Merry Christmas Messages for Family: 60 Loving Wishes

Family cards are the hardest to write and the easiest to get right. Hard, because these are the people who know you best and a generic line feels thin. Easy, because you already have everything you need: shared memories, old jokes, the same kitchen you all grew up in. The messages below are grouped by who you’re writing to. Pick one, then add a single detail only your family would recognize.

Christmas messages for the whole family

For the card that goes on the mantel at your parents’ house, or the one addressed to a whole branch of the family tree.

To our whole wonderful, noisy family: a merry Christmas and all our love.
Christmas is the one time of year we’re all in the same place, and it’s still the best part. Merry Christmas, everyone.
Wishing the whole family a Christmas of old stories told again, and room for one more slice of pie.
However the year has gone, we’re grateful to end it as a family. Merry Christmas to every one of you.
Here’s to the family recipes, the family jokes and the family that puts up with both. Merry Christmas.
We’re lucky to belong to you all. Have a beautiful Christmas.
May this Christmas bring us all together, around the table or on a crackly video call.
From the youngest to the oldest, we love you all. Merry Christmas.

For parents: Mom (or Mum) and Dad

The people who made your childhood Christmases. A thank-you rarely goes amiss.

Mom and Dad, every Christmas I loved as a child was one you made. Thank you, and merry Christmas.
Dear Mum and Dad, home is still wherever you two are at Christmas.
Thank you for the stockings, the early mornings and every year you pretended not to hear us on the stairs. Merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas, Mom. Your cranberry sauce is still the standard by which all others are judged.
Dad, thank you for always being the one who untangled the lights. Have a wonderful Christmas.
Wishing you both a restful Christmas. This year, let us do the dishes.

For grandparents

Grandparents often keep every card. Write something worth keeping.

Grandma and Grandpa, Christmas at your house is where most of my best memories live. All my love.
Dear Nana, I still hang the ornament you gave me first, right at the front of the tree. Merry Christmas.
Thank you for every story about Christmases long ago. We never get tired of them.
Wishing you a warm, cozy Christmas, Granny, and plenty of visitors.
To the best grandparents anyone could ask for: merry Christmas, with hugs from all of us.
We’re bringing the children over after Christmas so you can spoil them properly. Merry Christmas, with love.

For grandchildren

From grandparents to the youngest in the family. Children like being told something about where you are, as well as how much they’re loved.

To our darling grandchildren: we hope Santa finds you, the snow falls for you and the cookies are all yours.
Watching you grow is the best gift we get every year. Merry Christmas, with love from Grandma and Grandpa.
We’ve saved a spot on the fridge for this year’s drawing. Merry Christmas.
Have the most magical Christmas, and save us a hug for when we see you.
To our grandchildren, wherever this Christmas finds you: you are loved more than all the stars.
Grandpa has already tried one of the cookies we baked for your visit. He says they pass. Merry Christmas.

For brothers and sisters

The people who were there for every Christmas morning. Teasing is allowed.

To my sister, my first friend and my oldest partner in crime: merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas, little brother. You still owe me for the bike, but I’ll let it slide this year.
No one else remembers our Christmases quite like you do. Love you, sis.
Here’s to the sibling who still wakes everyone up too early on Christmas morning.
Wishing you and yours the happiest Christmas. Can’t wait to argue over a board game.
From one survivor of Dad’s Christmas sweaters to another: merry Christmas.

For grown-up children

For a son or daughter who has a home, and maybe traditions, of their own now.

To our son: you’ll always be the boy who woke us at five to see if he’d been. Merry Christmas.
Dear daughter, watching you build your own traditions has been one of the joys of our year.
Your old room is ready and the tree is up. Come home whenever you can.
Proud of you every day, and especially at Christmas. All our love.
Merry Christmas to you both, and thank you for welcoming us into your home this year.

For in-laws

For the family you gained, and the family who gained you.

To our wonderful in-laws: thank you for making us feel like family from the very first Christmas.
Merry Christmas to the best mother-in-law (and the best Christmas dinner) we know.
Thank you for raising someone so easy to love. Merry Christmas.
Wishing you a joyful Christmas and a warm new year, from your favorite son-in-law.
We’re so glad our families came together. Merry Christmas to you all.

For family far from home

For the brother who moved to Sydney, the cousins in Toronto, the parents still in the old house in Mayo. Writing across a distance, a description of home often says more than “I miss you”.

Christmas at home has an empty chair this year, and we’ve told everyone it’s yours.
We’ll toast you at dinner, so wherever you are, lift a glass at the same time.
The house is ready, the lights are up and the only thing missing is you.
When you open this, picture the kitchen window steamed up and all of us waving.
Every carol on the radio makes Mom look at the phone. Call when you can.
From the old country to your new home, all our love this Christmas.
We mailed this card early so it would beat the snow. Merry Christmas from home.
Near or far, you’re the reason the house feels like Christmas.

If your family keeps the Irish custom of a candle in the window on Christmas Eve, wherever home is now, our Irish Christmas cards show thatched cottages, harbors and a village pub in the snow, painted to look like home.

Family Christmas card messages from all of us

When the card is from the whole household: the couple, the children, and whoever else lives under the roof.

From our house to yours: love, laughter and a merry Christmas from all five of us (and the dog).
The Murphys send their love, their best wishes and a slightly burnt batch of shortbread.
Merry Christmas from the four of us, the three cats and the tree that’s leaning to one side.
With love from all of us, big and small.
Wishing you a merry Christmas from our growing family, now with one more pair of tiny socks on the radiator.
All of us at the old house send our love this Christmas.

Christmas messages for friends and family

For the people who sit somewhere in between: godparents, old family friends, the neighbors who became honorary aunts and uncles.

To the family we were born with and the friends who became family: merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas to everyone who fills our table, related or not.
Love and Christmas wishes to all our people, near and far, kin and friends alike.
May everyone we love be warm, safe and together this Christmas.

For more lines meant just for friends, see our page of messages for close friends, old friends and neighbors.

What to write in a Christmas card for family

Use the names they use. “Mom”, “Mum”, “Mam”, “Nana”, “Granny”, “Pop”: write the one you’d say out loud.

Name one memory. The year the power went out on Christmas Eve, the burnt turkey, the snowman with Dad’s hat. Family memories don’t need explaining, which is what makes them work so well in a card.

Say thank you for something specific. Parents and grandparents especially are moved by a thank-you for something they assumed nobody noticed.

Mention what’s coming. “See you on the 24th” or “We’ll call on Christmas morning” gives the card a warm, practical ending.

Remember everyone. New partners, new babies and the in-laws all like to see their names.

For a step-by-step method with annotated examples, see our guide to writing any card, from greeting to signature. And for many more lines in every tone, there’s our main collection of card messages.

Questions

Should I write one card to the whole family or one to each person?

One card to a household is normal. Address it to everyone by name, then add a line for anyone you’re especially close to, or for a child who’ll want to see their own name.

What should I write to family I don’t get along with?

Keep it kind and simple: a sincere wish for the season and your names. A card isn’t the place to settle anything, and a gentle, plain message can quietly keep a door open.

How do I sign a card from the whole family?

Write each name, usually adults first and children after, and include the pets if your family does. For relatives who see you often, “Love from all of us at number 9” works too.