What to Write on a Flower Card When You Don't Know What to Say

The flowers are the easy part. People stand at the counter, or sit at the checkout, and freeze at the message box. Here is what actually works.

The two rules

Short beats long. A card holds a sentence or two. Anything longer stops being a card and starts being a letter, and a letter belongs in an envelope where it can be read properly.

Specific beats poetic. "Thinking of you" is fine. "Thinking of you, and of that ridiculous week in Noosa" is the one they keep. You do not need to write well. You need to write like yourself.

Sympathy

The hardest one, and the one where people most often say nothing rather than risk saying it badly. Say it badly. It is far better than silence.

• "With our deepest sympathy. We are so very sorry."
• "Thinking of you all, with love."
• "She was extraordinary, and we will miss her."
• "There are no right words. We are here, whenever you need us."

Avoid anything that starts with "at least". Avoid explaining the loss to the person living it. If you knew the person who died, one specific memory is worth more than any amount of formal condolence.

Get well

• "Get well soon. The office is quieter and worse without you."
• "Rest properly. That is an order."
• "Thinking of you and sending something to brighten the room."

Keep it light unless you know it is serious, in which case drop the jokes and simply say you are thinking of them.

New baby

• "Congratulations. He is perfect and you are heroes."
• "Welcome to the world, little one."
• "So happy for you both. Sleep when you can."

Write the parents' names, not just the baby's. They did the work.

Birthday

• "Happy birthday. Have an enormous one."
• "Another year of being entirely yourself. Many happy returns."

Thank you

Say what for. "Thank you" is polite; "thank you for driving me to the airport at five in the morning" is remembered.

An apology

• "I am sorry. No excuses."
• "I got it wrong. I would like to make it right."

Do not explain yourself on a flower card. There is not room, and an explanation on a card reads as an excuse. Apologise on the card and explain in person.

Romance

The one place where being unoriginal is completely fine. "I love you" has never once failed. If you want to do better, name a specific thing: a date, a place, something only the two of you would understand.

How we handle it

Every card is hand-written, in our hand, with exactly what you type. No printed labels and no house wording. If your message is awkward, very long or in another language, that is entirely fine and we will write it as you wrote it.

If you would rather talk it through, call us on 0402 522 505. We have helped a great many people find the sentence, and nobody has ever embarrassed themselves doing it.