Thank You Postcard

A personalized thank you note that your guests will absolutely LOVE and can hang on the refrigerator for months!  

Front of Thank You Postcard

 The first step to the thank you postcard is buying the wooden letters, paint, paintbrush, and ribbon from Michael's or AC Moore.  Don't forget these stores always have coupons, so wait until you get a good one to buy the supplies! I chose light blue paint because our wedding colors were blue, white and silver. I also knew the blue would be a good contrast against my dress and Matt's tux.  Think about which of your wedding colors would look best, and if you are indecisive.... go with white! Once the letters are painted and have dried you can use super glue or a staple gun to attach them to the ribbon.  Each letter should be about 1 inch apart.  Leave about 1-2 feet at the end of the Thank You so you and your hubby can hold it easily during pictures.  This project is similar to the DIY Wooden Letters.

Once the project is complete, Add it to your list of things to bring with you on your wedding day.  I left them at the front door of my parents house (where we got ready). When we were leaving for the church, I grabbed them and had them in the limo, ready to use after the ceremony.

I had given my photographer David a heads up that we were going to be doing this.  Giving your photographer a heads up of any special pictures you want taken is a good idea for a couple reasons.  One, so you have another person to remember to take these pictures.  Two, they can help you figure out a good background for the pictures.  

David was so gracious and gave us the picture earlier than the other pictures so we could order them. Remember you want to get your Thank You notes in the mail as soon as possible (2-6 weeks after your wedding day.)

So I had the front of the postcard, but was unsure of what to do for the back.  I went to google and searched "back of postcard" and found a blank picture of the back of a postcard. I saved it to my computer to use. 

Back of Thank You Postcard

I had never made or ordered postcards before so I didn't know what company to use.  Once again, google came to my rescue (love their searches!)  I googled "print postcards" and tons of companies came up. I believe I used Vistaprint.com. It was super easy. I uploaded the picture of us with the thank you banner and the postcard back picture. Then went through their simple ordering process.  They were shipped within 2 weeks.  During those 2 weeks, I made sure to pick up fun stamps at the post office. 

Send Thank You Notes out within 2-6 weeks

Hope you go the personalized thank you note route, guests really do love them!!

What to do with your flowers, decorations, extra cake when the wedding is over

As a bride, you can spend endless hours creating your perfect wedding.  From planning the flower arrangements with your florist, to watering ivy twice a week for 10+ weeks leading up until the wedding, to choosing the perfect cake flavor.  After all of your hard work has gone into these small details that add up to your perfect day, you have one more thing to take care of. 

Where will the extra stuff go when the day is over?

At the end of the wedding, you don't want to be stuck with 10 flower arrangements. Most couples take a honeymoon, so why have 10 flower arrangements die in your apartment, while you are soaking in the sun in the Caribbean?  Give the flower arrangements away!! It can be hard to choose which 10 people will get the centerpiece/arrangement, so set it up in a way that won't hurt anyone's feelings.  Have the DJ announce towards the end of the reception that the person who traveled the farthest at the table gets the centerpiece.  

We also had 8 ivy pots from our church (that also were at the reception; my Aunt's brought them over after the ceremony).  My grandma asked to take one back to her house and I couldn't say no! My favorite part about giving these away are seeing them when I visit people's houses. Recently my parents visited my grandma. My mom called me to tell me the ivy pot is still going strong and my grandma loves showing people so she can say it's from her granddaughters wedding!  Sure puts a huge smile on my face. Share the love. Here is the link to the DIY Ivy Pot. 

If you choose to leave your flower arrangement at the church, you can coordinate to have the program the next day say "dedicated to so and so church in honor of the newly weds!"

Just remember people love fresh flowers, so it won't be hard to coordinate this, just don't forget this detail while planning!