Thank you notes/cashing checks?

We cashed our checks when we received them and we sent out thank you's immediately after we received a gift (for money or other items). Unless for some reason, the check is dated for your wedding date, cash the checks. People may think the check got lost in the mail if you haven't cashed it by the time your wedding is here. Don't wait to send the thank you's all at once. Plus if you send them as you receive the gifts it takes a lot of burden off of you after the wedding. Trust me, it's easier to do a few as you go than to do 200 after the wedding.

Congrats.

P.S. I agree with Ricardo, people are too worried about underwear color.

You open and send Thank You notes for gifts as you receive them. As for checks, write the thank you note and send it. Then deposit the check a few weeks later. Etiquette-wise I could find nothing that says you can't cash the check when you get it, but I would feel funny about cashing it TOO soon. Of course, when I send a check for a wedding, I would expect the couple to cash it right away, even if it is before the actual wedding. As a bride, I felt a little weird about cashing it too soon though, so I understand what you are saying. As far as signing the note as Mr. and Mrs...well you aren;t married yet, so the gift giver doesn't expect you to sign it with your married name. Just mention how much you and your soon to be Mr. appreciate the gift.

Send a thank you card now, even if it is weeks before the wedding. How about just signing the card "Future Mr. and Mrs." I agree with depositing now. I hate when people hold checks for long periods of time and some banks will not cash a check after 30-60 days.

The thank you notes are to be sent by the married couple so do not send them now even though the gift was early. Everyone knows how busy it is before a wedding, they do not expect an early thank you nor do they want to be left out of the couple's first correspondence.

You can still deposit the checks, it's not rude.

You're a busy person and probably don't have time to sit about writing note after note after note. So, maybe that tradition can go bye-bye. Send thank you notes out as soon as you get the gifts. That way they're taken care of.

As for the checks, I'd cash them and put the $$ into a separate joint account so it doesn't get frittered away - which is easy to do even if you're careful with money.

I would send out the thank you notes first and then wait a bit closer to the wedding and then cash the checks.

No need in waiting until your wedding. But I would send the thank you notes first to the people that can't make the wedding.

Oh Dana, yes, someone sends a gift, you send a thank you note. People expect a thank you note as an acknowledgement that you received their gift. And, yes, cash the check now. People don't care. No rudeness. And, you just sign the thank you note however you are comfortable. i think you have to stop thinking about rules, and just do what you know to be proper good gracious living. Heavens! have we forgotten how to say thank you because we are so caught up in choosing the color of the bridesmaids' underwear?

I wrote my thank you notes as the gifts came in. I made them from myself and my fiance. You wait to cash the checks. You don't cash checks or use wedding gifts until you are married.