Being thanked on someone else’s behalf

DEAR MISS MANNERS: How should I respond when thanked by a third party for helping another person? I am happy to say “You’re welcome” when someone thanks me on their own behalf, but I feel terribly awkward when it is a third party.

While the issue isn’t a critical one, I would like to come up with a better response than trying to change the subject.

GENTLE READER: “I enjoyed being able to do that.” Or, if you want to be wicked, “I’m sure you would have done the same.”

DEAR MISS MANNERS: My now-husband and I were set to have our wedding (planned and hosted by us, in our town of residence) and reception (planned and hosted by my father, in my faraway hometown) in May 2020. As you might expect, we canceled.

We notified our wedding guests of the event’s cancellation — not its postponement. I was not involved in the planning of the reception, so I don’t know the state of the invitations and guest list, and I don’t know what my parents told those guests.

We later wed in September with a few friends, and sent out wedding announcements to our original wedding guests. We sent my father a packet of wedding announcements to distribute as he saw fit to reception guests.

When we visited my side of the family recently, a few extended family members gave us gifts and expressed hope that there would be a reception to attend in the not-too-distant future. As we were far removed from the planning of the reception, we felt uncertain as to how to respond.

Do we have more responsibility to the original reception guests, besides sending thank-you notes for gifts given? What should we say about the sentiment they expressed regarding future events?

GENTLE READER: Technically, your father was the host and was therefore responsible for the cancellation notices. But think of parties given in your honor as blank checks against your good name — if anyone remembers what those are.

You will not be able to disavow responsibility for what the host does in your name, and you therefore want to keep an eye on him. It would do no good, and some harm, when your extended family members ask about the reception, to turn to your father and say, “Dad!! Didn’t you tell people it was canceled!?”

The correct answer is, “Thank you. We have been thinking about it, but so much time has now passed.” The next step is to find out what your father’s guests were told.