What to write in a New Year card

A New Year card is the most forgiving card there is: it is allowed to be late, it is allowed to be short, and it catches everyone you meant to send a Christmas card to and didn’t. Keep it forward-looking. The year just gone was hard for somebody reading this, and a card that assumes otherwise is the one that lands wrong.

Warm

Friendly, unfussy, safe with almost anybody.

• Happy New Year! Here’s to new beginnings.
• Wishing you a good year — may it be kinder than the last.
• Happy New Year. Let’s see more of each other in this one.
• To new beginnings, and to you. Happy New Year.
• Wishing you a bright and healthy year ahead.

Funny

A joke with affection behind it. Read the room first.

• Happy New Year. New year, same us, and that’s fine.
• Here’s to a year in which neither of us joins a gym.
• Happy New Year! My resolution is to send cards on time. We’ll see.
• Wishing you a year with fewer surprises and better snacks.
• Happy New Year. Let’s not talk about last year’s resolutions.

Heartfelt

For the people you would actually say this to out loud.

• Happy New Year. Thank you for being in the last one.
• Wishing you a year that gives you back some of what you give everyone else.
• Here’s to the year ahead, and to having you in it.
• Happy New Year — may it be the good one you’ve been owed.
• Thinking of you as the year turns. Wishing you every good thing.

Simple

When short is the right answer, and it often is.

• Happy New Year!
• Wishing you a happy new year.
• To new beginnings.
• Happy New Year, with love.
• All the best for the year ahead.

What to avoid

• Don’t say “let’s hope it’s better than last year” to someone who had a good one.
• Don’t ask about their resolutions. Nobody wants to be held to those in writing.
• Don’t use it to apologise for a missed Christmas card. Just send the card.
• Don’t make predictions about their year. It reads as pressure.