1. tbf
  2. group birthday card
  3. 18th birthday wishes

18th birthday wishes.
What to write.

Eighteen is the birthday where the card either says something real or falls flat. Name the person, pick one thing about them, and sign it.

The 18th birthday messages below are grouped by who is signing: parents, friends, older family, funny, and short ones for anyone.

Create a cardRead a sample card

Everyone's words in one card.

Updated

Half a biscuit over a mug of tea, the other half gone in, and the words one, two, three, four. Happy birthday. Try not to go soft.

The world is bigger than this house. Go and find out.

From Rosa

Finally legal. The pub round is on you.

From Sam

Happy birthday. The whole family is cheering for you.

From Aisha

Pick a design

  • A homemade cake with one candle. Happy birthday.
  • A pair of socks. Happy birthday. It's socks. You knew it was socks.
  • Dinner together. Table for two, cake for one. The birthday rules.
  • Marker lettering with a highlighter stroke. Happy birthday. You still can't fold a fitted sheet and that's fine.
  • A sun. Happy birthday. Hope the sun comes out.
  • A cupcake and the words one, two, twenty, forty. Happy birthday. We counted the candles. We ran out.
  • A party with balloons. Hold a balloon. Hold a friend. Happy birthday.
  • Stilllife birthday card. Happy birthday.
  • Cutpaper birthday card. Happy birthday.
  • Marker lettering with a highlighter stroke. Happy birthday. Stay exactly as you are. Maybe tidier.

The question

Each writer gets a question.

One at a time, about Sam. They answer in their own words, or write without one.

Who they are to you
  1. Something Sam did this year that you still think about.
  2. Words of Sam's that you have caught yourself using.
  3. A day Sam made better just by turning up.
  4. Something Sam taught you without meaning to.
  5. A small thing about Sam that nobody else would notice.
  6. The story about Sam you tell most.
  1. The moment you knew you had a proper friend in Sam.
  2. Something Sam did that only a friend would.
  3. A thing you still laugh about together.
  4. The time Sam turned up when it mattered.
  5. Something Sam knew about you before you said it.
  1. Something Sam did for the family that went unsaid.
  2. A habit of Sam's that you have caught yourself copying.
  3. A memory of Sam from when you were younger.
  4. Something Sam put up with from you.
  5. Something Sam taught you, mostly by example.
  1. A small thing Sam did that you noticed and never mentioned.
  2. The moment you knew.
  3. Something Sam did this year that made things easier for you.
  4. A thing about Sam you would not change.
  5. Something Sam carried that was yours to carry.
  1. The thing you go to Sam for.
  2. Something you picked up from working beside Sam.
  3. A bad day at work that Sam turned round.
  4. Something a new starter should be told about Sam.
  5. Something Sam did that made the job feel worth doing.

Or write without one.

18th birthday messages

Pick your group, use their name where it fits, and sign.

From a parent

  • You came home from hospital smaller than the car seat. Look at you now.

  • Eighteen years of watching you become yourself. Today it is official.

  • The world is bigger than this house. Go and find out.

  • We are proud of who you are. The rest is just a bonus.

  • Happy eighteenth. Everything after this is yours to make.

From friends

  • Finally legal. The pub round is on you.

  • About time. You have been acting eighteen for at least three years.

  • Happy birthday, mate. First vote, first round, first excuse for a big night.

  • You are eighteen now, which means I can blame you for things properly.

  • We have been planning this night since we were about twelve. Happy birthday.

From older family

  • To think we were there on the day you arrived. Happy eighteenth.

  • You have grown into someone we are very proud to know.

  • Eighteen already. We are not sure how that happened, but we are delighted.

  • Happy birthday. The whole family is cheering for you.

  • From the very small person we first met to this. We cannot believe it.

Funny

  • Welcome to adulthood. The meetings are terrible and the tax forms are worse.

  • You can vote now. We are sorry about the state of it.

  • Legally an adult. Nobody actually feels like one until about thirty-four, but here you are.

  • Happy birthday. You can buy your own lottery tickets and your own disappointment.

Short

  • Happy eighteenth.

  • Eighteen. About time.

  • So proud of you.

  • Congratulations. You made it.

What not to write

Do not spend the card on how fast eighteen years went. They know. Write about the person in front of you, not your own surprise at watching them grow up.

Do not list things they are now allowed to do. They weren't waiting for permission.

No life advice. A card is not a speech. Save the ten things to do before thirty for a private conversation with them, and buy them a drink instead.

Do not write that they are now an adult as if they were a child yesterday. They have had a personality for eighteen years. You know what it is.

One card from everyone

Set the date, send one link, and the card opens on their birthday.

  1. 01

    Add the date.

    Their birthday morning. The card opens then and not before.

  2. 02

    Choose who to ask.

    Friends, family, the whole group. Each person gets one link and writes once.

  3. 03

    They read it on the day.

    Each 18th birthday message carries a name. They keep the card.

Create a card

Questions

What do you write in an 18th birthday card?

Name one thing about them that made the last year, or the last eighteen, worth watching. Three sentences is enough.

Who signs an 18th birthday card?

Whoever knows them. Friends, family, old teachers, the neighbour who watched them grow up. An online card means no chasing people around.

Should you be serious or funny in an 18th card?

Both work. A joke that makes them laugh next to a message that makes them feel known is what most cards miss.

Part of group birthday card.

More guides

Somebody has a day coming up.

Create a card

Everyone's words in one card.