Answer first: keep the greeting short and the line after it honest
Most cards need two or three lines, not a letter. Open with a standard greeting, follow it with one specific thing about the person or your year, then sign. "Merry Christmas" plus "I still think about that rainy walk in October" beats any ornate verse you can buy. The greeting is the door. The sentence after it is the visit.
Greetings that work for almost anyone
- Merry Christmas and a happy New Year
- Happy Christmas
- Season's Greetings
- Wishing you a warm and restful holiday
- All the best this Christmas
- Hope your Christmas is full of good food and better company
One note on wording. "Merry Christmas" is the default in the US and Canada, while "Happy Christmas" is more common in the UK and Ireland. Both are correct, and neither will raise an eyebrow.
Religious greeting or not?
Read the recipient. If someone goes to church, "Blessings to you and yours this Christmas" or "Rejoicing with you in the birth of Christ" lands well. For everyone else, "Season's Greetings" and "Happy Holidays" are safe. If you genuinely do not know what someone celebrates, "Wishing you a lovely holiday season" sounds human and covers the ground.
What to write after the greeting
This is where the card earns its keep. One or two sentences, specific to the person:
- A shared memory: "That Boxing Day walk still makes me laugh."
- A real wish: "Hope the new job settles down and you get your evenings back."
- A short update: "We moved in June. Same chaos, new postcode."
- A question, if you want a reply: "Are you free for a call in January?"
Skip the yearly round-robin. If you have not spoken all year, three lines are plenty. A long newsletter reads like a performance rather than a hello.
Signing off
Match the closing to the greeting in warmth. "Love," for family and close friends. "With love," if "Love" alone feels like too much. "Warm wishes," "Best," or "Thinking of you," for everyone else. Add your name and, for a household card, everyone's names. Signing only your own name to a card from a family of four is the kind of small slip people notice.
Business and near-stranger cards
Skip "Love" and skip the inside jokes. A printed "With best wishes for the holiday season" and a handwritten first name is standard. Write the person's name rather than their job title. If you are sending to a client you have never met, "Wishing you and your team a happy holiday" is enough and reads as courteous, not cold.
Small things worth getting right
- Write the recipient's name first. A card without a name reads like a mailshot.
- Use a pen. Ink beats a printed label every time.
- Check the spelling of names. Getting "Kathryn" wrong undoes the whole effort.
- Post early. December mail is slow, and a card that arrives in January has missed its moment.
- Choose one greeting, not three stacked together. "Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Season's Greetings" looks like a hedge.
If you take one thing from this: the greeting matters less than the name on the front and the sentence inside. Get those right and the card does its job.