Occasion HandbookHolidays 44 examples

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.

Season’s Greetings Merry Christmas — have alovely one. PRINTED YOURS

Short ones for the whole pile

Write these when there are thirty to get through and the post goes tomorrow.

  1. 1 Merry Christmas — have a lovely one.
    Tone PlainLength Very short
  2. 2 Happy Christmas. Thinking of you all.
    Tone WarmLength Very short
  3. 3 Wishing you a very happy Christmas and a good new year.
    Tone PlainLength Very short
  4. 4 Merry Christmas. Much love from us.
    Tone WarmLength Very short
  5. 5 Have a wonderful Christmas.
    Tone PlainLength Very short
  6. 6 Happy Christmas — hope it is a good one.
    Tone WarmLength Very short

For your closest friends

  1. 7 Merry Christmas. Another year of you being the person I ring first.
    Tone WarmLength Short
  2. 8 Happy Christmas. Thank you for March. I have not forgotten it and I will not.
    Tone WarmLength Short
  3. 9 Merry Christmas — the year was long and you made it shorter.
    Tone WarmLength Very short
  4. 10 Happy Christmas. Same time in January for the debrief.
    Tone WarmLength Very short
  5. 11 Merry Christmas. Twenty years of this and I still have not got bored of you.
    Tone WarmLength Short

For friends you have drifted from

Say the true thing. Drifting is normal and naming it is the least awkward way through.

  1. 12 Merry Christmas. We are terrible at this and I still think about you constantly.
    Tone WarmLength Short
  2. 13 Happy Christmas. It has been far too long and I would like to change that.
    Tone PlainLength Short
  3. 14 Merry Christmas. Different lives, same fondness.
    Tone WarmLength Very short
  4. 15 Happy Christmas. If you are ever back this way, the offer of a bed stands.
    Tone WarmLength Short

For parents

  1. 16 Merry Christmas. Thank you for everything, all year, as usual.
    Tone WarmLength Short
  2. 17 Happy Christmas. I appreciate you both far more than the once-a-year card suggests.
    Tone WarmLength Short
  3. 18 Merry Christmas. Sit down at some point on the day. Please.
    Tone WarmLength Very short
  4. 19 Happy Christmas, Mum. You have had a heavy year and you carried it well.
    Tone WarmLength Short

For brothers and sisters

  1. 20 Merry Christmas. You are still my favourite of the available options.
    Tone WarmLength Short
  2. 21 Happy Christmas. See you on the 25th for the annual argument about the gravy.
    Tone WarmLength Short
  3. 22 Merry Christmas. Thanks for being the one who rings Mum.
    Tone WarmLength Very short
  4. 23 Happy Christmas. Bring the good crackers this year.
    Tone PlainLength Very short

For grandparents

  1. 24 Merry Christmas, Grandad. The photograph on the mantelpiece is doing well.
    Tone WarmLength Short
  2. 25 Happy Christmas. The children have been told the story about the boat again.
    Tone WarmLength Short
  3. 26 Merry Christmas, Nan. Save me a seat next to you.
    Tone WarmLength Very short
  4. 27 Wishing you a very happy Christmas, with much love from all of us.
    Tone FormalLength Short

For aunts, uncles and cousins

  1. 28 Merry Christmas to you all. Hope the house is full.
    Tone PlainLength Very short
  2. 29 Happy Christmas. We are overdue a summer visit and I intend to invite myself.
    Tone WarmLength Short
  3. 30 Merry Christmas — love to everyone up there.
    Tone PlainLength Very short
  4. 31 Happy Christmas. Your name came up at least four times this year, all of it good.
    Tone WarmLength Short

For a friend having a hard time

  1. 32 Merry Christmas. I know this has not been the year you wanted.
    Tone WarmLength Short
  2. 33 Thinking of you this Christmas. Ring me on the day if the house gets loud.
    Tone WarmLength Short
  3. 34 Happy Christmas. Nothing required of you. Rest.
    Tone PlainLength Very short
  4. 35 Merry Christmas. Here is to a year that gives you something back.
    Tone WarmLength Short

For friends with a new baby

  1. 36 Merry Christmas to all three of you. First of many.
    Tone WarmLength Very short
  2. 37 Happy Christmas. She will not remember it and you will not forget it.
    Tone WarmLength Short
  3. 38 Merry Christmas. Sleep is the only gift worth having — I hope you get some.
    Tone PlainLength Short

For friends abroad

  1. 39 Merry Christmas. Wrong hemisphere, right people.
    Tone WarmLength Very short
  2. 40 Happy Christmas from the cold and the dark. We are jealous.
    Tone PlainLength Very short
  3. 41 Merry Christmas. The table has an empty chair with your name on it.
    Tone WarmLength Short

Signing a family card

  1. 42 Name the children. That is who the card gets kept for.
    Tone PlainLength Very short
  2. 43 From a couple, both names, in one hand. Nobody minds who wrote it.
    Tone PlainLength Short
  3. 44 If the pets get named, keep it to one line. That is the ceiling.
    Tone WarmLength Short

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.