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50th birthday wishes.
What to write.

Fifty deserves a message of your own, not a quote. Use their name, say something specific about them, and sign it.

These 50th birthday messages are sorted by who is writing. Pick your group, use their name, then sign.

Create a cardRead a sample card

Everyone's words in one card.

Updated

Two-colour printed lettering. Happy birthday. Yes, there's cake. No, you don't have to speak.

Half a century. You wear it better than most people wear thirty.

From Rosa

Fifty today. We got the card sorted this time and everything.

From Sam

To fifty more years together. Happy birthday.

From Aisha

Pick a design

  • A homemade cake with one candle. Happy birthday.
  • A cupcake and the words one, two, twenty, forty. Happy birthday. We counted the candles. We ran out.
  • 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.
  • Marker lettering. Happy birthday. First round's on you. "us" is crossed out and "you" written above it.
  • Lino-cut lettering in a printed band. Happy birthday. Tea's on me.
  • Blowing out the candles. Small hands on a big cake. Happy birthday.
  • Marker lettering with a highlighter stroke. Happy birthday. Stay exactly as you are. Maybe tidier.
  • Wrapping scraps after a party. Happy birthday.
  • A striped painted candle. Happy birthday.
  • Midcentury birthday card. Happy birthday.

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.

50th birthday messages

Pick your group, use their name, and sign.

From close friends

  • Happy 50th. Fifty years of you and I would not change a single one.

  • Half a century. You wear it better than most people wear thirty.

  • Happy birthday. I have known you for half of those years and the second half has been the good bit.

  • Fifty. I was going to say something wise but mostly I am just glad you are here.

  • Happy 50th. Same person, slightly better stories. Congratulations.

From the team

  • Happy 50th birthday. Fifty years of being you, and we got the best bit.

  • Congratulations on fifty. The office is a better place for having you in it.

  • Happy birthday. Half a century of experience and you still answer emails fastest. Impressive.

  • Fifty today. We got the card sorted this time and everything.

  • Happy 50th from everyone. Some of us needed a nudge, none of us needed prompting on what to say.

From family

  • Happy 50th birthday. Fifty years of being ours. We love every one of them.

  • Congratulations on fifty. You have been the best part of this family for all of it.

  • Happy birthday. Fifty looks exactly right on you.

  • To fifty more years together. Happy birthday.

  • Fifty. We are so proud of the person you are.

Funny

  • Happy 50th. Apparently fifty is the new forty, said everyone who is fifty.

  • Congratulations on half a century. The good news is the second fifty are mostly downhill.

  • Happy birthday. Fifty years old and still the one everyone calls first. That counts for something.

  • Fifty. Your back hurts more and your patience for nonsense is lower. Honestly, progress.

  • Happy 50th. You do not look fifty, which either means you aged well or we are all getting old.

Short

  • Happy 50th. An absolute legend.

  • Fifty today. Well done you.

  • Happy birthday. Fifty suits you.

  • Congratulations on fifty. Cheers.

  • Happy 50th from all of us.

What to leave out

Do not make the whole card about age decline. One joke is fine. A card full of 'over the hill' jokes reads like everyone agreed they were old, not that anyone liked them.

Do not write 'you don't look fifty' as the main thing you have to say. It's filler. Say something about who they are, not what they look like.

Do not copy a quote from the internet and sign your name. They will have seen it. Write something only you could write.

Do not make it a list of their achievements. This is a birthday card, not a LinkedIn recommendation. One real thing beats five impressive ones.

One card from everyone

Friends, family, colleagues. One link, and it opens on the morning they turn fifty.

  1. 01

    Add the birthday date.

    The card opens that morning and not before. Nobody reads it early.

  2. 02

    Ask everyone who knows them.

    Each person gets one link and writes once, in a browser. No app needed.

  3. 03

    They read it at fifty.

    Each 50th birthday wish has a name beside it. A card worth keeping.

Create a card

Questions

What do you write in a 50th birthday card?

Use their name, say one thing that is specific to them, and wish them a happy day. Generic wishes are fine for thirty. Fifty deserves better.

Is it okay to make jokes about turning 50?

One kind joke is fine if you know them well. A card full of age jokes says you ran out of real things to say.

How long should a 50th birthday message be?

Two sentences is enough. A card that says one specific thing is remembered longer than a paragraph of warm nothing.

Part of group birthday card.

More guides

Somebody has a day coming up.

Create a card

Everyone's words in one card.