that is the important issue and I really do appreciate that they took the time to do so, regardless of the style of note. That said:

Is it better to get a thank you note out the day or two after a gift is recieved, but it is a less personal note - such as a nice card, but where the person only underlines the word thank you and maybe writes "SO MUCH" and then signs their name,  or is it better to get the note out later (maybe within a week or even two) but write a longer, personal note where the items are mentioned individually and maybe a line about the use that will come from said item.

I guess its just a matter of preference, but what do you guys think about the pros and cons of these two thank you note styles? Is the first style a little rude? Or is it ruder to wait longer to find the time to write out a note?

TZ:
I think that a more personal thank you note is preferrable to a ridiculously prompt one.  To me, a brief Thank You!!! is way too similar to the dreaded generic, printed thank you.  The length of time it takes to send out the notes really depends on the event.  I wrote all of my Christmas TYNs on Christmas Day and sent them out yesterday, because there weren't that many of them.  But if somebody is writing 200 TYNs for a wedding, it will probably take longer.

Now that I think about it, though, I don't think I've ever gotten (or written) a short thank you note like you have described.  In my experience, people either tend to write longer TYNs or none at all.  I've only gotten one pre-printed TYN, and believe me, I'll think twice about accepting invitations to this couple's events in the future.

Lisbeth:
I'm kinda torn.  I certainly want to know that the gift was received right away, but I also want a customized message, not just "Thank you for the gift."

So I guess I can wait a bit longer for a more personal message, as long as I don't have to wait too long.  If I get an E-mail or a quick note in the meantime saying that the gift has been received, great.  As long as it's not a pre-printed form card (I have seen these).

Slartibartfast:
I was taught the proper format for thank yous is:

Dear Soandso,

Thank you for the _________.  (Insert a specific reason you like the gift here.)  I also loved the ________, it (comment about the second gift here).

(Comment about how you look forward to seeing them in March, or how you hope they had a good Christmas.)

Thank you,

(Name)

These don't take more than a minute or two to do (assuming you know what you got and from whom), and give the gift-giver some direction for future years.  (Saying "Thank you for the trinket, it will go great with the new blue wallpaper I put up in the living room!" will hopefully keep them from giving you a hot pink doodad next time.)  The down side is if you don't have a 100% accurate list of what you got, it can be glaringly obvious you didn't receive a particular item (or you didn't know it was from them).

Navigation

[0] Message Index