1. tbf
  2. group birthday card
  3. 70th birthday wishes

70th birthday wishes.
What to write.

Seventy is the birthday people actually read the card at, so make it count. Name something real about them, say you are glad they are here, and sign.

The 70th birthday messages below are sorted by who is signing. Pick your group, make one detail true, and go.

Create a cardRead a sample card

Everyone's words in one card.

Updated

Midcentury birthday card. Happy birthday.

Happy birthday. The list of things you cannot do is still very short.

From Priya

Happy birthday. Nobody holds this lot together the way you do.

From Kofi

Still you. Still us. Happy birthday, my love.

From Rosa

Pick a design

  • A family holding hands. Hand in hand, same as always. Happy birthday.
  • Blowing out the candles. Small hands on a big cake. Happy birthday.
  • A sun. Happy birthday. Hope the sun comes out.
  • Marker lettering with a highlighter stroke. Happy birthday. You still can't fold a fitted sheet and that's fine.
  • A wrapped present. Happy birthday. It's a big one. Well, medium.
  • 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 with a highlighter stroke. Happy birthday. Stay exactly as you are. Maybe tidier.
  • A party with balloons. Hold a balloon. Hold a friend. Happy birthday.
  • A cupcake and the words one, two, twenty, forty. Happy birthday. We counted the candles. We ran out.
  • A speech bubble. Happy birthday to our favourite person in the group chat. Don't tell the others.

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.

70th birthday messages for the card

Pick your group, change one detail so it lands, and sign it.

From a close friend

  • Seventy years of you and I have enjoyed most of them enormously. Happy birthday.

  • You are funnier, kinder and more stubborn than anyone I know. Seventy suits you.

  • Happy birthday. I have been lucky to have you in my corner for this long.

  • Some people get better at seventy. You were already there. Happy birthday.

  • Happy birthday. The list of things you cannot do is still very short.

From family

  • Happy birthday. Seventy years and you are still the one we all call first.

  • We are so glad you are here and so glad you are ours. Happy birthday.

  • Happy birthday. The family you built is the best thing you have ever done, and that is saying something.

  • Seventy looks like this, apparently. We think it looks brilliant. Happy birthday.

  • Happy birthday. Nobody holds this lot together the way you do.

From a partner

  • Happy birthday. Sharing this life with you has been the best decision I ever made.

  • Seventy together, or most of them. Still my favourite person. Happy birthday.

  • Happy birthday. You have not slowed down once. I am exhausted and delighted.

  • Still you. Still us. Happy birthday, my love.

Funny

  • Happy birthday. Seventy is just thirty with forty years of experience.

  • The candles were a fire risk so we bought a bigger cake. Happy birthday.

  • Happy birthday. You have now officially outlived three sofas and two cars. We are impressed.

  • Seventy. We checked the records and apparently that is correct. Happy birthday.

  • Happy birthday. The secret to looking this good at seventy is yours to keep.

Short

  • Happy birthday. Seventy and still brilliant.

  • Here is to seventy. Happy birthday.

  • Happy birthday. Proud to know you.

  • Seventy years well spent. Happy birthday.

  • Happy birthday. What a run so far.

What to leave out

Do not write about slowing down, getting old, or the body failing. Even as a joke, it lands wrong. Seventy is an achievement, not a warning.

Do not mention how quickly the years have gone. They know. Say something about them, not about time.

Do not pad it out with generic wishes. One specific thing about them is worth more than four warm wishes that could have been printed on any card.

Do not make it a eulogy. They are here, in the room, reading it. Write to a person, not about a life.

One card from everyone

Friends, family, the people they have known for forty years. One link, and it opens on the day.

  1. 01

    Set the birthday date.

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

  2. 02

    Send one link to everyone.

    Group chat, family thread, the old crowd. Each person writes once, in a browser.

  3. 03

    They read it on their birthday.

    Each wish signed with a name, a card worth keeping at seventy.

Create a card

Questions

What do you write in a 70th birthday card?

Name one thing you admire about them, say you are glad they are here, and wish them a good day. Specific beats warm every time.

Is it okay to be funny in a 70th birthday card?

Yes, if the joke is kind and the person laughs easily. Avoid anything about age as decline. Make it a joke about them, not about getting old.

How long should a 70th birthday message be?

Two or three sentences is enough. A long message only works if all of it earns its place, which is harder than it sounds.

Part of group birthday card.

More guides

Somebody has a day coming up.

Create a card

Everyone's words in one card.