This post was written in partnership with Basic Invite. All opinions are my own. There are affiliate links in this blog post. Thank you!

I don’t know about you but when I was growing up my mother was what I like to call the Thank You Dictator. If I had a birthday you better believe she was all over my case about following up with a thank you note within two weeks of receiving the gift. I began to dread writing thank you notes and that’s probably why it took a year and the bribe of a pair of new boots for me to finish my wedding thank you notes. You know though? As an adult I appreciate a thank you note so much. If I’m going to take the time to purchase a gift, attend a baby shower and spend so many hours there I do want to be thanked for it! So many people want to shower and love on your new little family, the least you can do is show them that you’re appreciative.

How long is an acceptable length of time to send out a thank you note for my baby shower?

According to the Emily Post Institute an acceptable length of time to send out thank you notes for your baby shower is before the baby is born or two months after the arrival of the baby. Now, I know this may seem daunting but the more thank you notes you can write and send out before your baby comes the better. You will be shocked how little you can accomplish in a day once the baby arrives.

What should my thank you notes look like?

Some people like to go with the theme of their shower and make it similar in appearance for their thank you notes. I like using websites such as Basic Invite to find and select not only the theme for the invites but also a cute thank you note that goes along with the theme. Basic Invite also has 40 different color choices for envelopes which is awesome for this non-artsy, never a DIY-er lady.

Tips to make the process pleasant.

  • Just do it. – Nike was right when they suggested that everyone “just do it”. The faster you finish something the better everything seems to go. Don’t dilly dally around with thank you notes, as soon as that baby is born you’ll wish you didn’t have thanking Aunt Judy hanging over your head.
  • Use services that make life easier. – You may as well learn now that the smarter you become with technology the easier life is going to go for you. After all, there’s an app for that! It’s true.
    • Basic Invite actually has a free service that requests your guest’s addresses with just three simple steps: Share a link, collect addresses, and get free envelope printing.
    • You can also have guests address an envelope themselves while they’re at the baby shower; this way everything is addressed and you’re not spending the time writing everyone’s address.
    • Don’t have time to buy stamps from the post office? Try Stamps.com; you can buy postage, print the stamps on labels from your home computer and voila! You’re done.
  • Use fun gel pens. – Who doesn’t love a good gel pen? It made writing notes in high school fun and it’ll totally make a huge difference as you’re laboring over the thank you notes.
  • Get the envelopes that are self-sealing. – Nothing spells angry and in pain pregnant lady than one who happens to have a paper cut on her tongue as a result of licking an envelope. (Or so I’ve heard from a friend…that sort of thing, you know?) The envelopes from Basic Invite are all self-sealing so no accidentally tongue injuries are happening when you use those bad boys.

Really the important thing to remember when it comes to thank you notes and your baby shower is that you show your appreciation to your guests and the gifts they blessed you with. Don’t wait around to write thank you notes before the baby arrives because I can tell you that will not make life any easier; just trust me. Use tools that are readily available to help you like Basic Invite and Stamps.com. Lastly, relish in the generosity of your friends and family, after all, they love your new little family more than you may know.