Merry Christmas wishes for every imaginable holiday card.

Top Christmas wishes for every audience.

Holiday greetings can send magical messages when done right. Each sender and receiver of a Christmas card will shape the meaning of a greeting as it passes through the filter of their personalities. Sometimes, the delivery of the right greeting can inspire the happiest moments of the season.

Starting in November and stretching on into January, the holiday season bridges Thanksgiving (in the U.S. and Canada) to the Winter Solstice, Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Boxing Day, New Year’s Day, and the Epiphany. This holiday season is decorated with Christmas wishes and holiday greetings like so much tinsel on a tree. There are inclusive holiday wishes and some that point to specific, shared beliefs between givers and receivers who celebrate the same. What these season’s greetings all share is the holiday sentiment.

Simple Christmas card messages.

Holiday cards destined for a large audience benefit from simple Christmas card messages. These pleasant greetings focus on one of two things: the charm of the season, or one wish for the happiness of others. Some of these merry Christmas wishes touch on the sentimental, and others show a little cheek.

Inspire a moment of joy and appreciation with these short and sweet Christmas wishes. When appropriate, you can easily switch out any holiday reference for your festivity of choice.

• Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a joyful New Year!

• May your holidays sparkle with joy and laughter!

• Merry Christmas! May peace and happiness be yours.

• Joy to the world, and joy to you and yours!

• Wishing you a season filled with sweet moments.

• Have a holly, jolly Christmas!

• Warmest thoughts and best wishes for a wonderful Christmas.

• May this Christmas end the year on a cheerful note!

• Wishing you a festive season full of happiness and fun.

• Merry Christmas! Enjoy every jingling moment.

Heartfelt Christmas card messages.

Heartfelt Christmas wishes sit in the cards they came in on hearths and countertops for weeks after they’re received. A holiday card with a heartfelt message is the fodder of the Christmas spirit. They feed feelings of togetherness and remind us that we are loved. Depending on the audience for the holiday card, some of these heartfelt Christmas card messages work beautifully with family photos and updates, too.

These messages are easy to select because they come from the heart. Explore these handpicked holiday wishes and you’ll know the right one when you see it.

• May the Christmas season fill your home with joy, your heart with love, and your life with laughter.

• Wishing you the beauty, blessings, and joy this season brings.

• Christmas is a time to cherish peace and kindness. Wishing you lots of love.

• May the spirit of Christmas warm your home and fill your heart with grace.

• Wishing you a Christmas that's merry and a New Year filled with love.

• From our home to yours, we send wishes of joy and harmony.

• May the magic of Christmas fill every corner of your heart and home.

• Wishing you a season that's merry and memories that are warm.

• Thinking of you with love and wishing you a season full of cheer.

• May your Christmas be wrapped in happiness and tied with love.

Christmas card messages for family and friends.

Family and friends inspire a different kind of Christmas card message. These are the people who surround us during the holidays, or whom we hold in our hearts when they’re away. Christmas wishes for friends and family inspire many heartfelt messages, but this is also the perfect audience for humor. Curiously, these holiday greetings read differently to each receiver based on the sender in whose voice they imagine hearing it.

Look through these Christmas card messages for friends and family and you’ll know instantly which one fits your loved ones.

• Merry Christmas to my family and friends, who make the season bright.

• To those who mean the most, wishing you all the joy of the season.

• Celebrating the bond we share, wrapped up in Christmas cheer.

• Grateful for family and friends like you during this season of giving.

• May our bonds grow stronger as we gather to celebrate this season.

• Wishing my loved ones a Christmas filled with warmth and togetherness.

• To my family and friends, may your Christmas be full of love and light.

• Cheers to the love and laughter we share this Christmas season.

• Sending love and joy to the people who make my life truly special.

• Family and friends are the true gifts of Christmas. Wishing you all the best.

Cute Christmas card messages.

Cute Christmas wishes are like the whip cream on a banana split. They’re the softest and the sweetest, and everyone wants more. These cute Christmas card messages work for a diverse audience, too. Perhaps one of these is perfect for Grandma. Maybe another is perfect for a new love. Whoever the final receiver is, cute Christmas wishes guarantee a smile.

Spread the holiday cheer with cute Christmas wishes that nod to the lighter side of the season. These delightful messages are the perfect antidote for an excess of sappy Christmas cards, too.

• Have a paws-itively merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

• May your days be meowy and bright!

• Wishing you a Christmas that's as sweet as a candy cane!

• Let's fa-la-la-la-la in love with the magic of Christmas.

• Have a tree-mendous Christmas!

• Wishing you a Christmas filled with fun and frolic!

• May your sweaters be ugly and bright this Christmas.

• Jingle all the way to a fantastic Christmas day!

• Hope your Christmas is as cool as you are!

• Santa paws is coming to town – have a purr-fect Christmas!

Short Christmas card messages.

Sometimes, it’s not enough that a holiday message be simple. It also must be short. These short Christmas card messages are ideal for cards leaving lots of room for notes before they ship off to their many recipients.

Take your pick of these short Christmas card messages. You have options that are sweet, cute, funny, and even a little ironic.

• Joyful wishes to you!

• Merry & Bright!

• Peace and joy to you!

• Happy Holidays!

• Season's Greetings!

• Joy to you!

• Festive cheer to all!

• Be merry!

• Warmest wishes!

• Cheerful greetings!

Business Christmas card messages.

Holiday greetings from businesses reach employees, business partners, coworkers, bosses, and more. Finding the perfect Christmas messages for coworkers requires a separate search from the Christmas messages for bosses, though. There are times when business Christmas card messages have to be everything to everyone, and for those occasions, take your pick of these holiday greetings. And don’t be shy to change a word or two to perfect it.

Business Christmas card messages often mix gratitude with future-facing statements. Other times, they tickle a taste of humor. Know your audience, and take your pick.

• Season's greetings from all of us at [Company Name].

• Wishing you a prosperous New Year from your friends at [Company Name].

• May your holidays be filled with success and cheer.

• Cheers to a new year of partnership and growth.

• Thank you for your business this year. Merry Christmas!

• Wishing you a festive holiday season from the [Company Name] team.

• May the joy of the season propel us to a prosperous new year.

• Happy Holidays and best wishes for a wonderful New Year.

• Gratitude and greetings from [Company Name] this Christmas season.

• To our valued clients, may your holidays be bright and successful.

Christmas card messages for teachers.

Christmas card messages for teachers can be from teachers to their students or from students to their teachers. In both directions, these holiday greetings focus on dreams, wishes, and joy. Many of these messages share the same magic of the best days in the classroom.

Pick the perfect Christmas card messages for teachers and spread holiday greetings of wholesome cheer.

• Thank you for being a guiding light. Merry Christmas!

• Wishing you a restful holiday season. Thank you for all you do.

• May your Christmas be as inspiring as you are to your students.

• To a wonderful teacher, may your holidays be filled with joy and relaxation.

• Your dedication is appreciated. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

• Wishing you a season of joy and a break well-deserved.

• May your Christmas break be as rewarding as your time in the classroom.

• Cheers to a teacher who brings out the best in their students. Happy Holidays!

• Enjoy the holiday season with the same passion you bring to teaching.

• Merry Christmas to a teacher who makes learning a gift all year round.

Funny Christmas card messages.

Sometimes, the giver of a holiday card is too fun-loving to send anything sappy. Other times, it’s the receiver of a holiday card who is the hilarious one. These funny Christmas card messages run the gamut from movie quotes to eye-rolling puns.

Funny Christmas card messages are especially fun to give because they don’t just end with a smile — they evoke a belly laugh worthy of Santa himself.

• May your Christmas be as lit as the lights on your tree!

• Merry Christmas! Let's eat, drink, and be merry – for tomorrow we diet!

• Wishing you a white Christmas! (But if the white runs out, drink the red.)

• Santa saw your Instagram – you're getting clothes and a Bible for Christmas.

• Have yourself a merry little Christmas. And if the in-laws get too much, just remember: it's only once a year.

• This Christmas, may your family be functional and all your batteries be included.

• Merry Christmas! I put so much thought into your gift that it's now too late to get it.

• Remember: Don't confuse Santa with Google. He actually knows when you've been bad or good!

• May your Christmas be filled with as much happiness as you get from a full battery notification.

• Here's to a Christmas as perfect as the "perfect" photo it took 37 attempts to get!

Make your message jolly with the best Christmas wishes.

After you find the perfect holiday greeting, make your cards even more magical with these best practices. It’s important to first consider your audience. Who will send the Christmas card? Who will receive it?

It’s common for senders to add their own greetings in Christmas cards, too, so imagine how your merry Christmas wishes will play off the greetings written in the margins. Here are some other tips to use your holiday greetings:

Know your nondenominational holiday greetings.

The holiday season is also a time when some people wonder which greetings are right for each audience. Some second guess whether to use “Merry Christmas,” “Happy Holidays,” or something else. After all, not everyone celebrates Christmas.

The most popular nondenominational options to use are “Happy Holidays” and “Season’s Greetings.” Swap “Merry Christmas” for one of those, and your holiday greeting reaches a wider audience.

Another way to be inclusive in holiday cards is to be aware of when to use “family” and when not to. Some holiday greetings in this list mention “you and your family,” but anyone receiving cards who lives alone or doesn’t see family over the holidays might feel that the message doesn’t fit. You can leave holiday greetings at “you,” removing “your family” without changing the sentiment at all.

Adobe Express can help.

Adobe Express online editor has tons of free templates and quick and easy customization options to put your favorite merry Christmas wishes to work. If you want to play with Christmas wishes in cards or other creative projects, Adobe Express makes it as simple as picking a template and personalizing it, or making your own idea with easy-to-use tools. Whatever message you want to share, Adobe Express brings it to life, no experience required.

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