I am picky about when I send gifts to people.
Birthdays are a maybe, engagements are a no, weddings are a yes, and babies births are again a maybe.
Engagements are a no because there is very little you can give an engaged couple that they can use anyways before marriage. And when I get that invite to the wedding they’ll get a gift.
But with each situation comes a different form of “Thanks”. For a birthday present a simple “Thank you” message is good enough.
However, wedding gifts and the like needs a more formal “Thank you”. No Facebook messages saying “Thanks for the gift” in a halfhearted way. This especially applies when more money is spent on the gift.
They send a $15 gift, send them that “Thanks”, they spend 2X-3X-etc. more than that, the level of “Thanks” needs to multiply as well.
The time frame for each of these should be within 12 months. You may think people have forgotten about it…but if they spent money, they remember!
Aviously 
A year sounds good, but keep in mind the first year of marriage can often be very difficult, leaving little free time to write thank you notes, despite planning on it. I still have them sitting in my living room waiting to be filled out, but something, often family health issues, gets in the wag whenever I would gave the time. Hopefully this summer will afford me the opportunity.
Way to take it personally 😉 Now if only 20 other people read and reply to the blog 😛