After the wedding festivities are over, there is still plenty of work to do. One of these tasks is writing thank-you notes for the gifts you received. For a formal wedding, you have many rules to follow regarding how to address the cards. Most of these involve how to name the recipients. It is also best to hand-address the envelope. Your return address, with your new name, may be pre-printed on the back flap. Don't use postal abbreviations in the address.

Writing the names of the recipients can be confusing. Always use a person's title if the person has one. Single people are addressed as "Mr.," "Miss" or "Ms." Divorced women may be "Ms." or "Mrs." Married couples are Mr. and Mrs. husband's name, unless they have different last names in which case they are listed alphabetically and both full names are listed. Unmarried couples are also listed this way. If the wife has a title but the husband doesn't, the wife is listed first and both full names are used. If they both have the same title, make the title plural and list the husband's first name followed by and the wife's first and last name.