Marriage Greeting Card: Design & Ordering Guide

Getting Your Marriage Greeting Cards Right Without Losing Your Mind

Okay so marriage greeting cards are honestly one of those things couples forget about until like three weeks before the wedding and then they panic. I’ve watched this happen approximately 847 times in my career and it drives me absolutely nuts because good cards take TIME to design and order properly.

First thing you gotta know is that marriage greeting cards are different from your wedding invitations. These are the cards you give to guests as thank yous, or the ones guests give to YOU with their gifts, or sometimes the little note cards you include with favors. There’s also those weird in-between cards some couples want for like… I don’t know, a receiving line situation? Spring 2023 I had a bride who wanted cards for literally everything and we ended up with seven different card designs which was completely unnecessary but whatever makes you happy I guess.

Types of Marriage Cards You Might Actually Need

So let’s break down what you’re actually ordering here because the terminology gets confusing and vendors don’t always explain it well which is super annoying:

• Thank You Cards – these are what YOU send to guests after the wedding. You need one for every household that gave a gift or attended. I always tell couples to order at least 20% more than their guest count because you’ll mess some up or your handwriting will be terrible on a few or your cat will knock over your coffee on them (happened to me with my own wedding cards, RIP).
• Congratulations Cards – these are what GUESTS give to you, usually they come with a gift or money. You don’t order these obviously but you should have a card box at your reception.
• Favor Tags – if you’re doing favors and want a little card attached. Honestly most people skip favors now but if you’re doing them, a simple tag looks nice.
• Place Cards – technically not greeting cards but often ordered from the same place with matching designs.
• Menu Cards – same deal, often part of your stationery suite.

Design Stuff That Actually Matters

The design process is where people either get really into it or completely check out. There’s no middle ground I’ve noticed.

Your marriage greeting cards should match your invitation suite like at least somewhat. Not exactly – that’s gonna look boring and also cost more because you’re basically reprinting the same thing – but they should feel related. Same color palette, similar fonts, maybe a repeated design element.

I worked with this couple in summer 2021 who had gorgeous navy and gold invitations with this really delicate floral pattern and then they ordered thank you cards that were like… bright pink with comic sans because they “wanted something fun” and it was just jarring. Their wedding photos looked beautiful and cohesive and then the thank you cards people received two months later looked like they were for a completely different event.

Here’s what you need to decide design-wise:

• Flat or folded cards – flat cards are cheaper and easier to write on, folded cards feel fancier and give you more space
• Portrait or landscape orientation – I’m personally team landscape for thank yous because it feels less formal but do whatever
• Photo or no photo – some couples put their engagement photo or a wedding photo on thank you cards, some think that’s tacky, I’ve seen both work fine
• Pre-printed message or blank inside – you can have “Thank You” printed inside or leave it completely blank for your handwritten message

The pre-printed message thing is actually kinda controversial? Some etiquette people say you should never have pre-printed words because it’s not personal enough but honestly if it helps you actually SEND the cards instead of procrastinating for six months then do it.

What Information Goes On These Things

For thank you cards specifically your names should be on there somewhere. Either “Thank You” with your names underneath, or “Mr. and Mrs. Whatever” or “The Johnsons” or however you wanna be identified as a married couple. Some people do first names only which feels more casual and friendly.

You don’t need your new address on thank you cards – that goes on the return envelope. But some couples include it on the card itself which… I mean it’s not wrong but it takes up design space.

One thing that really annoyed me recently was this trend of putting the wedding date on thank you cards. Like “Thank you for celebrating with us on June 15, 2024” and it’s so limiting because what if someone gave you an engagement gift? Or what if you’re thanking someone who DIDN’T attend but sent a gift? Now your card doesn’t make sense for that situation and you need to order separate cards or cross it out awkwardly or whatever.

Ordering Timeline Because You’re Probably Already Behind

Alright so here’s the reality check portion. You need to order thank you cards at the same time you order invitations if you want them to actually match and if you want any kind of discount for ordering multiple items. Most stationery companies will give you a package deal.

BUT if you already sent invitations and didn’t order thank yous, don’t panic. You can still get them designed and ordered, it just might not be exactly the same cardstock or printing method.

Production times vary wildly:

• Online templates (Minted, Zazzle, Shutterfly, etc.) – usually 1-2 weeks including shipping
• Semi-custom from a stationer – 3-4 weeks typically
• Fully custom letterpress or fancy printing – 6-8 weeks sometimes longer
• Rush orders – possible but expensive and stressful

I always tell couples to have thank you cards in hand BEFORE the wedding. You’re gonna get gifts before the wedding anyway (engagement gifts, shower gifts, people who can’t attend sending gifts early) and you should be sending thank yous within like two weeks of receiving those gifts. Waiting until after the wedding to even ORDER cards means you’re already months behind on some thank yous which is bad etiquette and also just feels overwhelming.

Where To Actually Order From

There are so many options now it’s honestly overwhelming. Here’s my breakdown of the main categories:

Online Template Sites – Minted, Shutterfly, Zazzle, Vistaprint, Etsy templates. These are the cheapest and fastest options. You pick a design, customize the text and colors, done. The quality varies but it’s usually fine for thank you cards. Minted has really nice designs and good paper quality. Shutterfly runs sales constantly so never pay full price there.

Independent Stationers – You can find these locally or on Etsy or Instagram. They’ll work with you on semi-custom or fully custom designs. More expensive but you get something unique and you’re supporting a small business. This is what I did for my wedding stuff because I’m in the industry and it felt weird not to but also it was way more money than I expected even with professional discounts.

Letterpress Printers – If you want that pressed-into-the-paper fancy look. Beautiful but expensive and slow. Only worth it if your whole stationery suite is letterpress and you really care about that aesthetic.

Print Shops – Like local print shops can do greeting cards too and sometimes this is cheaper than online options if you’re ordering a large quantity. The design options might be limited though.

Quantity And Envelopes And All That Boring Stuff

Figure out how many you need by counting households not individual guests. A couple gets one card. A family gets one card. Your guest list might be 150 people but that could be only 75-80 households.

Then add extras because:

• You’ll mess up writing some
• You’ll forget people who gave gifts
• Your drunk uncle might spill something on a stack of them
• You might want to keep a few blank ones as keepsakes

I usually recommend ordering your household count plus 25-30 extra cards. So if you have 75 households, order 100 cards.

Envelopes usually come with your card order but CHECK THIS because sometimes they’re separate or you have to select them. And you want a few extra envelopes beyond your card count because you’ll definitely mess up addressing at least a couple.

Envelope colors matter more than you think. White is classic and safe. Cream or ivory matches most wedding color schemes. Colored envelopes can look really good but make sure they actually match your cards and your wedding colors because if they’re even slightly off it looks weird.

The Actual Writing Part Nobody Talks About

Okay so you ordered beautiful cards and now you have to actually WRITE in them which is where most couples get stuck. I’ve had clients who took literally six months to send thank you cards because they kept procrastinating the writing part.

Your handwriting doesn’t have to be perfect. It just has to be legible and personal. If your handwriting is truly terrible maybe the person with better handwriting does all the cards, or you alternate, or you each sign them but one person writes the message.

Don’t try to do calligraphy in your cards unless you’re actually good at calligraphy. I’ve seen some really unfortunate attempts that would’ve been better off just being normal handwriting.

Keep the messages relatively short and specific. Mention the specific gift they gave, or if they traveled to attend, or something personal about seeing them at the wedding. The formula is basically: Thank you for [specific thing], we really appreciated [why it mattered], we’re so glad you [shared our day/your friendship/whatever].

Special Printing Techniques If You Wanna Get Fancy

Most people just do digital or offset printing which is totally fine and looks good. But if you’re into the fancy stuff or your invitation suite used special techniques here’s what exists:

Letterpress creates that pressed impression in thick cotton paper – looks gorgeous, costs more, takes longer. Foil stamping adds metallic elements – gold, silver, rose gold, whatever. It catches light and looks expensive because it is expensive. Embossing raises parts of the design without adding color – subtle and elegant but also pricey.

Honestly for thank you cards I think fancy printing techniques are usually overkill unless you’re doing them for your whole stationery suite and you have the budget. Your guests are gonna appreciate a timely, personal handwritten message way more than they’re gonna notice letterpress vs digital printing.

There was this one bride I worked with – during a particularly stressful client situation actually – who insisted on foil-stamped thank you cards with three different foil colors and it took FOREVER to produce and cost like three times the normal amount and then she hand-wrote the messages in regular ballpoint pen which completely undermined the fancy aesthetic anyway. I didn’t say anything obviously but internally I was screaming.

Matching Your Stationery Suite

If you worked with a stationer for your invitations ask them about thank you cards at the same time. Most will offer package deals and they’ll keep your design files so everything matches perfectly.

If you did invitations yourself or used a template site you can usually find matching thank you card templates. Minted is really good about this – their invitation designs usually have coordinating thank you cards, save the dates, programs, all that stuff.

The elements that should match or coordinate:

• Color palette – doesn’t have to be exact but should feel related
• Font choices – maybe use the same fonts or fonts from the same family
• Design motifs – if you had floral elements or geometric patterns or whatever, repeat something similar
• Paper quality – if your invitations were on nice thick cardstock, thank yous should be decent quality too

But also like… they don’t have to match perfectly? Your invitations went out months before your thank you cards. People aren’t gonna put them side by side and compare. As long as they feel like they go together aesthetically you’re fine.

Digital vs Physical Cards Real Quick

Okay so some people ask about digital thank you cards and I’m gonna be straight with you – for a wedding, send physical cards. I know it’s easier and cheaper and more environmentally friendly to send an email or e-card but wedding thank yous should be physical cards with handwritten messages. That’s just how it is.

The only exception might be if you had a tiny courthouse wedding with like five people and they’re all your best friends who you text every day anyway. Then maybe a thoughtful text is fine? But for a real wedding with guests and gifts, physical cards are the standard and you should follow it.

Wording Examples That Don’t Sound Robotic

Since we’re talking about this anyway here are some basic formulas that sound like actual humans wrote them:

“Dear Aunt Susan, Thank you so much for the beautiful serving platter. We used it at our first dinner party and thought of you. We’re so grateful you traveled all the way from Ohio to celebrate with us.”

“Dear Mike and Jenny, Thank you for the generous gift. We’re putting it toward our honeymoon fund and can’t wait to relax on the beach. It meant the world to have you at the wedding – your toast had everyone laughing!”

See how those mention specific things and sound like a actual person wrote them? That’s what you’re going for.

If someone gave you money don’t mention the specific amount because that’s weird. Just say “generous gift” or “thoughtful gift” and mention what you’re using it for if you want.

Common Mistakes People Make

Ordering too few cards and then having to reorder which costs more and the reorder might not match exactly. Waiting too long to order so you’re doing rush shipping. Not ordering envelopes with the cards. Picking a dark card color that makes handwriting hard to read. Getting cards that are too small to write a proper message in. Forgetting to order stamps that coordinate or at least don’t clash.

Oh and stamps – you’re gonna need those obviously. The post office has wedding stamps usually, or you can get custom stamps from places like Zazzle with your photo or whatever. I always forget about stamps until the last minute which is dumb because I literally plan weddings for a living.

Also some couples try to split up the thank you cards like “you write to your family and I’ll write to mine” but then the handwriting and message styles are totally different and it’s kinda obvious. Better to write them together or at least coordinate so they feel consistent.

Budget Reality Check

Thank you cards are gonna cost you somewhere between $50-300 depending on quantity and how fancy you go. Online templates are usually $1-2 per card. Semi-custom from a stationer might be $3-5 per card. Fancy letterpress could be $8-15 per card or honestly even more.

Don’t forget to budget for envelopes if they’re separate, stamps, return address labels or a stamp, and maybe some nice pens if you don’t have any.

My cat just jumped on my desk and I completely lost my train of thought so umm… where was I…

Right so budget-wise just factor this into your overall stationery costs from the beginning. It shouldn’t be a surprise expense six weeks after your wedding when you suddenly realize you need cards.

Return Address Situation

You need your return address on the thank you card envelopes. You can handwrite them but that takes forever. Better options: get a custom stamp (cheap and reusable), order printed envelopes with your address already on them (costs more but saves time), or use return address labels.

This is also when you have to decide what name situation you’re using. Are you both keeping your names? Is someone changing their name? Are you hyphenating? Use whatever your official married names are gonna be.

And figure out what address you’re using – if you’re moving after the wedding use your new address, if you’re staying put use your current address obviously.

Random Tips I’ve Picked Up Over The Years

Order samples before committing to a large order if you’re unsure about paper quality or color. Most companies will send you samples for free or cheap.

If you’re doing photos on your thank you cards use a good quality image – not a blurry phone pic or something with weird lighting. Your engagement photos or a nice wedding photo work well.

Consider the season when you’re ordering – if you’re sending thank yous in December maybe skip the super summery floral design even if that was your wedding theme. Or don’t, nobody’s gonna care that much honestly.

Keep a spreadsheet of who gave you what gift so you can reference it when writing thank yous. This is basic wedding planning stuff but people forget and then they’re trying to remember six weeks later who gave them the kitchen mixer.

You can write thank yous before the wedding for gifts you’ve already received. Don’t wait until after the wedding to start writing them all because that’s overwhelming and you’ll be tired from the wedding anyway.