What to Write in a Wedding Card
Lines you can copy onto the card, sorted by how well you know them. Two sentences is a complete card and it will not be the shortest one on the table.
Short and safe
Most wedding cards are read in a pile, weeks later, by two exhausted people. Short and warm wins.
- 1
Congratulations to you both. Wishing you a very happy life together.
- 2
So happy for you both. Today was lovely and so are you.
- 3
Congratulations. Wishing you every happiness.
- 4
Delighted for you both. Thank you for having us.
- 5
With love and congratulations on your wedding day.
- 6
Congratulations. Enjoy every minute and then enjoy the quiet afterwards.
- 7
Warmest congratulations to you both on your marriage.
For close friends
- 8
Twenty years of knowing you and this is the happiest I have seen you. Congratulations to you both.
- 9
Congratulations. I liked you before and I like you more together, which is not always how it goes.
- 10
So happy for you. Thank you for letting us be there for it.
- 11
You two are the real thing. Congratulations, and about time.
For family
- 12
Welcome to the family. We are delighted and slightly sorry for you.
- 13
Congratulations to you both. Watching you grow up and get here has been the best part of it.
- 14
With love from all of us on your wedding day. We could not be happier.
- 15
Congratulations. Your grandmother would have talked about today for a year.
For a coworker
Warm, short, and no reference to work or to leave.
- 16
Congratulations on your wedding. Wishing you both every happiness.
- 17
So pleased for you. Enjoy the honeymoon and do not check your email.
- 18
Congratulations from everyone in the team.
- 19
Lovely news. Congratulations to you both.
When you cannot attend
- 20
So sorry to miss it. Thinking of you both today and looking forward to hearing all of it.
- 21
We could not be there but we were thinking of you. Congratulations.
- 22
Sorry to miss the day. Dinner on us when you are back and settled.
For a second marriage, or a later-in-life wedding
- 23
Congratulations. It is a lovely thing to watch someone get it right.
- 24
So happy for you both. This one is going to be good.
- 25
Congratulations to you both, and to all four of the children.
For an elopement or a small ceremony
- 26
Congratulations on doing it exactly your way.
- 27
Delighted for you both, and quietly relieved not to have had to buy a hat.
- 28
Congratulations. The photographs are wonderful.
When money is the gift
Most couples now ask for money and most guests find the card awkward. One line fixes it.
- 29
A small contribution to the honeymoon. Spend it on something frivolous.
- 30
Towards the house, or the trip, or whatever you actually want. No questions.
- 31
For the two of you, not for anything sensible.
- 32
Put this towards the bit of the trip you would otherwise talk yourselves out of.
Signing it
- 33
Both names if you are a couple, plus the surname if there is any doubt.
- 34
Name the children if the invitation included them.
- 35
Add how you know them if you are from one side only: "Ana — Tom’s colleague from Bristol."
- 36
Write the envelope by hand. A printed label on a wedding card reads as a mailing.
Where the card actually goes
- 37
Most weddings have a card box or a post box on the gift table. Put it there, not on a seat.
- 38
If money is inside, do not seal it into the gift; cards and gifts get separated constantly.
- 39
Write the card before the day. Doing it in the car park is how surnames get forgotten.
Choosing the card itself
- 40
Bigger is not better. A large card in a card box is awkward and gets bent.
- 41
Leave room to write. Cards with a printed verse inside leave almost none.
- 42
If money is going inside, choose one with a pocket or use a separate small envelope.
- 43
A blank card with something you have written yourself beats a printed verse every time.
Writing for a couple you know unevenly
You are usually invited by one of them and will meet the other twice.
- 44
Address both names, and name the one you do not know: "Congratulations, Tom and Priya."
- 45
Say something to the one you know and something warm about the pair of them.
- 46
Do not write a card that is entirely to one of them. They read it together.
- 47
"I have known Tom for eleven years and I have never seen him like this" does both jobs in one sentence.
When the wedding is abroad or you are a day guest
- 48
Day guests: an ordinary card at the reception.
- 49
Evening guests: still bring a card. It is the same table.
- 50
Destination weddings: post the card home rather than flying it, and say so — "posted rather than packed".
Wedding wishes in other languages
Written for this site with a plain English gloss, so you know what you are signing.
- 51
Spanish — "Felicidades a los dos. Les deseamos mucha felicidad." (Congratulations to you both. We wish you much happiness.)
- 52
French — "Tous nos vœux de bonheur." (All our wishes for your happiness.) The standard formula.
- 53
Italian — "Auguri di cuore per il vostro matrimonio." (Heartfelt wishes on your marriage.)
- 54
German — "Herzlichen Glückwunsch zur Hochzeit." (Warmest congratulations on your wedding.)
- 55
Irish — "Comhghairdeas libh beirt." (Congratulations to you both.)
- 56
If it is not a language you speak, write one line in it and the rest in English. A whole card in a language you cannot read back is where mistakes live.
What couples say they actually remember
Wedding cards are read weeks later, in a pile, usually on a sofa.
- 57
A specific detail from the day — a reading, a song, something the officiant said.
- 58
Something about the two of them together rather than about weddings in general.
- 59
An offer of something afterwards: dinner, a weekend, help with the house.
- 60
A line from someone who knew one of them long before the other did.
- 61
And, overwhelmingly: not advice.
When to give the card
- 62
At the reception, into the card box. That is where the couple will look for it.
- 63
Not at the ceremony — nobody has anywhere to put it.
- 64
If you are posting it, aim for the week before rather than the week after.
One last check before you seal it
- 65
Both their names, spelled correctly, including the one you know less well.
- 66
Your own name, in full, if there is any chance of doubt.
- 67
The money actually inside, if you meant to put money inside.
Questions people actually ask
What do you write in a wedding card if you barely know them?
"Congratulations to you both. Wishing you every happiness." Two sentences and both your names is a complete and appropriate card.
Do you put money in a wedding card?
Commonly, yes, and most couples now prefer it. Add one line saying it is for something frivolous rather than sensible — that is the part that makes it feel like a gift.
Should I mention the ceremony or the venue?
One specific detail you liked is lovely and rare — a reading, a song, something the officiant said. Avoid anything about cost.
What if I cannot go to the wedding?
Say so briefly without a long explanation, congratulate them, and suggest something afterwards. Not attending is forgiven; a card that never arrives is what gets noticed.
What kind of wedding card should I buy?
A blank one, large enough to write in but small enough for a card box. Printed verses take up the space where the part they will actually keep would go.
What do you write when you only know one half of the couple?
Name both, say one specific thing about the one you know, and one warm thing about the two of them. They read the card together.
How do you say congratulations on a wedding in Spanish?
"Felicidades a los dos" — congratulations to you both. Add "les deseamos mucha felicidad" if you want a full sentence.
What do couples remember from wedding cards?
A specific detail from the day, and anything from a person who knew one of them long before the other did. Almost nobody remembers general good wishes.