The best Christmas card message is short, warm and clearly written for the person reading it. Here are messages to copy for everyone on your list (family, grandparents, friends, colleagues, neighbours and relatives on the other side of the world) plus a few tips on making each one feel personal.
Short Christmas messages
When you have a lot of cards to write, short is fine. A line and your names is enough.
- Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!
- Wishing you a joyful Christmas and a peaceful New Year.
- Warmest wishes for a wonderful Christmas.
- Peace, love and joy this Christmas.
- Merry Christmas, with love from all of us.
- Wishing you every happiness this festive season.
For family
- Wishing you a joyful Christmas and a peaceful New Year. May your home be full of warmth, laughter and good food this season. We miss you. See you soon!
- Merry Christmas to the best family anyone could ask for. Thank you for every laugh this year.
- However far apart we are, Christmas always brings us home. Love to you all.
- Here's to more board games, more mince pies and more time together. Merry Christmas!
- May your Christmas be as wonderful as the people around your table.
For grandparents and elders
- Merry Christmas, Grandma and Grandpa. Thank you for every Christmas you have made magical for us.
- Wishing you good health, rest and a very happy Christmas. We love you.
- Our favourite Christmas tradition is you. Merry Christmas!
- Sending hugs across the miles this Christmas. We will call you on the day.
For relatives abroad
Christmas is when distance is felt most. A message that names the miles says you feel them too.
- Distance can't dim the lights. Wishing you a merry Christmas from all of us back home.
- We'll set a place for you in our hearts this Christmas. Can't wait to see you next year.
- Merry Christmas from our time zone to yours!
- Sending warmth from home to wherever you are this Christmas.
For friends
- Merry Christmas to my favourite people. Let's make next year even better.
- Wishing you a Christmas full of fairy lights, good films and too much chocolate.
- Thank you for being the kind of friend who feels like family. Merry Christmas!
- Cheers to another year of friendship. Have a wonderful Christmas and a brilliant New Year.
Funny Christmas messages
- May your Christmas be merry and your batteries be included.
- Wishing you a Christmas with more presents than socks.
- Eat, drink and be merry. The diet can wait until January.
- Santa asked me if you'd been good. I said yes. You owe me one.
- Have a cracking Christmas! (Terrible joke included free.)
Religious Christmas messages
- May the peace and joy of Christ's birth be with you this Christmas and always.
- Wishing you the blessings of Christmas and the hope of the New Year.
- "For unto us a child is born." Wishing you a blessed and holy Christmas.
- May the light of the Christmas star guide you through the year ahead.
- Praying that God's love fills your home this Christmas.
For colleagues and clients
- Wishing you a merry Christmas and a successful New Year. Thank you for a great year of working together.
- Season's greetings and best wishes for the year ahead.
- Thank you for your support this year. Wishing you and your family a happy holiday season.
- Happy holidays from all of us. We look forward to working with you in the New Year.
"Happy Holidays" and "Season's Greetings"
For people who don't celebrate Christmas, or a mixed list of clients, a holiday message is warm without assuming anything.
- Happy holidays and best wishes for a wonderful New Year.
- Season's greetings! Wishing you rest, joy and good company.
- Warm wishes for a happy holiday season and a bright New Year.
Send it with their name on it
A card that says "Dear all" feels like a card sent to all. What makes someone smile is seeing their own name, and a paper card takes a week to arrive, if it arrives before Christmas at all.
With a Christmas e-card from ShareMyInvite you make one animated card (your family's name, a photo and the message you picked from above) and pay once. Then, for each family, type their name and share the link by text, iMessage, WhatsApp or email: their card opens with "Dear Uncle Thomas & family," before Santa's sleigh crosses the moon, a snow globe shakes, or two trees of lights spin up. There is no postage, no limit on how many people you send it to, and it arrives the moment you press send, in the US, the UK or anywhere else.
One payment. A personal link for every family.
Make your Christmas e-cardTips for writing Christmas cards
- Use their name. "Dear Sarah and James" beats "Dear all", every time.
- Mention one thing from this year. A new baby, a new house, a trip you took together, one line makes it theirs.
- Keep it to three lines. The card carries the decoration; your words carry the warmth.
- Sign it from everyone. "With love from Anna, Tom, Lily and Max", and the dog, if the dog would mind being left out.
- Send before the rush. Cards that arrive in the first two weeks of December get read; the ones on Christmas Eve get skimmed.
FAQ
What should I write in a Christmas card?
A greeting with their name, one warm line (a wish for them, or a memory from the year) and your names. "Dear Sarah, Merry Christmas! It was so good to see you in the summer. Love, Anna and Tom" is a perfect card.
Is it OK to send a Christmas e-card instead of a paper card?
Yes: more people send e-cards every year, especially to family abroad. They arrive on time, cost no postage and use no paper. A personalised, animated e-card with a photo feels far more thoughtful than a forwarded picture.
Should I say Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays?
Say Merry Christmas to people you know celebrate it. For a mixed list, colleagues or clients, Happy Holidays or Season's Greetings is warm and safe. In the ShareMyInvite editor you can change the headline to either.
Do you say Merry Christmas or Happy Christmas in the UK?
Both are used. "Merry Christmas" is the most common on cards; "Happy Christmas" is a little more traditional and very British. Either is right.
Ready to try it?
Build your animated invitation free. Pay once, only when you share.
Names, events, photos and music in about five minutes, live on WhatsApp the moment you pay.
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