Thanking the People Involved in your Wedding Day
Anyone that knows me well knows that I love on people by giving them gifts and writing them notes. While that might not be you, I'd highly encourage you to still take my advice in this post seriously, as thanking the people involved in your wedding day goes such a long way.
I'll begin with a disclaimer: many vendor contracts have clauses about tipping (or a gratuity/service fee, common for caterers/bars), meals, or other forms of additional compensation. From my experience, your wedding venue team shouldn't expect a meal, but I know ours definitely welcomed one (check your contract for your venue's specifics). Your photographer, videographer, and other all-day vendors definitely should have at least one meal in the contract, if not two - and if they don't, offer it! However, going beyond these contract stipulations can go so far and be a huge encouragement to your wedding vendors.
Thanking people can involve...
A kind, personalized thank you note
A small, personal gift
A written review on The Knot, Wedding Wire, Google, and sent to their email (for use on their site/social media)
Let's talk briefly about each of these things, but first, let's state the obvious. Who should you thank?
Your parents + family members (especially if they're footing the bill for your wedding day!)
Your bridal party, ring bearer + flower girl
Your vendors - venue coordinator(s), photographer, videographer, florist, caterer, etc.
Your officiant and any musicians
Your day-of coordinator + anyone else that's super involved in planning and executing your wedding day timeline
The form of thanks will be different for each person/company, but let's dive into what thanking people can look like.
1. The Good Ole Thank You Note
Make it a point to write a brief, personalized thank you card to each person involved. It's a LOT of writing, but they will be so appreciative of the thought you put in. Don't just give a pithy 3-sentence statement of "thanks for being involved in our wedding day", but PERSONALIZE it. Give an example of how they've supported + encouraged you in the wedding planning process. If it's to your parents, family members and bridal party, share some fun memories. There's a 99% chance this thank you note will be kept forever, so make it worth keeping.
2. Small, Personalized Gifts
The gift you give will honestly depend on who the person is, the services they provided, and how well you know them. To me, candles are always a fantastic gift. I had a blast purchasing candles for our venue team and photographers. For our bridal party, Logan and I created fun gift bags with their accessories + other goodies. We bought some delicious Michigan wine for our officiant + musician, and I made fun treat bags for my youngest siblings, who were our junior groomsman and flower girl.
3. A Written Review
Within a month or two of your wedding day, be sure to craft a personalized review of your wedding day + the vendor's services. Post it on The Knot, Wedding Wire, Google Reviews, and any other review platform your vendor is listed on. If your vendor isn't listed, at least email them the review for their website, social media or portfolio. And even if your vendor is listed, email the review anyways so they can use it and pass it along to any of their team members that were also involved in your wedding day.
Writing a kind thank you note, purchasing a small gift, and writing a review can go SO far in helping your vendors book future clients and improve their services in future years. It's not a timely thing and it will only bless and encourage them in their work.
