News and Articles
January 2005
The Daily Home Talladega, Sylacauga-Pell City, Alabama
Dear Millie,
Is it appropriate to send thank - you notes by email instead of handwriting them?
Dear Reader,
It may seem old fashion, but, never stop handwriting thank-you notes! Receiving a handwritten note on good stationery makes the recipient feel valued and important. After all, they did go to some lengths to give or do the deed for which you are thanking them.
A few guidelines - the wedding gift thank - you, is considered the most formal of thank-you notes. This note is handwritten on formal stationary cards. This handwritten "thank you" is absolutely required of brides and grooms because it shows appreciation and sincerity. E-mails, phone calls, and faxes, appear hasty and demonstrate none of the thought and care that goes into a handwritten note.
Holiday, birthday, and other gifts should be acknowledged with a handwritten thank-you note.
The e-mailed thank you note is perhaps better than nothing but an e-mail will never make a gift - giver feel as valued as a handwritten note. Any gift of any substance deserves a properly written thank-you note.
As Ralph Waldo Emerson stated, "Your manners are always under examination, and by committees little suspected, awarding or denying you very high prizes when you least think it." I know of people who actually got jobs because they took the time to write thank-you notes to the interviewer. Obviously, a note won't guarantee a job, but if two candidates have equal credentials, you can bet the note writer will get the prize or the chance to move to the next level.
Dear Millie
I am addressing wedding invitations and several of the women guest are divorced and have kept their married last name. How do I address their invitation? Please include how to address a widow.
Dear Reader,
A divorced woman may no longer call herself by her husband's full name. She is no longer, "Mrs. Samuel Jones." She is "Mrs. Sarah Helen Jones." Some divorced women take back their maiden names after divorce. Usually, if there are children it is less confusing when they are growing up if they have the same last name as their father.
To address the letter of friend who is divorced you would address it "Mrs. Sarah Helen Jones."
A widow is addressed as Mrs. John Doe. She may make a choice and be Ms. Ann Doe, or she can even be Mrs. Ann Doe. The latter was reserved for divorcees. However, that is her choice. In addressing an invitation, it is most correct to address an invitation to Mrs. John Doe.
Dear Millie,
Any day now we will receive all of my daughters wedding invitation items. Would you go over how to put everything together? We want to assemble them correctly to send.
Dear Reader,
- With the invitation face up, place the tissue over the imprint area.
- The reception invitation, if separate from the wedding invitation, is placed on top of the tissue.
- The response card is placed under the flap of, but not inside of, the response envelope. Remember to place a postage stamp on the response envelope.
- Other insertions are placed in front of the response card.
- All insertions are placed in the middle of a fold-over invitation, and in front of a single card invitation. All items are placed in the envelope facing the flap. The guest's name should face the outer envelope so that it is seen immediately when removed from the outer envelope.