{Tip} "Thanks" the perfect gift!

So how many of you have been to a baby or bridal shower (or other event) and you were given a blank envelope? "What's this?" you ask the hostess. "Oh just write your name and address on it," replies the hostess. "It's for the thank you card the guest of honor will send you."

Okay I don't know about everyone else but this always irks my etiquette button. I never comment on the situation when it occurs. I simply grab a pen and fill out the envelope. But a couple of weeks later when I get the card ... it just feels weird to see my own handwriting on the envelope. Now don't get me wrong, I think it's a wonderful thing to do for the guest of honor. But it just seems a bit of a nuisance and kind of tacky for the guests.

My new favorite gift, when I'm hosting a gift giving event for someone, is to give them a set of thank you cards along with address labels for all of their guests and stamps. I give this to the guest of honor at the end of the event to be opened later, so they're not opening up their thank you cards in front of everyone. I like to give address labels instead of handwriting the address on each of the envelopes. This way if the guest of honor wishes to use different thank you cards the ones given can still be used at another time without having to buy all new envelopes for them. And while handwritten addresses for thank you cards are a really nice touch, I think most people will over look labels for a busy bride/expectant mother. And the guest of honor can always choose to hand-write the addresses instead of using the labels if they prefer, and the labels are still a big convenience since all of the guests names and addresses are readily available for them to copy.

I also think this is the perfect gift for the hostess since it is not very expensive, and lets face it, after throwing someone a shower giving them a big, expensive gift isn't usually at the top of the list. I also try and give a thank you card designed to match the style of the party. I think it's a nice touch that the event flows seamlessly from the initial invitation all the way through the event down to the thank you card.

I'd love to hear everyone's opinion on this gift idea. Would you enjoy receiving it if you're the guest of honor? As a guest if you found out the guest of honor received this as a gift, would it tarnish the thank you card when it comes in the mail?

Some of my thank you card designs