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well these people knew they werent invited, they just wanted to give you a nice gift, i think a thank you card and a verbal thank you is great! dont worry!
I hate being one of the first to respond to something like this, but I'm going to give you my two cents:
You are under no obligation to invite them. It's incredibly generous of them to shower you with goodies and attention, and hopefully their motives are good and they aren't just trying to butter you up for a seat at the wedding. If so, they aren't people whose opinion you need to worry about anyway. It is very inappropriate to give someone a gift and expect something in return. Hopefully they understand this and don't expect you to throw your whole plan out of whack to accomodate them. If somebody wants to talk, let them talk. It happens at almost every wedding anyway, and you just have to learn how to let it roll of your shoulder. Nice gifts warrant nice thank you notes, more than just "Thanks for the gift. We appreciate it." Tell them how much you appreciate the support, what you use the gift for or how much you use it and that you enjoy working with them and having them as friends. I wouldn't even bring up the fact that you were sorry you couldn't have them there. Don't make it a deal, and it probably won't become a deal.
Hope this helps!
Wow, I want to work where you work! The people sound lovely. I think a sincere thank you message would be fine--as stephanie said, they did this on their own, so they must have really wanted to. :)
Why don't you write a thoughtful thank you card and bake up (or buy!) a couple batches of goodies to bring in w/ the thank you card? They obviously know they aren't invited to the wedding and sometimes people just want to do something good for others - honestly!!
OOh I feel your pain on this! I started my job in January and am now quite friendly with several people from work. Part of me feels like I should invite them, but if I invite one I'd have to invite another 10-20 people which when your total guestlist is around 80 adds a LOT of people!
My compromise is that our venue is actually an open garden and technically will be open to any member of the public that wishes to pay their 5 bucks to get in. I'm going to tell my co-workers that they're more than welcome to come and see the ceremony as it's open to the public. I think they'll be happy with that and hopefully there's not an awkward lay over period when we go into the reception (which is also at the same venue).
I think @MrsJKH2be: had the best idea! A thank you note and come goodies sounds perfect.
Dont worry about inviting them. they know they are not invited and just wanted to do something nice for you.
I was also going to suggest treating them to lunch being brought in or made by you or something yummy in the break room to share.
How wonderful of them to do that for you.
No need to invite them. They chose to buy the gift for you - especially because they FOUND your registry - its not like you gave it to them! A thank you note will suffice!
Don't worry about inviting them. They didn't buy a gift for an invitation. They know that your wedding list was made before you met them, and they still wanted to get you something special. Write a beautiful thank you, and if you want to treat them to some goodies when you return from your honeymoon that's an extra bonus for them. Don't be afraid to share your wedding photos with them, because they will probably want to see you as a beautiful bride!
Yeah you don't have to invite them. And THEY should feel awkward for spending so much on you after only knowing you a short while and not even being invited to the wedding! Your only obligation is to write a thank you card.
I wouldn't worry about the fact that they're not invited. It sounds like they just wanted to do something really nice for you, not make you feel awkward in any way. I think a sincere thank-you note is all you need.
I had a very similar situation. I started working in my office after i got engaged and made the guest list. they threw me a little bridal shower in the office and all chipped in and got me a $250 gift card!! I was so thankful but knew they knew they weren't invited to the wedding!
I don't see anything wrong with just a thank you card. Its obvious that they weren't doing this for an invite. They just wanted to give you a gift. I'm sure they totally understand that they can't be invited. Maybe in passing one day you can mention it. Not that you'd have to.
Some very touching words in a card and maybe some baked goods along with a very heartfelt verbal thank you should cover it. They knew they were not invited, they were just being nice. :)
They gave you a git because they wanted to not because they expected a last minute invitation. Send a thank you and don't worry about it. They know the invites had already gone out. Office showers/parties are generally the only exception to the "everyone invited to the shower must be invited to the wedding" rule, simply because often times people at work plan this as a surprise and for situations like yours where your fairly new.
Dont worry about it! I'm going through the exact some situation. They know they aren't invited, they're just being nice!
@tweds: i would say don't worry about it! enjoy the gifts. they KNEW they weren't invited when they bought the gifts.
That is mighty generous, and I would feel awkward too! But you haven't done anything wrong, so long as you weren't telling people all about the wedding as if they were invited.
If your wedding is in 2 weeks, they can't possibly think they are still awaiting an invite.
The work shower is always the exception to the general shower etiquette- which says that if you are invited to the shower you are supposed to be invited to the wedding. Don't sweat it!
I think the baked goods and a great thank you note to each of them is in order! But, you are under no obligation to invite them. I work with a lot of different vendors for my job, and you wouldn't believe how many people bought me gifts without being invited to the wedding. It was just a really nice gesture that you should gracefully accept and thank them for. You work with very awesome people for them to do that with you only being there for a few months. We did this at an old job, and the bride was so overwhelmed with kindness that she actually started crying when she had realized what we had done. That reaction was enough for me to know that she really appreciated what we had done for her.
I think the little goodies and thank you notes are enough...I don't think they're expecting to be invited to the wedding.
You are under no obligation to invite them--and they know that, too.
They just wanted to give you a gift--you must be a good egg!
Not awkward at all! I was in EXACTLY the same situation. I started my current job in April, I got married in July, my coworkers all knew that they weren't invited even though it was a local wedding (I mentioned several times that it was a very small wedding). On my last day of work before the wedding, they decorated my office, gave me a ton of gag gifts, threw me a surprise bridal shower, gave me a $150 gift card to my registry store, and then a handful of them went and bought individual gifts from my registry for me. I never once thought it was awkward, just really touching! I wrote a thank you email to the staff before I left, then when I came back I posted a thank-you note to the staff in the lunch room, and handed individual thank-you notes to each coworker who had gotten me something from my registry. Very simple.
Just checked back this thread and overwhelmed by all the awesome responses!! :) I love the idea of bringing in baked goodies en masse after I get back and writing individual thank-yous for the giftees...was going to do notes anyways but it's a great addition to "treat" the office, if only in a small way. Thanks ladies!!
For those wondering where I work: I'm a doc surrounded by other great docs and ancillary staff :)
Definitely back up the idea of giving your co-workers a nice thank you card and some goodies! It's really nice that they gave you a party to celebrate, what awesome people 
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Bees,
I just joined at a new job 2 months ago and everyone there now knows my wedding in less than two weeks - eek! Today was my last day in for various reason before th wedding, and they not only threw me a little party but a few senior people actually Googled my registry online and bought me gifts! Awesome and sweet, but also kind awkward since no-one is invited (didn't know any of these peple pre-July and been wedding planning since early '09). Not only is it out of state (several over) but caterer counts are in, so inviting anyone else would be out of the question....yet somehow my Thank You card for someone who bought me a $300 (!!!!) gift seems a little...lame. Any suggestions?