^ I’ve received those too. Yes, kind of thought they were a bit lame, but at least they said thank you! Personally, I can’t imagine either of my kids NOT hand writing a nice and personalized note. If they chose to “not do anything”, we’d be having a serious chat…
It’s just common courtesy to send a thank you IMO. If I managed to navigate through your gift registry and purchase a gift , the least that can be done is an acknowledgement.
My daughter sent a thank you note to everyone that attended. She was married at the end of November and had them all out by the end of February. She got them from Costco and the notes had two pictures - one on the front and one on the back, both from the wedding. She wrote a personal note on each one thanking them for their presence and present.
Wedding insurance?? Ok…that’s a new one by me!!
My friend’s son was to be married last summer at a venue in Sonoma. He received a call that morning from the venue that the caterer had not arrived to begin setting up. When he called the caterer (the couple had planned everything), he was informed that there are been a “booking” mistake and, oh, the caterer wasn’t coming. This was the morning of the wedding! Mind you, the caterer had confirmed the menu etc. the DAY BEFORE, in writing, with the couple. The groom, his father and his groomsmen went into overdrive and managed, in 5 hours, to create a wedding catered by a local restaurant, Costco, and other local vendors. It was amazing. And, he had wedding insurance that covered his additional expenses. If you Google wedding insurance you can find all sorts of plans that cover circumstances like this and even, “cold feet” cancellations. It’s not expensive.
There is wedding insurance and for some it may be important
D1 just signed quite a few contracts recently with photographers, videographers, DJ and venue. In all of those contracts we asked for a privacy clause. I was surprised that many of those vendors put in the contract that they have the right to use pictures for marketing and they own the right to those pictures and videos. We told them that they would need our written consent before any pictures can be published, and our names couldn’t be associated with any pictures they use. Both D1 and fiancee work with a lot of clients, they didn’t want people to google their names and the first thing they see are the wedding pictures.
We also had a clause in the contract about in the event if those vendors couldn’t fulfill their obligations. It would be up to them to provide another vendor with compatible quality of work, but we would have the option of getting a full refund if we wanted. If a vendor has multiple people who could do the work (senior/junior photographers), we specifically asked for the more experienced one by name in the contract.
BTW - all of our vendors were very easy to work with in changing the contract.
My niece sent ‘thank you’ pictures, which were a collage with wedding pictures and my family in them. Obviously a lot of work to put together for each family attending. What she didn’t do was mention the specific gift. It wasn’t that we wanted to be thanked for the pan or the rug or coffee maker, but we did want to know that she received the items since they were off the registry and sent from a different state (and to a state where the bride lived and not where the wedding was held).
My sister followed up that the couple had received the items.
Did your friend’s son get all the money back from the original caterer? (They should have gotten MORE back, actually, for the stress!)
Save the dates - niece just sent out some with about 4.5 months lead time. Nephew sent his out about 9 months out. The difference? Niece married in home town that had plenty of options for out of town guests. Nephew - the event was going to be out of town for almost everyone (her grandfather’s farm) and it is more of a spring tourist place near beach AND there is a professional golf tournament the same weekend. They were unable to get blocks of room but provided travel agent service free to find rooms for everyone in appropriate hotels.
An acquaintance of my D’s was planning wedding and reception all at same, popular venue. Made the contractual payment a few months prior to event, to the tune of about $40K. Venue abruptly shut doors. A lawyer advised acquaintance that they would be behind many creditors and money spent trying to recoup would just be eaten up by lawyer fees. They did not have insurance. That convinced D that insurance would be well worth cost.
@CTTC, yes they did, although not without difficulty.
S and DIL sent out their save-the-dates almost 6 months in advance. Most of the guests, especially our side and their friends, had to make travel arrangements to attend the wedding.
I’ve only received handwritten thank you’s for the weddings I’ve been to in the last 5 years. Most have arrived around 4 months after the wedding, but one took 7 months. I wouldn’t appreciate a postcard photo thank you.
Hand written notes here too…and my kid better be planning to do,the same!!
I’m so glad I started reading this thread! I never would have thought of wedding insurance- who knew?? Our daughter actually flew in yesterday to the area where they will have their ceremony and is looking at sites today and tomorrow. The wedding will take place in the spring, 2018, and I have been worrying about paying a deposit so far ahead in case a venue or vendor goes out of business. It’s nice to know this insurance is available! Also, thank you @oldfort for you suggestions on contract amendments! This is one more detail I would not have thought of! Such great resources here like always!
There are two kinds of wedding insurance: liability insurance and cancellation insurance. @takeitallin, it sounds like you’re interested in the latter, but you may end up needing liability insurance as well because some venues require it.
Thank you for the tip @Marian! We are just starting the process but at least I know no to ask the questions. I think we did get liability insurance for DD1’s wedding 8 years ago, but she got married on a much smaller scale, so cancellation insurance was not an issue then. This time, I would really like to cover all bases.
Sometimes the venue itself will already have liability insurance so that is one thing that would be covered under some venues and not under others. Wow, have not heard of cancelation insurance, but I guess that makes sense, as some of these weddings are around the same price as a year of college and there is tuition insurance.
I believe my D’s covers a lot of circumstances–but I don’t think they purchased cover for a change of mind! From my memory, covers things like major illness of someone in wedding party or immediate family; no show of major vendors like photographer; if the venue has a fire or natural disaster; if someone steals the wedding presents; if a rowdy guest damages the venue…issues like that…
I don’t think any insurance covers for a change of mind.
^ if we, the parents, not the bride or groom, purchased change of heart/mind coverage and if they changed their mind 365 days before the event, there is insurance available…