Christmas Card Messages: 85+ Things to Write This Year

Most Christmas cards say “Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year” and nothing else, which is fine for the postman and a waste for anyone you actually care about. One extra line is all it takes. Here are 85+ original messages for family, friends, colleagues, and the cards you send to thirty people at once.

Sending abroad or leaving it late? A free holiday ecard arrives the same day, wherever they are.

Classic Christmas card messages

1. Merry Christmas and a very happy New Year!
2. Wishing you a Christmas full of good food and better company.
3. Merry Christmas! Hope it is a restful one.
4. Wishing you and your family a wonderful Christmas.
5. Merry Christmas and all the best for the year ahead.
6. Season’s greetings and warmest wishes to you all.
7. Wishing you peace, joy, and a very merry Christmas.
8. Merry Christmas! Here is to a brilliant year ahead.
9. Warmest wishes for Christmas and the New Year.
10. Merry Christmas to you and yours.
11. Wishing you a happy, healthy, and thoroughly enjoyable Christmas.
12. Merry Christmas! Enjoy every minute of it.

Warm Christmas messages for family

1. Merry Christmas! The best part of the year is all of us in one room.
2. Wishing you a wonderful Christmas — cannot wait to see you.
3. Merry Christmas to the people who make the whole year worth it.
4. Wishing you a Christmas as warm and chaotic as our best ones.
5. Merry Christmas! Thank you for another year of putting up with me.
6. Wishing you a peaceful Christmas and a very good year to follow.
7. Merry Christmas! Grateful for this family, today especially.
8. Wishing you all the joy this Christmas — you have earned a good one.
9. Merry Christmas! Save me a seat and the good chair.
10. Wishing you a Christmas full of the people you love most.

For friends

1. Merry Christmas! Another year of your friendship and I am still the lucky one.
2. Wishing you a brilliant Christmas — drinks in the new year, non-negotiable.
3. Merry Christmas! Hope it is exactly as relaxed as you want it to be.
4. Wishing you a Christmas full of good food and zero obligations.
5. Merry Christmas! Thank you for another year of being excellent.
6. Wishing you all the best this Christmas and a great year ahead.
7. Merry Christmas! Let us see each other more than twice next year.
8. Happy Christmas! Hope Santa comes through on the big one.
9. Merry Christmas to one of my favourite people.
10. Wishing you a wonderful Christmas — see you on the other side of it.

Short Christmas card messages

1. Merry Christmas!
2. Season’s greetings!
3. Happy Christmas and a great new year.
4. Wishing you joy this Christmas.
5. Merry Christmas — much love.
6. Have a wonderful Christmas!
7. Warmest wishes this season.
8. Merry Christmas to you all.
9. Happy holidays!
10. Wishing you peace and joy.
11. Merry Christmas and best wishes.
12. Have the loveliest Christmas.

Funny Christmas card messages

1. Merry Christmas! May your snacks be many and your relatives’ opinions be few.
2. Happy Christmas! Wishing you a nap so deep it counts as hibernation.
3. Merry Christmas! This card is proof I thought about you for at least four seconds.
4. Happy Christmas! May the batteries be included this year.
5. Merry Christmas! Wishing you enough leftovers to last until February.
6. Happy Christmas! May nobody bring up politics before the pudding.
7. Merry Christmas! Your gift is late. Consider this the receipt.
8. Happy Christmas! Hoping your tree stays up and your standards stay low.
9. Merry Christmas! May you receive at least one gift you actually asked for.
10. Happy Christmas! Remember: it is not overeating if it is December.

More in funny Christmas messages.

For colleagues and clients

1. Merry Christmas and best wishes for a successful new year.
2. Wishing you a restful Christmas and a great year ahead.
3. Season’s greetings from all of us — thank you for a good year.
4. Merry Christmas! Thank you for everything this year.
5. Wishing you and your family a happy Christmas and a prosperous new year.
6. Happy holidays! It has been a pleasure working with you this year.
7. Merry Christmas and thank you for your support this year.
8. Wishing you a well-earned break and a strong start to the new year.
9. Season’s greetings and warm wishes from the whole team.
10. Merry Christmas! Looking forward to working together in the new year.

For someone far away

1. Merry Christmas from a long way away — missing you at the table this year.
2. Wishing you a wonderful Christmas across all those miles.
3. Merry Christmas! The house is quieter without you in it.
4. Happy Christmas! Different country, same amount of love.
5. Merry Christmas! Save the celebrating — we will do it properly when you are home.
6. Wishing you a lovely Christmas wherever you are this year.
7. Merry Christmas! Thinking of you especially today.
8. Happy Christmas from all of us here. Come home soon.

For someone having a hard Christmas

For a first Christmas after a loss, an illness, or a difficult year — skip the forced cheer:

1. Thinking of you this Christmas. I know it will not be an easy one.
2. Wishing you a gentle Christmas. No pressure to enjoy it.
3. Thinking of you and remembering her this Christmas.
4. Sending love this Christmas — take it at whatever pace you need.
5. Thinking of you. Christmas can be the hardest one, and I am here.
6. Wishing you quiet and comfort this Christmas.
7. Thinking of you today. There is no right way to do this year.
8. Sending love — and no expectations at all.

New Year lines to close the card

1. Here is to a brilliant year ahead.
2. Wishing you everything good in the new year.
3. May the new year bring you exactly what you are hoping for.
4. Here is to a better year for all of us.
5. Wishing you health and happiness in the new year.
6. Onwards to a great year!
7. May the new year be kind to you.
8. Here is to twelve good months.

More in new year wishes.

How to write a Christmas card people keep

1. Add one line about their year. The move, the new job, the baby, the hard stretch — one sentence transforms a generic card.
2. Name the plan. “See you on the 27th” is warmer than any greeting.
3. Write the round-robin card last. Do the people who matter first, while you still have energy for a real sentence.
4. Skip the year-in-review essay. One good line beats a printed newsletter.

Send it — and beat the post

Christmas post deadlines are earlier than everyone remembers, and a free holiday ecard has no deadline at all. If you are adding a gift:

Christmas card FAQ

What do you write in a Christmas card?

A greeting, one line specific to them or their year, and a wish for the new year. Three lines makes a card worth keeping.

What do you write in a Christmas card for someone you barely know?

“Merry Christmas and best wishes for the new year.” Warm, appropriate, and complete — no personal detail needed.

Should I write “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Holidays”?

Match what you know of them. “Season’s greetings” and “warmest wishes” work when you are unsure what someone celebrates.

What do you write to someone grieving at Christmas?

Acknowledge it and remove the pressure: “Thinking of you this Christmas — no need to enjoy it.” Forced cheer is the thing to avoid.

When should Christmas cards be sent?

Post by the first week of December for domestic, late November for international. An ecard solves the deadline entirely.

What is a good short Christmas message?

“Merry Christmas — wishing you a restful one and a brilliant year ahead.” Complete and appropriate for almost anyone.

More Christmas collections

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• Business Christmas messages
• Christmas wishes for family
• Religious Christmas messages
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