I had a Twitter friend send me a message today asking about Hostess gifts and Thank-you notes….
Q: Does one write thank you notes for hostess gifts?
A: The jury is out on this one. Many of the Etiquette Experts have conflicting answers leaving us all perplexed. From the research I have done over the years, here is my thought on the subject…
The hostess gift is given to a ‘host or hostess’ as a way of saying ‘thank-you’ for the hospitality. Most generally a sincere verbal ‘thank-you’ took place and technically this is a completely acceptable form of a ‘thank-you’ and nothing more is required. (Some experts point to the thank-you for a thank-you for a thank-you debacle.)
If, on the other hand, you were not handed the hostess gift directly, maybe it was mailed or delivered, then a hand-written thank-you note is in order.
Long story (answer) longer… a hand-written note is always a nice gesture, as we all know how important they are and how they put a smile on the recipient’s face, so if you do decide to write thank-you notes for hostess gifts, you do need to write them to all of guests who brought a gift, no matter how large or small. You would hate to create an awkward situation if someone commented in passing to another partygoer about the nice note they received leaving the other person wondering why their gift did not warrant said note.
Clear as mud???
