How to Write Heartwarming Christmas Greetings to Your Loved Ones

Christmas is when the family gets together to celebrate, eat, share the best stories, and be merry. It is also the time of year when you let your loved ones know how much they mean to you, not just your loved ones. You can also extend your best Christmas wishes to your friends, colleagues, classmates, or business partners so they can all partake of the season’s cheer.

One way to do this is by adequately expressing your love through heartfelt Christmas greetings in holiday cards and letters. You might think they are old-fashioned, but I beg to differ: Christmas cards are just as important as any other aspect of the holiday, and it is time to put them to the best use.

Want to send off some Christmas holiday cards and letters but don’t know what to write in them? Then, keep reading because this blog will share the best traditional Christmas greeting words to use in your letters this Christmas.

Why to use Christmas greeting cards 💌

Christmas time is one of the busiest seasons in the year, and understandably so, as there is much planning to do to make the holiday memorable for the family. But as much as we try to put everything together, it can be distracting from family and friends. This is why holiday cards can remind you and them of how special they are to you. Plus, Christmas greeting letters and cards give room for creativity and expression.

The significance of cards and letters on Christmas

Christmas cards didn’t exist till the year 1843 in London when the first card was commissioned by the civil servant Sir Henry Cole. Sir Henry had a problem—he was getting too many emails and couldn’t possibly respond to all of them in time. So he did something that seemed practical enough; he visited a friend of an artist and told him of his situation.

This artist, named John Callcot Horsley, helped Sir Henry with the perfect solution to his problem—he designed a card. Now, this card’s design was pretty simple, Victorian, and portrayed the image of Henry’s family enjoying an abundance of food and drink. On the sides of this family picture were scenes showing less fortunate people being helped with food and warm clothing, and the message on the card read “A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You.”

With no doubt a feeling of accomplishment that he now had a solution to replying to mail problems, he had a thousand cards made that were engraved and hand colored. The next step was executing his solution as Sir Henry sent half his newly invented cards to his friends and associates all over London. What he did with the rest of the cards was to place them on sale for a shilling each at the shop in London’s Old Bond Street.

The card was a great buy as they were similar in size to a postcard, so mailing it to family and friends was easy but not necessarily cheap. The cards sold well that year but didn’t get as much popularity as hoped for various reasons, one of which was that average citizens could not afford postal services.

It wasn’t until 200 years later, when postal services became cheaper that Christmas cards became a part of the holiday tradition. Today, Christmas cards are a part of the dying celebration and not just as a means to reply to hundreds of pending emails like Sir Henry had to, but to show friends and family that they are unique and you wish them a good holiday.

While getting a beautiful card is one thing, knowing what to write inside is another exciting challenge. Regardless of who the card goes to (friend, family, business associates, etc.), you want to ensure your words are sincere and carry the most heartfelt wishes for the recipient. To ensure you achieve that, here are some traditional Christmas greetings that go beautifully on your cards and letters.

Traditional Christmas greetings

Christmas greetings can be anything you want, depending on your relationship with the recipient, and it could be as long or short as you would like. Here are a few examples of how traditional Christmas greetings in English were addressed.

1. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year: It may seem weird, but this phrase is one of the oldest ways to greet people during Christmas and is still relevant now. Even though we have found new ways to spread the holiday cheer, it is never complete until you say “Merry Christmas.”
2. Season’s greetings: This formal greeting is perfect if the card or letter goes to business associates or colleagues.
3. Happy holidays: If you are addressing a neighbor or someone unfamiliar with you and have no professional relationship, writing “happy holidays” is the best approach, as you don’t want to go off too strong.
4. Glad tidings: The word tidying is the old way of saying news and is strongly linked to Christianity. So when you say glad tidings, remember wishing the recipient good news. Although we don’t say “tidings” casually anymore, it would be appreciated by that Christian friend or family member.
5. May the season bring you warmth and happiness: You can write this greeting to anyone, whether family, friend, or colleague, as it is one of the most flexible Christmas greeting words.

Perfect greetings and wishes for holiday cards and letters

There are many options for Christmas greetings in English; whether you want to make it formal, informal, cheeky, or affectionate depends on your and the recipient’s rapport. Use the following English Christmas greetings for any situation:

From me to you, I hope this Christmas season brings you much-deserved peace and joy.

May this Christmas end on a beautiful note for you and yours.

Merry Christmas and a happy New Year; I wish you the most wondrous cheer.

Enjoy the best of the holidays, and have a fantastic year ahead.

Even when things seem the gloomiest, enjoy seasons like this. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Happy holiday! I hope this season is filled with comfort and love.

Merry Christmas! Thank you for your work this year; cheers to more achievements next year (formal).

These are only a few options for crafting your Christmas greetings this year, and it isn’t necessary to stick to this format. All we have provided is a guide to channel your creativity. You can write formal letters to your colleagues to express how much you loved working with them this year and are looking forward to the next. All you need to do is keep it short, simple, and straight to the point.

And if you are writing to your family or a lover, you can be as cheesy as you like, expressing how much you love and cherish your family.

Conclusion

English Christmas greetings are one of the beautiful things that makes Christmas unique; all it takes is a little creativity and effort to make this happen. So when you are getting your letters ready this Christmas, put your best foot forward and let people know what you are thinking.