Short answer: a good greetings text fits in one sentence, names the person and says something specific. Aim for 100 to 140 characters to stay within a single text message even with an accented character or an emoji. Below are 30 templates sorted by recipient (family, friends, colleagues, clients), ready to copy and personalise in ten seconds.
In 2026, Christmas falls on a Friday, 25 December, and 1 January 2027 is a Friday too. In other words: two peaks of text message traffic one week apart, and two evenings when the networks get saturated. Writing your messages now and then scheduling them avoids both writer's block and the greeting that lands on 2 January at 11 in the morning.
What separates a good greetings text from a copy-paste message?
Three elements, and only one is compulsory: the first name. A greetings message without a first name reads like a circular; with the name, even a very short text comes across as thoughtful.
The two other levers:
- A concrete detail. "Can't wait to see the new house in January" beats "may this year bring you the best." The detail proves you were thinking of the person as you wrote.
- One intention, not a list. Stacked wishes (health, happiness, success, love, money) cancel each other out. One specific wish carries further than five generic ones.
And one rule about length: do not go over 160 characters if you want to stay within a single text message. As soon as the message contains an emoji, the counter switches to a different regime — more on that below. To understand the mechanics in detail, see our article on writing an effective text message in 160 characters and the page on the character count of a text message.
Which Christmas text templates should you send to family?
With family, the tone can be direct and affectionate, with no set formula. The most appreciated messages are often the shortest.
- "Merry Christmas Mum. Thank you for everything, again this year. Big hugs from all three of us." (93 characters)
- "Merry Christmas Dad! Remember to save me a slice of yule log, I'm arriving on Saturday. Love you." (85)
- "Merry Christmas to you both. We're thinking of you tonight, even from 700 km away. Kisses from the kids." (97)
- "Merry Christmas Grandma. Your capon recipe is in the oven, everyone agrees it's a hit. Thank you. Big kisses." (96)
- "Merry Christmas little brother. This year, you're the one doing the dishes. Love you." (86)
- "Merry Christmas Léa and Thomas. Wishing the four of you a lovely evening, with wrapping paper everywhere." (116)
- "Sorry I can't be there tonight. Merry Christmas everyone, give everybody a hug for me. I'll call you tomorrow." (113)
- "Merry Christmas Godmother. I thought of you when I unwrapped last year's gift, I use it every day. Thank you." (111)
For an elderly parent who struggles with small print, two precautions beat one long message: write in short sentences, and check that the phone's font size is set to maximum. On some models, a mobile phone with large buttons also displays text messages in a noticeably more legible size than standard smartphones.
What to write to friends?
With friends, you can allow yourself humour, inside jokes and a complete lack of solemnity. Just avoid the joke that falls flat when it lands in the middle of a family gathering.
- "Merry Christmas Marc! Hope the in-laws are in good form and the wine is decent. Hang in there." (89)
- "Merry Christmas! See you on the 28th to debrief the bad presents. Hugs." (74)
- "Merry Christmas Clara. Thank you for being there this year, truly. See you very soon." (85)
- "Christmas, at last. Rest up, eat too much, don't answer a single email. Love you." (77)
- "Merry Christmas to the whole tribe! Special thoughts for whoever is assembling the bike at 11pm." (85)
- "No big speech: merry Christmas, and thanks for everything. See you very soon." (70)
- "Merry Christmas Sarah! I found the perfect gift. You'll find out on the 25th." (73)
What to say to colleagues or clients without sounding stiff?
For work, three rules: use a polite, formal register by default, no emoji unless the relationship is already informal, and never a sales message disguised as greetings. A marketing text sent to a private individual without their prior consent is prohibited: the CNIL points out that text message marketing is based on the opt-in principle, i.e. the person's prior agreement. Season's greetings to your existing clients remain legitimate, provided you don't slip any promotion in and you include a way to opt out when the send-out is large-scale.
- "The whole team wishes you a merry Christmas and a wonderful holiday season. We reopen on Monday 4 January at 9am." (104)
- "Merry Christmas and thank you for your trust this year. Looking forward to seeing you again in 2027." (89)
- "Season's greetings to you and your loved ones. The workshop is closed from the 24th to the 2nd inclusive." (93)
- "Thank you for working with us. Wishing you a wonderful holiday season and a very good rest." (91)
- "Happy holidays! We remain reachable by text message for any emergency during the closure." (89)
- "Have a great end of year, everyone. Thank you for all the work done, we'll be back in top form in January." (100)
- "Merry Christmas Mrs Royer. Your order will be waiting for you in store from 4 January." (83)
If you send this kind of message to more than a few dozen contacts, a free sending website will no longer be enough: switch to a bulk sending solution. Our pages on bulk SMS and free SMS vs SMS API explain when making the switch becomes necessary.
Which templates for New Year greetings?
The move into 2027 calls for a different tone from Christmas: less domestic warmth, more looking ahead. Here again, one specific wish beats an inventory.
- "Happy New Year Julien! May 2027 look just like you: simple, funny and free of pointless meetings." (84)
- "Happy New Year to you both. May it bring you time above all. Let's talk this week." (93)
- "Best wishes for 2027. Health first, the rest will follow. Love to you all." (76)
- "Happy New Year! I promise, this time we'll see each other before June." (66)
- "A wonderful 2027 to you and your family. Thank you for this past year together." (85)
- "Happy New Year Camille! All my best wishes for your project, I totally believe in it." (70)
- "Best wishes to the whole team for 2027. May the projects move forward and the servers hold up." (99)
- "A good and happy New Year. I wish you a 2027 that lives up to your efforts." (86)
A small point of French custom: people wish each other a happy New Year right up to the end of January, and there's nothing wrong with replying to a greetings text received on 3 January. A greetings message sent after 31 January, on the other hand, reads like a belated afterthought.
How many characters does my message really count with an emoji?
This is the classic greetings trap. A standard text message holds 160 characters because it uses the GSM-7 alphabet, encoded on 7 bits. As soon as a character falls outside that table — which is the case for virtually all emojis, but also for "œ", curly quotation marks or the em dash — the message switches to UCS-2: capacity then drops to 70 characters per text message.
| Message content | Encoding | Capacity of one text message |
|---|---|---|
| Plain text, French accents (é, è, à, ç) | GSM-7 | 160 characters |
| With "œ", « » or — | UCS-2 | 70 characters |
| With a single 🎄 emoji | UCS-2 | 70 characters |
| Long message split (concatenated) | GSM-7 | 153 per segment |
| Long message split with emoji | UCS-2 | 67 per segment |
A very concrete consequence: "Merry Christmas to the whole family, we're thinking of you tonight 🎄✨" comes to 65 characters and only just fits in one text message. Add a sentence and you're into two messages — billed twice if you pay per unit, and sometimes reassembled out of order on older handsets. The details are on our GSM-7 and SMS character count pages.
One writing tip that solves 90% of the problem: one emoji maximum, placed at the end of the message, and never any fancy typographic characters. If you draft your messages in advance, a pocket-size notebook is still the quickest way to test them out loud before typing them.
How do you send these greetings from a computer?
Thumb-typing thirty text messages on the evening of 24 December is the best way to send one to the wrong person. From a keyboard, it's both faster and easier to proofread.
- Google Messages for web (Android). Open
messages.google.com/webon the computer, then in the Messages app on the phone: menu → Device pairing → Pair a device, and scan the QR code. The phone must stay switched on and connected. - Phone Link (Windows 11 + Android). Settings → Bluetooth & devices → Mobile devices. Text messages arrive in the Phone Link app on the PC.
- Messages on Mac (iPhone). On the Mac: Messages → Settings → iMessage, signed in with the same Apple Account. On the iPhone: Settings → Apps → Messages → Text Message Forwarding, and tick the Mac.
- An online sending service, when you don't have the phone to hand or it's a one-off message to a French number.
Our guide to sending a text message from a computer details every settings path, and the website vs Messages for web comparison explains which to choose depending on the situation.
If you're preparing a lot of messages in a row, workstation comfort matters: a quiet wireless keyboard saves you from waking the household at midnight on 31 December, and a desk phone stand keeps the mobile screen visible while you type on the computer.
Should you schedule your greetings in advance?
Yes, for two reasons. The first is practical: on the night of 31 December, networks absorb a volume of text messages far above normal, and messages sent between midnight and ten past can arrive late. The second is social: a greetings text that arrives at 00:02 is a pleasure, the same one at 2am wakes people up.
How to go about it depending on the tool:
- Google Messages: write the message, then press and hold the send button to choose the date and time.
- iPhone: the send later function goes through the Shortcuts app (a scheduled automation), since text messages can't be natively delayed in Messages.
- Online services and gateways: scheduling is generally built in, with a choice of time zone — bear that in mind for a recipient overseas.
Three precautions before confirming a scheduled send: check the number (one wrong digit and the message goes to a stranger), re-read the first name (the most common mistake on batch sends), and cancel the schedule if the recipient's situation changes — sending cheerful greetings to a bereaved family between 25 and 31 December leaves a lasting impression.
What if I want to send the same message to 40 people?
Three options, in increasing order of risk of a blunder:
| Method | What the recipient sees | Limitation |
|---|---|---|
| Group conversation | Everyone else's numbers | Best avoided for greetings |
| Individual sends one by one | A personal message | Tedious by hand |
| Bulk sending (gateway) | A personal message | Paid beyond a trial |
The group conversation is tempting and almost always a bad idea for greetings: it exposes everyone's numbers, and the first reply triggers forty notifications for forty people. Go for individual sending instead, possibly with a personalisation field (first name) if your tool offers one. The full rules — consent, timing, the STOP mention for business send-outs — are gathered on our bulk SMS page.
For a retail business, the annual closure is the perfect opportunity for a useful message rather than a decorative one: closing dates, reopening date, emergency number. A magnetic display board in the window complements the text message for customers who walk by without having left their number.
Frequently asked questions
How many characters for a Christmas text message with an emoji? 70 characters maximum to stay within a single text message. A single emoji switches the whole message to UCS-2 encoding, which cuts capacity from 160 to 70 characters.
When should you send Christmas greetings by text message? On 24 December in the late afternoon, or on the morning of the 25th. Avoid the 24th after 10pm: many families are at the table and the message gets lost among the notifications.
How late can you wish someone a happy New Year? Custom in France tolerates greetings throughout the month of January. Beyond 31 January, it's better to call than to text.
Can you send greetings by text message to your clients without their consent? To existing clients, yes, as long as they are greetings with no promotional content. As soon as there's an offer, prior consent applies, in line with the marketing rules set out by the CNIL.
How can I send a greetings text message without using my plan's allowance? From a computer via an online sending service, or through Google Messages for web if your plan includes unlimited text messages. See our guide to sending a free text message.
Updated 13 October 2026.
