Christmas Card Messages: 94 Warm Wishes to Write

A good card message does three small things: it wishes the person well, it shows you were thinking of them in particular, and it sounds like you. Start by choosing the tone that fits the person, then pick a line below and change a word or two so it belongs to them. Every message on this page was written for Paper Lantern, so you won’t find them repeated on a dozen other sites.

Short and simple wishes

For a busy week, a long list or a card that already says most of it in the picture. One line is enough when the line is a good one.

Wishing you a quiet, golden Christmas and a gentle start to the new year.
Warm hearths, full tables and the people you love close by.
Thinking of you as the lights come on. Merry Christmas.
May your Christmas be unhurried and your evenings long.
Peace on your doorstep and joy at your table this Christmas.
A lamp in the window and a welcome at the door: merry Christmas to you all.
With love across the miles this Christmas.
Here’s to snow on the roof and warmth inside.

Warm messages

These are the Christmas messages for cards that do most of the work: affectionate, a little longer, and easy to send to almost anyone you’re fond of.

Wishing you the kind of Christmas that stays with you: slow mornings, good company and at least one evening by the fire with nowhere else to be.
May your house be warm, your kitchen smell of something baking and your phone ring with all the right voices this Christmas.
This card comes with a hug folded inside. Merry Christmas, and thank you for being part of our year.
We hope the season brings you rest, a little wonder and a table full of the people who make you laugh.
Of all the things we’re grateful for this year, you are near the top of the list. Have a wonderful Christmas.
Sending you every good thing for Christmas, and a new year that is kinder than you expect.
May your Christmas be full of small, bright moments: the first frost, the first carol, the first slice of cake.
Here’s hoping the snow stays outside and the warmth stays in. Love to you all this Christmas.
Wishing you a Christmas with time enough for everything that matters and nothing that doesn’t.
Your kindness made this year easier for us. We hope Christmas gives some of it back to you.
Wishing you a house full of coats on the banister and boots by the door, and every chair at the table taken.
May this Christmas find you well, find you warm and find you surrounded by love.

Nostalgic, old-fashioned messages

For the people who still keep the old ornaments in tissue paper. These lean on memory: candlelit windows, carols on the radio, the walk home through the snow.

Wishing you a Christmas like the ones we remember: frost on the inside of the windows, oranges in the stockings and carols on the radio.
May your Christmas have the glow of an old-fashioned one, with candles in the windows and the whole street walking home through the snow.
Here’s to the old ways: a log on the fire, a pudding on the stove and a card on the mantel from someone who thought of you.
Do you remember lying awake listening for sleigh bells? We hope a little of that wonder finds you again this year.
Some things never change, and we hope Christmas at your house is one of them. Thinking of you, as always.
May your Christmas Eve be lamplit and still, with the kettle on and nowhere you’d rather be.
Wishing you the Christmas of a painted card: snow on the thatch, a curl of smoke from the chimney and a light left on for whoever’s coming home.
The tree is up, the old ornaments are out of their tissue paper, and you are in our thoughts. Merry Christmas.
It wouldn’t be Christmas without writing to you. Here’s to another year of cards on the mantelpiece.
May the season bring back the smell of pine, the sound of the church bells and the feeling of being small and safe on Christmas Eve.
In our house the same chipped star goes on top of the tree every year. We hope your old traditions are holding fast too.
Wishing you a slow, old-fashioned Christmas: a walk in the cold, a long lunch and stories you’ve all heard before.
Like a letter from home, this card brings all our love and the hope that the year has been good to you.
May your Christmas be lit by the same stars that shone over the village where it all began.

Religious and reverent messages

For someone whose faith is at the heart of their Christmas. Use these when you know it will be welcome; if you’re not sure, the warm messages above are a safer choice.

May the peace of that first Christmas night settle over your home and stay long after the decorations come down.
Wishing you a blessed Christmas, and the quiet joy of knowing that hope was born in the humblest of places.
As we light the candles this year, we will be praying for you and all your family. Have a holy and happy Christmas.
May the Christ child bring you peace, the star bring you hope and your home be full of love this Christmas.
We pray that this Christmas brings you rest for the weary days and light for the dark ones.
Wishing you the gladness of the shepherds and the patience of the wise men on their long road. A blessed Christmas to you.
May you find room at your table and in your heart for all the blessings this season holds.
From our family to yours: may the hush of the stable and the joy of the bells be with you this Christmas.
God bless you and keep you this Christmas, and walk with you into every day of the new year.
May the light that came into the world at Bethlehem shine on your path in the year ahead.

Gently funny messages

Humor works best when the joke is on you, the cat or the gravy, never on the person reading. Keep these for people who share your sense of fun.

Wishing you a Christmas with more cookies than calories, or at least more cookies than regrets.
May your lights untangle on the first try and your gravy never lump. Merry Christmas.
We’d have sent fruitcake, but we like you too much. Have a wonderful Christmas.
Here’s to the annual tradition of eating chocolate for breakfast and calling it festive.
May your Christmas be merry, your relatives punctual and your oven timer reliable.
The cat has knocked the tree over twice already. We hope your Christmas is going more smoothly.
Wishing you a Christmas so relaxing you forget what day it is, which by the 28th most of us do anyway.
May the batteries be included and the instructions be short.
Sending you warm wishes and a solemn promise not to sing at you this year.
Take the last mince pie (or the last cookie). Nobody’s counting. Merry Christmas.

For family far from home

Christmas is when distance is felt most, by the one who left and by the ones who stayed. These lines travel in both directions: from home to a son in Boston, from a daughter in Chicago back to the farm in Kerry, from grandparents in Kraków to grandchildren in New Jersey.

There’s an ocean between us, but there’s a chair at our table with your name on it all the same. Merry Christmas from home.
We’ll leave a candle in the window for you this Christmas Eve, the way we always have.
We’ll call at four on Christmas Day, our time, and pretend you’re in the kitchen with us.
Home isn’t the same without you at Christmas, but every card you send goes straight onto the mantel.
From across the water, all our love. The hills are white, the fire is lit and we’re raising a glass to you.
You may be far from the village, but the village hasn’t forgotten you. Happy Christmas from all of us here.
However far you’ve traveled, we hope Christmas feels a little like home this year.
We set out the old nativity set this week and thought of you placing the shepherds when you were small.
Wishing you a Christmas where you are, and the promise of one together before too long.
The time difference means you’ll open this while we’re asleep. Know that we went to bed thinking of you.
Your grandmother’s recipe is on the stove and the whole house smells like your childhood. We miss you. Merry Christmas.
Whatever the miles between us, you are part of every one of our Christmas traditions this year.

If the person you’re writing to left one of the countries in our collections, a card with a scene from home can say what the message can’t. You’ll find them all among our animated Christmas cards by country.

Happy Christmas card messages, the British and Irish way

In the United States “Merry Christmas” is the usual greeting. In Britain and Ireland “Happy Christmas” is just as common, and to many ears it sounds warmer and more old-fashioned. If you’re writing to family in Dublin, Cardiff or Edinburgh, these will feel right at home.

Happy Christmas to you all, and here’s to a peaceful new year.
Happy Christmas from our house to yours, with love and a mince pie’s worth of good cheer.
Wishing you a very happy Christmas and every good thing in the year to come.
Happy Christmas, and may the new year be good to you and yours.
A very happy Christmas to you, with thanks for another year of friendship.
Happy Christmas from a frosty corner of the world. Thinking of you all by the fire.
Wishing you a happy Christmas and a restful few days between Christmas and New Year.
Happy Christmas, and safe travels to everyone heading home.

Messages by who opens the card

A few lines for the people on almost every list. Each group has its own longer page where one exists.

For family

More in our page of messages for the whole family, from parents to grandchildren.

To the people who taught us what Christmas means: all our love this year and always.
Same table, same jokes, same love. Can’t wait to see you all on Christmas Day.
Every Christmas with you adds another memory to the box. Here’s to this year’s.
Wishing our whole family a Christmas full of noise, warmth and second helpings.

For friends

More in our page of messages for friends, old and new.

You’re the friend we’d choose to be snowed in with. Merry Christmas.
Thank you for another year of long talks and good company. Have a wonderful Christmas.
Here’s to friendships that pick up exactly where they left off. Merry Christmas, old friend.
Wishing you a Christmas as generous as you’ve been to us all year.

For neighbors

Neighbours, if you’re writing in Britain or Ireland.

Thank you for being such good neighbors this year. Merry Christmas from across the fence.
From the house with the crooked wreath: a very merry Christmas to you all.
Wishing you a peaceful Christmas, and thank you for keeping an eye on things while we were away.
May your path be clear, your porch light bright and your Christmas very merry.

For coworkers

Thank you for a year of good teamwork and better coffee breaks. Enjoy a well-earned rest.
Wishing you a restful Christmas and a quiet inbox until the new year.
It’s been a pleasure working alongside you. Merry Christmas and all the best for next year.
Hope the holidays give you time for everything you love that isn’t on a to-do list.

For someone having a hard year

Leave out “merry” if it might jar. A message that asks nothing back is often the kindest one.

We know this year has asked a lot of you. We hope Christmas brings a little rest and a lot of love.
Holding you close in our thoughts this Christmas.
No need to reply or to be merry. We just wanted you to know you’re on our minds.
May there be quiet comfort in the candlelight this Christmas, and people near you who care.

Openings and sign-offs

The first and last lines are where a card sounds most like the person who wrote it. A few ideas to borrow.

Openings

Dear friends, near and far,
To all of you at the farm,
Dearest Mom (Mum, if you’re in Britain or Ireland),
To the whole crew,
To everyone around the kitchen table,
Dear neighbors (neighbours) at number twelve,

Sign-offs

With love from all of us by the fire,
Until we’re all together again,
With warm hearts and cold noses,
With love across the water,
From our hearth to yours,
Ever yours, this Christmas and always,
With love and a candle in the window,
Warmest wishes from the whole house,
Blessings and love at Christmas,
Your old friend, as ever,

Make it personal

The quickest way to turn a good message into your message is to add one specific thing. A name, a place or a memory does more than any adjective.

Swap in a detail. “May your Christmas Eve be lamplit and still” becomes “May your Christmas Eve on the lake be lamplit and still” for the friend who rents the same cabin every year.

Add one line about this year. A new baby, a new house, a hard winter, a long-awaited visit. One sentence is plenty: “We hope the new kitchen gets its first proper Christmas dinner.”

Mention something you share. A song, a walk, a recipe, a joke only the two of you understand. On a card the whole household will read, keep it to something everyone can enjoy.

Sign it the way they know you. “Aunt Jo” to the children, “Josephine” to the old colleague. If you sign for a family, write out the names, including the dog if the dog is famous.

If you’d like the whole thing laid out in order, from the greeting to the signature, our guide to putting a card message together walks through it with annotated examples.

A practical note: if you’re sending a Paper Lantern card, your message appears after the animated painted scene, so two or three lines usually read better than a long letter.

Questions

How long should a Christmas card message be?

Two to four sentences suits most cards: a greeting, a wish, a personal line and a sign-off. A single good line is perfectly fine for a long list. Save the full year’s news for a letter tucked inside, or for the people who’ll want every detail.

Is it “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Christmas”?

Both are correct. “Merry Christmas” is the usual form in the United States and is widely used everywhere. “Happy Christmas” is common in Britain and Ireland. Write whichever the person you’re writing to would say.

Can I use the same message for everyone?

You can use the same wish, then add one personal line for each person. That single line is what people remember, and it takes less time than it seems.

What should I write if I don’t know whether they celebrate Christmas religiously?

Choose a warm or nostalgic message that speaks about the season, home and good company. Keep religious messages for people you know will welcome them.

Is it all right to send a funny card to an older relative?

Usually, as long as the joke is gentle and about you, the weather or the food. Teasing that works in person can read differently in writing, so if in doubt, pair a light line with a warm one.