Yes, sending a thank you email or text is much quicker than spending time shopping for pretty notecards, picking up a pen, planning what to write and rummaging around for a stamp, but a heartfelt, handwritten thank you note shows the person you’re thanking how much you appreciate whatever it is you’re thanking them for, and makes a pleasant surprise amongst the bills and junk mail that make up the bulk of our post (if yours is anything like mine!). Whilst I’m thoroughly modern in many ways, I do like to send (and receive!) a handwritten thank you. Here’s some tips on how to say thank you in style.

Start With Stationery You Love

Individual thank you cards are expensive, especially if you’re partial to letterpress, even more so if you have a Liberty stationery room habit (the only way to kick this overdraft-botheringly-expensive habit is to go cold turkey, this is spoken from experience). I pick up packs of thank you cards or notecards as and when I see ones I like, so I always have a stack of cards to hand. For an even cheaper alternative, consider sending postcards, I have a box full of arty postcards I’ve gathered from exhibitions I’ve been to over the years. The only problem is I don’t like to give them away. Sometimes I buy duplicates!

Bin The Blotchy Biros

Or at least don’t use them for your thank you notes. You don’t need a fancy fountain pen. I use Muji’s gel ink ballpoint pens, which come in every colour of the rainbow and then some.

Remember It’s Never Too Late To Send A Thank You Note

There are no hard and fast rules about when to send a thank you note (at least not that I can find online!). Whilst sooner is better than later, later is better than never. If it’s overdue start your note with something like, I’ve been meaning to tell you for the longest time…

Plan What You’re Going To Say

In order to avoid making mistakes, reaching for the Tipp-Ex, crossing stuff out and/or wasting stationery, I jot down what I’m going to say first and then copy it over on to the notecard.

Be Sincere

Honestly say how much you like the item you received, how much you enjoyed the event you attended, or how much whatever it was that the person did for you meant to you, without going over the top. Obviously don’t be honest if you hated the item or event in question, if that’s the case I would say err on the side of formality.

Keep It Classic, Or Not

I’ve always followed what I would say is a ‘classic’ structure. Start by saying thank you, add some specific detail, mention the next time you’ll see the person you’re thanking and how much you’re looking forward to it, then restate your thanks, adding more details to say thank you in a different way. However in researching this post I came across this post on adulting and realised I need to raise my thank you game. Prepare to be blown away people who do lovely things for me!

Do you send thank you notes? Or do you think that in this day and age a thank you text or email is perfectly acceptable? Are there instances when one simply must put pen to paper? Any more tips on acing the thank you note? Do share!