Thank you cards

I would send them asap and send a marriage announcement later if you want to send out the photos you get back. I would just stick with a simple "thank you so much for our wedding gift. We appreciate you taking the time to celebrate with us on our wedding day and it was so great to see you" sort of thing.

I think guests always appreciate a simple but personal handwritten thank you

We waited for our pictures, and ordered thank you cards with a few pictures of us on the front and a generic "thank you from the new mr. and mrs. X" then the back was blank. I got all of ours sent out by 2 months after our wedding. I could have done it sooner but I wanted the pictures of us on them. I actually got compliments on sending them at all, sending personalized ones, and sending them out so quickly so that made me think a lot of people don't send them at all? I did 10 per night for a week straight and that made it easier. I had a station set up at our dining room table so I could address, stamp, write the thank you note, and seal it all at once. If my husband was home early, he helped with stamping & sealing. I sent them off 10 per day instead of waiting for them all to be done, I just wanted them sent.

Two weeks. Handwritten and sent by snail mail. At least four sentences expressing specific appreciation for the specific present you received. Mention that your spouse joins you in being delighted with the (specific) gift. If it was money, you might charmingly say what you plan to put it towards. Say it was nice to see them at the wedding (if they came) and hope to see them soon.

Definitely hand written. I wouldn't wait for photos unless you get some right away. You could always send a pic with your Christmas cards if you do them. Try to have them out in 2-3 weeks, a month at the latest. Congrats on a happy wedding!

I would send them out as soon as possible, as others have mentioned. Here was the basic flow I followed for each note

Dear Mr & Mrs Smith

Thank you so much for the wonderful *insert gift here*! We are so excited to display/use/decorate etc. with it! (If it's a gift card, maybe say "we can't wait to get some decorations with this! or something of the sort) It was so kind of you to help us start our married life together, we appreciate you(r) friendship.

With love,

The Brittains

I learned it's best to mention the actual gift vs just saying thanks for your present as it is more personal.

Hi,

I had some guests come without gifts. Should I still send them thank you cards? Just like, "Thank you for coming and celebrating with us?"

This! I've been trying to get all of the pre-wedding thank you's out within a day or two of receiving the gift. We're going on our honeymoon right after the wedding, so I'll get through the rest of the thank you's as soon as we get back. I'm hoping to get them all out within a week of getting back from the honeymoon.

One of my uncles mailed me a check last week, so I said that we would use it towards our honeymoon. I 100% agree that if the gift is $ or a gift card, it's important to give the giver some idea of what you plan to do with the funds, whether it's home improvements, paying for the honeymoon, going out to dinner, etc.