Occasion HandbookWeddings 12 examples

Belated Anniversary Wishes

Acknowledge it in one line, then write the card you would have written. The long apology is the only thing that makes a late card worse than no card.

Congratulations Late, sorry — happyanniversary to you both. PRINTED YOURS
The formula
One line about being late. Then the actual message. Do not spend the card on the apology.
Do not explain
Nobody wants the reason. "I am late and I am sorry" is the complete version.
The upside
A card that arrives a fortnight afterwards is read in a quiet house rather than in a pile.

Short and unfussed

  1. 1 Late, sorry — happy anniversary to you both.
    Tone PlainLength Very short
  2. 2 Belated congratulations on twenty years. Late, but entirely meant.
    Tone WarmLength Short
  3. 3 I missed it. Happy anniversary anyway, and well done.
    Tone PlainLength Very short
  4. 4 Happy belated anniversary. My diary has failed me again and you two have not.
    Tone WarmLength Short

Making a virtue of it

  1. 5 A late card, so it arrives when everybody else has stopped. Happy anniversary.
    Tone WarmLength Short
  2. 6 Deliberately late so you get one more day of it. That is my story.
    Tone PlainLength Short
  3. 7 Everyone writes on the day. I thought I would write in the quiet week afterwards. Happy anniversary.
    Tone WarmLength Short

Then the actual message

The point of the card. Do not let the apology take the space.

  1. 8 Twenty-five years, and you two remain the example the rest of us point to.
    Tone WarmLength Short
  2. 9 Congratulations on a very good decade. Here is to the next.
    Tone WarmLength Very short
  3. 10 You have built something worth marking, whatever week I mark it in.
    Tone WarmLength Short

Very late — a month or more

  1. 11 Absurdly late. Happy anniversary regardless, and I hope it was a good one.
    Tone PlainLength Short
  2. 12 This is nearer your next anniversary than your last. Congratulations anyway, sincerely.
    Tone WarmLength Short

Questions people actually ask

What do you write in a belated anniversary card?

One line acknowledging the delay, then the message you would have sent on the day. The apology should be shorter than the good wishes, not longer.

Is it worth sending a late anniversary card?

Yes. A card that arrives after the day is read properly rather than skimmed in a stack, and almost nobody minds a late one — they mind the absent one.

Should you explain why you were late?

No. The explanation is more awkward than the delay. "Late, sorry" covers it completely.