Christmas Card Messages for Family and Friends
The pile you write in one sitting at the kitchen table. Sorted by how close you actually are, because that is the only thing that changes the wording.
Short ones for the whole pile
Write these when there are thirty to get through and the post goes tomorrow.
- 1
Merry Christmas — have a lovely one.
- 2
Happy Christmas. Thinking of you all.
- 3
Wishing you a very happy Christmas and a good new year.
- 4
Merry Christmas. Much love from us.
- 5
Have a wonderful Christmas.
- 6
Happy Christmas — hope it is a good one.
For your closest friends
- 7
Merry Christmas. Another year of you being the person I ring first.
- 8
Happy Christmas. Thank you for March. I have not forgotten it and I will not.
- 9
Merry Christmas — the year was long and you made it shorter.
- 10
Happy Christmas. Same time in January for the debrief.
- 11
Merry Christmas. Twenty years of this and I still have not got bored of you.
For friends you have drifted from
Say the true thing. Drifting is normal and naming it is the least awkward way through.
- 12
Merry Christmas. We are terrible at this and I still think about you constantly.
- 13
Happy Christmas. It has been far too long and I would like to change that.
- 14
Merry Christmas. Different lives, same fondness.
- 15
Happy Christmas. If you are ever back this way, the offer of a bed stands.
For parents
- 16
Merry Christmas. Thank you for everything, all year, as usual.
- 17
Happy Christmas. I appreciate you both far more than the once-a-year card suggests.
- 18
Merry Christmas. Sit down at some point on the day. Please.
- 19
Happy Christmas, Mum. You have had a heavy year and you carried it well.
For brothers and sisters
- 20
Merry Christmas. You are still my favourite of the available options.
- 21
Happy Christmas. See you on the 25th for the annual argument about the gravy.
- 22
Merry Christmas. Thanks for being the one who rings Mum.
- 23
Happy Christmas. Bring the good crackers this year.
For grandparents
- 24
Merry Christmas, Grandad. The photograph on the mantelpiece is doing well.
- 25
Happy Christmas. The children have been told the story about the boat again.
- 26
Merry Christmas, Nan. Save me a seat next to you.
- 27
Wishing you a very happy Christmas, with much love from all of us.
For aunts, uncles and cousins
- 28
Merry Christmas to you all. Hope the house is full.
- 29
Happy Christmas. We are overdue a summer visit and I intend to invite myself.
- 30
Merry Christmas — love to everyone up there.
- 31
Happy Christmas. Your name came up at least four times this year, all of it good.
For a friend having a hard time
- 32
Merry Christmas. I know this has not been the year you wanted.
- 33
Thinking of you this Christmas. Ring me on the day if the house gets loud.
- 34
Happy Christmas. Nothing required of you. Rest.
- 35
Merry Christmas. Here is to a year that gives you something back.
For friends with a new baby
- 36
Merry Christmas to all three of you. First of many.
- 37
Happy Christmas. She will not remember it and you will not forget it.
- 38
Merry Christmas. Sleep is the only gift worth having — I hope you get some.
For friends abroad
- 39
Merry Christmas. Wrong hemisphere, right people.
- 40
Happy Christmas from the cold and the dark. We are jealous.
- 41
Merry Christmas. The table has an empty chair with your name on it.
Signing a family card
- 42
Name the children. That is who the card gets kept for.
- 43
From a couple, both names, in one hand. Nobody minds who wrote it.
- 44
If the pets get named, keep it to one line. That is the ceiling.
Questions people actually ask
What is a good short Christmas message for a friend?
"Merry Christmas — have a lovely one." Add one line about something specific from the year and it stops being a form letter without becoming a letter.
What do you write in a Christmas card to family?
Something only they would recognise: a running joke, a thank-you for a specific thing, a plan for the new year. Family cards are read closely and generic ones are noticed.
How long should a Christmas card message be?
One to three sentences. Longer than four and it wants to be a letter, which is a different thing and also fine — just do not write half of one in a card.