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How to Write Holiday Greeting Cards in English

November 25, 2022

It's that time of year again!

People around the world are celebrating a variety of holidays, including Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanzaa, and even Festivus.

At this time, you might be thinking about writing holiday greeting cards to friends or coworkers. But as an English learner, finding the right words for a holiday card or an email can be a challenge. 

In this post, we’ve compiled a list of our favorite English holiday greetings and some useful writing tips to help you add a personal touch to your holiday messages. 

English holiday greetings for everyone on your list

Whether you want heart-warming messages for friends and family or more formal messages to share with your team at work, these holiday greetings are the perfect way to spread the joy this holiday season.

Holiday greetings for family or friends

The holidays are a great time to reconnect with family and friends. 

Here are some ideas for English holiday-inspired messages you can send to friends or loved ones:

  • “So thankful to have a friend like you at Christmas and all year long.”
  • “Happy Chanukah! Wishing you love and joy during the Festival of Lights.”
  • “Happy holidays to you and your loved ones!”
  • “Knowing people like you makes this wonderful time of year even more meaningful.”
  • “Our family is so lucky to have you in our lives. Hope you have a fabulous holiday season!”
  • “Hoping you have a lovely holiday season filled with moments you’ll always remember.”
  • “May the magic and the wonder of the holiday season stay with you throughout the coming year.”

Holiday greetings for colleagues or clients

As the year winds down, the holidays are the perfect time to thank your colleagues or clients for making your work a success. 

Here is a list of festive greetings you could use for your coworkers or customers:

  • “Hoping that 2023 brings you many wonderful opportunities!”
  • “Wishing you a joyful holiday season and a successful new year!”
  • “Best wishes for a new year filled with joy and spectacular success.”
  • “Doing business with you is a pleasure! Hope you have a lovely Christmas.”
  • “We truly appreciate your business and wish you the best in the coming year.”
  • “Thanks for a great year, and we wish you all the best as you embark on 2023.”
  • “Thank you for being a part of the [company name] family. Hope you have a joyous holiday and new year!”

Four holiday greeting cards to print.

Do you teach young learners? Here are black-and-white versions you can print out for your students to color! Adults might appreciate adding their own flair to these cards as well.

Write your holiday-inspired messages in these printable holiday greeting cards.

5 tips for writing holiday greeting cards in English

These five writing tips are all you need to write a memorable holiday message in English.

1. Find a writing buddy

Writing holiday greetings is always more enjoyable with a friend. You can bounce ideas off each other and proofread each other’s drafts before writing the final message in your card. 

2. Remember to be sensitive to people's beliefs

People might be celebrating a variety of holidays during this season. So, if you’re not certain if a colleague or acquaintance celebrates Christmas, choose a neutral greeting such as “Happy Holidays,” “Season’s Greetings,” or “Festive Wishes.” You can also ask if they have a holiday preference.

3. Keep it brief

This is especially true when writing to clients or coworkers. Try to avoid adding personal details, and keep the message short and professional.

4. Consider adding an adjective

Even if your message is short, you can make it more personable by choosing an adjective that expresses your friend’s taste or style.

For example, if your friend is a lover of food, you could say, “Wishing you a delicious holiday season!”

5. Choose an appropriate closing

Ending your message with “Love,” or “With love,” should be kept for friends and family. For colleagues and clients, “Best wishes,” or “Warm regards,” might be a better alternative.

Share your thoughts

Do you have any ideas you’d like to add to this list? Share them with us in the comments. Thanks for reading, and happy holidays!

Editor's note: This post was originally published in December 2019 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

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Comments (15)

Elizabeth J.(Teacher)

Here are some ideas my students have been using to celebrate the festival of "Eid-al-Fitr.
"Happy Eid", "Eid Mubarak" and at the beginning of the month, "Ramadan Kareem".

Reply to Comment

Tanya Trusler(Author)

Thanks for sharing that with us, Elizabeth!

Yara S.(Teacher)

We were working with your lesson "Ramadan." Then we talked about the common grettings for the ocassion. A student explained the difference between Kareem and Mubarak while we were writing greetings for the ocassion. We also used the examples and made them multiporpuse. Thanks for the examples above.

Reply to Comment

Tara Benwell(Author)

We love hearing about students contributing to our lessons! Many students have helped make improvements to our holiday and historic event content over the years.

Laura L.(Teacher)

These are very nice. They are a bit high level English. Do you have suggestions for lower level?

Reply to Comment

Tanya Trusler(Author)

Hi Laura, I suggest keeping the greetings on the cards simple for lower levels. You might want to teach these:
- Happy Holidays
- Season’s Greetings
- Merry Christmas (common in American and Canadian English)
- Happy Christmas (common in British English)
- Happy Chanukah/Hanukkah
- Happy Kwanzaa
- Happy New Year

You could also discuss what holiday cards typically say in their own countries of origin. Happy teaching!

Hoda shariati(Guest)

In my language Persian, we say Happy Norooz, Norooz Mubarak, and new year Persian language on the first day of Spring.

Reply to Comment

Tanya Trusler(Author)

Hi Hoda, thanks so much for sharing what you say in Persian with us!

Lucerito M.(Teacher)

Is it possible to get these cards in black in white so that my students can color their own?

Reply to Comment

Tanya Trusler(Author)

Hi Lucerito, great idea. I'll pass this request along to our illustrators but I know they're quite busy with year-end work, so I'm not sure it'll be possible this year. I'll add them in the post whenever they're ready.

Karen L.(Teacher)

I do this lesson and add writing envelopes to it. Then the students can actually send the cards in the mail. Even the "snail mail" people can learn from this.

Reply to Comment

Tanya Trusler(Author)

I love the idea of including envelopes in this activity, Karen. Mailing out the cards makes it even more relevant.

Maria Matik N.(Student)

Thank you teacher Tanya, for sharing all this message it help a lot.

Reply to Comment

Tanya Trusler(Author)

We're happy to help. Happy studying, Maria!

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