Help! - Thank You Note Etiquette for Cash Gifts

[little miss sunshine]

I am desperately trying to finish up my thank you notes from my wedding but I have reached a standstill... We received a lot of cash/checks and I know its considered proper etiquette to mention how you will be spending the money... Well.. we bought a condo last year and are pretty much saving it/using it for bills/etc... We are young and my husband''s in medical school... I don''t want to make up something we are buying because I feel uncomfortable lying for such a silly reason... Is it really necessary to say how the money will be spent?

On a related note, how do you indicate CASH... Thank you for the monetary gift? That sounds weird to me... Thank you for the generous gift?

Thanks in advance for your advice/opinions!!!

 

[fieryred33143]

I have read that it is nice to tell the person what you are using the cash for such as "Thank you for the generous gift. We look forward to using it to add to our new home" or something like that.

Here is an example from online:

Dear Aunt Sally,
DH and I wanted to thank you greatly for the check you sent for a wedding gift. We are saving to buy a new car, and your gift will help us reach our goal. We can’t wait to take you for a spin around the neighborhood.

LMAO that was *super* cheesy.

But you can say thank you for the generous gift (I wouldn''t mention amount) and maybe a note on how you plan to use it.

 

[miraclesrule]

That is a good question.

I guess it would be tacky to say "Thanks for the cash, it will help us pay for that expensive meal you ate at the wedding".

Thank goodness for a money dance, then you don''t have to write a thank you card.

I think fieryred''s suggestion is a nice one.

 

[havernell]

I agree that "thanks for the generous gift" is a better way to phrase it than "thanks for the cash/dough/moolah"

As for what to say you are spending it on, are you and your husband doing any "home improvement" type things on your new condo? If so, you could tell people you are putting the money towards that. Even if you aren''t actually doing any improvements right now but plan to in the future this could still work.

Good luck finishing up your thank you notes!

 

[zoebartlett]

We''re trying to finish up our thank you notes too. We are saving for a house, so many times I indicated that on our thank yous. When I wanted to vary them a little I changed the wording a bit. For guests who gave us cash or checks, I wrote,

"Dear John and Mary,

Thank you very much for your generous gift. The money you gave us helped make our honeymoon really special. We treated ourselves to a fabulous dinner at a restaurant we had wanted to try."

Or you could just say "thank you for your generous gift. We appreciate your thoughtfulness." You know, something like that. It does feel awkward to get so specific on cards when you''re thanking someone for cash or checks.

 

[Italiahaircolor]

I would agree with Fiery.

Subbing "generous" for "cash" is a good start. And always mentioning how you''ll use the money is a nice way of showing them how excited you are to have received it.

Dear Aunt Sally,

DH and I wanted to take a moment and sincerely thank you for the very generous wedding gift. We''re very excited to put it towards our new kitchen and will be sure to think of you often as we finish our planning. It was so wonderful seeing you at the wedding, you looked great! We cannot wait to see you again. Again, thank you for your kindness.

Love,
You & DH

Be sure to thank them for coming to the wedding and not just the gift. With my cards, I included a little line specific about them and what we did at the wedding.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

I know how you feel...we deposited the money from the wedding into our joint account, so who knows where it went. Though if I''d thought of it, I definitely would have written something along the lines of:

"Dear Aunt Lucy,

Thank you very much for your thoughtful and generous gift. Ten dollars and 23 cents went towards our electric bill, $5.67 went towards dog food, $14.32 went towards last week''s groceries and the remaining $15.86 went towards the roof over our head. For all of these things, we are very appreciative."

Hehe. Instead we just said we used it towards the honeymoon (which did come out of that account, so it wasn''t a lie). When you put the wedding money into an account where you pay for all of your travels, bills, other joint expenses, etc., it''s impossible to say where the money is going.

 

[Steel]

Thank goodness you got some good responses - I like generous gift rather than cash, I like home improvements as a honest lie and the thinking of you as we decorate bit seems cute too.

My suggestion was going to be:

Thanks for coming to our wedding,
We hope you had a Hoot,
This is just a note,
To thank you for your Loot!

I doubt Hallmark will be ringing me for that one...

 

[fieryred33143]

Date: 8/11/2008 3:14:07 PM
Author: NewEnglandLady
I know how you feel...we deposited the money from the wedding into our joint account, so who knows where it went. Though if I''d thought of it, I definitely would have written something along the lines of:

''Dear Aunt Lucy,

Thank you very much for your thoughtful and generous gift. Ten dollars and 23 cents went towards our electric bill, $5.67 went towards dog food, $14.32 went towards last week''s groceries and the remaining $15.86 went towards the roof over our head. For all of these things, we are very appreciative.''

Hehe. Instead we just said we used it towards the honeymoon (which did come out of that account, so it wasn''t a lie). When you put the wedding money into an account where you pay for all of your travels, bills, other joint expenses, etc., it''s impossible to say where the money is going.

That made me laugh. out. loud.

 

[risingsun]

Dear Aunt Cathy,
Thank you for your generous gift. We were so pleased you could share this special day with us.

Much love,
Jim and Marian

 

[Independent Gal]

We told cash-givers that their generous gift had helped us get one step closer to being able to afford a bigger nest for the chicks we were hoping to have. Of course, we weren't expecting chicks (and so many) quite so soon! But I think the cash-givers are now extra happy & excited, because they feel like they played a role in getting our (not so) little (anymore) family started. We'll be a family of four before our first anniversary, and that small 1 bedroom condo of mine just ain't gonna cut it!

People like to know that you used their gift toward something special: a home to share your life together in, a wonderful aspect of your honeymoon, purchasing something special you wouldn't have been able to afford otherwise.

Even if you have to bluff a little, giving their gift meaning in your note goes a long way!

 

[little miss sunshine]

Yay

Thanks for all the speedy, humorous and helpful responses!!

Miracles & New England Lady & Steel - your replies cracked me up!!

Havernell - Great idea... i think i am going to go with new furniture for our home, since I am sure we will be upgrading something in the new future

Zoe - the honeymoon idea is great too... I think I am going to vary them and change it up depending on the guest...

Fieryred & rising sun - thanks for the samples ....

Independent Gal - I agree that it will be more special if I mention something we are going to use the money for ... and now I have some good ideas!!

Again, thanks for all your help everyone!! (Although now this means I have no more excuses for procrastinating!!)

 

[Sabine]

You could also say something general about your home...like "your generous gift will help us get settled, or help us make our home really "us", or will help build our nest egg for the future"