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What to write in a Christmas card

Most cards need one good line. A few deserve a proper letter. Here are both, and how to tell which is which.

Updated

Most Christmas cards need one good line, and the hardest part is writing twenty of them without saying “Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year” twenty times. A few people deserve more: the family far away, the friend you’ve lost touch with, the grandparent who reads every word. Here’s how to do both.

The basics

A good Christmas card has three parts, and the middle one is optional:

  • A greeting. Merry Christmas, Happy Christmas, Season’s greetings. Use their name.
  • One real line. Something about them, or you, or the year. This is what makes it more than a signature.
  • A sign-off. Love from, All the best, With love from all of us.

Short Christmas messages

For neighbours, colleagues, the postie, and anyone you see more often than you speak to.

Merry Christmas. Thank you for taking in all our parcels this year.

Happy Christmas, and here’s to a quieter January.

Wishing you a lovely Christmas and a very happy new year.

Merry Christmas to the best neighbours on the street. The mince pies are an open invitation.

Season’s greetings, and thank you for making this year easier than it had any right to be.

Happy Christmas. Have a proper rest; you’ve earned it.

For family and close friends

Here, one line becomes a few. Say something about the year, and something about them.

Happy Christmas, Aunt June. This year had more than its share of hospital car parks, and you made every one of them bearable. Thank you. We’ll bring the good crackers.

Merry Christmas, you two. It’s been far too long since we sat in a pub and put the world to rights. Let’s fix that in January. Properly this time.

Happy Christmas, Mum. I still hang the ugly bauble first, every year. Some traditions are sacred.

For family far away

This is where a card isn’t really enough. They want the news, the faces and the noise. Tell them what the day looks like without them in it, and what you’ll do together next time.

Happy Christmas, Grandad. We’ve put the tree in the same corner as always, and the dog has already had a go at it. We’ll ring after lunch, but we’ve sent the carol in advance, just in case the signal’s bad. It’s the second attempt. The first one’s classified.

If you can, send the things a card can’t carry: a photo of the tree, a film of everyone round the table, the carol from the back of the car.

Funny Christmas messages

For the people who’d rather laugh. Know your audience.

Merry Christmas. I got you nothing, and I’m told it’s the thought that counts, so I thought about it a lot.

Happy Christmas. May your turkey be moist and your relatives dry.

Merry Christmas from all of us, and from the cat, who has knocked the tree over twice and regrets nothing.

Wishing you a Christmas as relaxing as the last week of term isn’t.

Writing a round-robin people actually read

The Christmas letter has a bad name because most of them are lists of achievements. A good one is a letter, not a report. Some rules:

  • Keep it to one page. A short one gets read to the end.
  • Include the bad bits. The boiler, the broken wrist, the holiday it rained. Honesty is what makes people reply.
  • Tell one story properly rather than twelve in a sentence each.
  • Leave out the exam results, unless someone did something truly unexpected.
  • Add photos with captions, so nobody has to guess who’s who.
  • Ask about them. End with a question, so it’s the start of a conversation.

Dear all, This year we moved house, and the cat did not approve. She spent three weeks under the bed and one in the airing cupboard, and she has now claimed the only sunny windowsill, which was going to be mine. The rest of us are well, if slightly damp: the new roof is “nearly done”. We’d love to hear your news. Have a very happy Christmas.

Sign-offs

  • Warm: With love from all of us · All our love · Love and hugs
  • Friendly: Best wishes · All the best for the new year · Cheers, and happy Christmas
  • Formal: With warm wishes for the festive season · Kind regards and season’s greetings

When to send it

For cards by post, the last posting dates come round quicker than anyone expects, especially overseas. A letter sent as a link has no last posting date: write it whenever you have a quiet evening, send the link, and set it to open on Christmas morning. Until then they’ll see the sealed envelope, snow on its ledge, and a countdown. A Christmas letter in an envelope starts from $1.29, and one link can go to the whole family.

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