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How To Write A Personal Gift Card With Flowers - TIPS

After 18 years and literally tens of thousands of flower orders, we've seen it all when it comes to gift card messages. The panicked 4:55 PM Valentine's Day caller who goes completely blank when asked "what would you like on the card?" The well-meaning husband who accidentally typed "Happy Birthday Mum" on his wife's anniversary flowers (that was a fun follow-up call). The grieving daughter who spent 20 minutes on the phone with Anna trying to find the right words for her dad's funeral flowers, both of them in tears by the end.

Here's what we've learned: most people freeze up at that gift card message box. You know exactly how you feel, but suddenly you're staring at that tiny space thinking "how do I fit a lifetime of love into 50 characters?" We get it. We've been that person too, sitting in our Kingscliff shop back in 2007, helping customers who'd walk in confident about their flower choice then stand there for 15 minutes agonising over five words.

That's why we built our card message generator not because we think a tool can capture your feelings perfectly, but because sometimes you just need a starting point. Something to spark that thought or phrase that's been sitting just out of reach. Below you'll find real message examples we've collected over the years, plus the stuff we've learned about what actually works. Not fluffy poetry that sounds nothing like you, but genuine messages that help you sound like yourself, just maybe a bit more eloquent than usual.

> View our gift card generator

Messages Of Love

Here's something we've noticed after handling thousands of love messages over the years - blokes tend to panic more than women when writing these. We'll get a call from someone who's just spent $180 on red roses, absolutely certain about the flowers, then they'll go dead silent when we ask about the card message. "Can you just write something for me?" they'll ask. Sorry mate, that's the one bit you've got to do yourself.

The truth is, anniversary and birthday messages to your partner are the hardest ones to write. Not because you don't know what to say, but because you know too much. You're trying to squeeze years of inside jokes, shared moments, and that thing they do with their nose when they laugh into a card the size of a business card. One customer told us in late 2006 that she spent longer writing her 14-word anniversary message than she did choosing her wedding dress. We believed her.

Our advice after all these years? Stop trying to write poetry if you're not a poet. We've seen $300 arrangements delivered with cards saying just "Still choose you. Every time. -Dave" that had the recipient in happy tears. We've also seen Shakespearean novels crammed onto cards that missed the mark completely. Write like you talk to them. If you call her "babe," write "babe," not "my dearest darling." If your thing is inside jokes about that disaster camping trip in 2019, reference it. The best cards we see are the ones that could only be from you to them.

And yes, always sign your bloody name. You'd be amazed how many secret admirers turn out to be husbands who forgot to sign the card.

Optionally you may want to say things like:

Anniversary Messages Of Love

What a journey we have had, 20 long and wonderful years. Not wishing the time away, but I cannot wait for the next 20! Love you. Xo
To my love, you are my world, you make me who I am, I will love you forever.
What an unbelievable life we have had together, the travels, the love, the kids, the experiences, we’ve had it all. Happy anniversary my darling wife.
Life is a highway babe, I know this sounds corny, but I cannot wait to ride it all ‘life long’...happy anniversary.
I love you, always have, and always will.
From the moment we met I have absolutely adored you, now 30 years later my feelings are just like that day.
The golden years of life, laughter, and loved...I could not think of anyone ever I would rather have spent it with
My dearest [Wife's Name], another year has passed and my love for you grows stronger each day. You bring light to my life and make every moment brighter. Happy anniversary, my love. Here's to many more years of laughter, happiness, and forever being together. I love you always.
Happy anniversary to the most amazing girlfriend in the world! You make every day brighter with your smile, laughter, and love. I am so grateful to have you in my life. Here's to many more years of creating unforgettable memories and building our future together. I love you more every day.
Happy anniversary to my loving partner! Another year has passed, filled with love, laughter, and endless joy. I am so grateful to have you by my side, and I look forward to spending many more anniversaries with you. Here's to a future filled with endless love and happiness. I love you.

Birthday Messages

Happy Birthday my love, you mean so much to me, thank you for being you.
Happy Anniversary my darling, looking back it’s been such a pleasure to be a part of your life, and l am looking so much to the good times ahead.
Do I need a reason to spoil you, looking forward to the weekend.
You are the best friend ever, happy birthday!
Have a cracking day, we’re all thinking of you today.
Wish big today, you have both earnt it and deserve it.
All the best for your birthday.
Dream big today babe, I love you, and happy birthday. I can’t wait to get home and give you a hug.
Happy birthday to my beautiful wife! Today is all about celebrating you and the amazing person you are. You bring so much love, joy, and happiness into my life. I am so grateful to have you as my partner in life. Enjoy your special day and know how much you are loved.
Happy birthday to my amazing girlfriend! You light up my life with your smile, laughter, and endless love. You make everyday brighter, and I am so grateful to have you in my life. Enjoy your special day, and know that you are loved beyond measure.
Happy birthday to the most amazing mother in the world! Your love, support, and guidance have shaped me into the person I am today. I am so grateful for everything you do and for always being there for me. May your special day be filled with love, laughter, and endless joy. I love you.
Happy birthday to the greatest dad in the world! Your love, guidance, and unwavering support have been a constant source of strength for me. I am so grateful for all that you do and for always being there for me. Have a day filled with happiness, laughter, and all your favorite things. I love you.
Happy birthday to the sweetest grandma in the world! Your love, kindness, and wisdom have been a constant source of comfort and happiness in my life. I am so grateful for all the memories and moments we've shared, and I look forward to making many more. Enjoy your special day filled with love. I love you

New Baby Message

Want to know the most common mistake with new baby flowers? Sending a massive bouquet that needs a vase to a hospital room that has nowhere to put them. We learned this the hard way back in 2008 when a new mum called us from Tweed Hospital asking if we could please come pick up the gorgeous but completely impractical arrangement blocking her bathroom sink. Since then, we always suggest boxed arrangements for hospital deliveries. They sit nicely on the windowsill, survive the car ride home, and don't require the poor exhausted parents to hunt for vases.

> Find the best flowers for a baby

The second biggest mistake? Getting the baby's name wrong. Seriously, we've seen it all. Jackson becomes Jaxon, Lily becomes Lilly, and don't get us started on the creative spellings of Mackenzie we've encountered over the years. One poor uncle sent flowers to "Baby Sarah" when it was actually Zara. The flowers were beautiful, the gesture was lovely, but that card is still getting mentioned at family dinners six years later. Double check that spelling. Then check it again.

Here's what actually matters though: new parents are exhausted, overwhelmed, and running on about three hours of sleep spread across two days. Your message doesn't need to be profound. We've seen grown men cry over cards that simply said "You're going to be an amazing mum" or "Can't wait to meet her properly when you're home." One of our favourite messages ever was just "Holy shit, you made a human! Well done!" Though maybe check your relationship with the recipient before going that casual.

Also, for the love of all that's holy, if you're sending to a hospital, get the room number right. Maternity wards are mazes, and our delivery drivers aren't detectives.

Card Writing Tips For A New Mum & Baby

Congratulations to you both.
Congratulations on the birth of your new baby John.
Welcome to the world John, and well done Mum!
Just wanted to wish you and new bub all the best, we love you both loads.
What a bundle of joy, I saw the photo’s, please keep them coming. Great times ahead. Love you lots.
It’s the beginning of a new era for our family, love Grandma.
You wished for a girl, and you got one! We are all so blessed to have you both in our lives.
Twins! OMG! I am going to have to buy double the birthday presents now :). Love you sis, cannot wait until you three get home.
We’re so happy for you all, wishing you all the best in the challenges and fun ahead. Love Mum & Dad.
It’s a boy! We have been paying and wishing for a boy with you for so long, we are just so chuffed for you and John.
Congratulations on the arrival of your precious baby boy! May his life be filled with love, laughter, and endless joy. Holding this little bundle of joy in your arms is a true blessing, and I am so happy for your growing family. Enjoy this special time and all the love that comes with it.
Congrats on new baby girl! Wishing her life of love, joy, and laughter. Holding her is a true blessing. Happy for your growing family. Enjoy this special time filled with love.

Valentine’s Day Messages

Valentine's Day 2011 nearly killed us. I was 8.5 months pregnant with Ivy, we had six desks crammed into our garage in Pottsville, plus two temporary ones in the middle for friends we'd roped in to help. The phones started at 6:30 AM and didn't stop until we literally had to shut the website down. One of our friends, Jody, looked at us at the end of that week like we were completely mental and said "What have you created?" Fair question, Jody.

Here's the brutal truth about Valentine's Day: if you're reading this on February 13th, you're already in trouble. Not because we can't get flowers delivered (we probably can), but because you're about to write your card message in a blind panic and it'll show. We've taken orders at 4:45 PM on Valentine's Day from blokes who confidently order two dozen red roses then go completely silent when we ask what they want on the card. The pause is so long we sometimes check if they've hung up.

The secret admirer thing? Look, we'll write whatever you want, but in 18 years, we've seen exactly one secret admirer message work out well. The rest range from awkward to restraining order territory. If she doesn't know you fancy her by Valentine's Day, flowers probably aren't the way to break the news. Just saying.

Best Valentine's message we ever saw? A tradie called up, ordered a modest bunch, and his message was: "That first coffee. Every morning. Still the best part of my day. Love, Greg." His wife called us crying (the good kind) asking if she could keep the card. Sometimes the simple truth beats poetry every time.

Here are a few suggestions:

Happy Valentine’s Day beautiful girl, love your secret admirer.
You are my love, you are my life, you fill me with enjoy every minute I spend with you, have an awesome day. Valentine’s Day!
You melt my heart every time I see you, you rock, you are my rock, I love you very much.
You bring me so much happiness and i hope these flowers and this card can show my appreciation, in some small way, of that fact. I love you so much.
You are the sunshine of my life, I value you, and treasure every moment we spend together. You complete me like no other.
You fill me with so much joy, and have done since the day we met. The future's so bright, and I cannot wait for it.
You have a wisdom that I am so lucky to share in and be a part of. You are the shining light of my life. Happy Valentine’s Day my love.
Happy Valentine's Day to my amazing wife! Your love brightens my life every day. You make every moment special and I am so grateful to have you as my partner. Here's to a future of endless love and happiness. I love you more and more every day.
Happy Valentine's Day to my beautiful girlfriend! You light up my life with your smile and laughter. I am so grateful for your love and for all the amazing memories we've shared. Here's to a future filled with love and happiness. I love you now and always.
Happy Valentine's Day to my loving boyfriend! You make every day brighter with your love and support. I am so grateful to have you in my life. Here's to many more years of creating unforgettable memories and building our future together. I love you more every day.

I am Sorry - send the right message

Apology flowers are awkward. There's no getting around it. We've taken these orders for 18 years and you can always tell - the caller's voice drops, they stumble over words, and there's this painful pause when we ask "what would you like on the card?" One bloke spent 45 minutes on the phone with Anna trying to craft the perfect apology message, rewrote it six times, then finally went with "I'm an idiot. Sorry. -Tom." His wife called the next day to add chocolates to a thank you order, so apparently it worked.

Here's what we've learned: the bigger the stuffup, the simpler the message needs to be. We've seen novels written on cards trying to explain away what happened, justify it, or minimize it. They never land well. The ones that work? They own it completely. "I was wrong. You were right. I'm sorry." Done.

The flower choice matters too, but probably not how you think. Forget the meaning of different colored roses or whatever Google told you. We had a customer whose husband sent her yellow roses after every argument for 15 years. She hates yellow roses. Still married though, because the card always said exactly what she needed to hear. Though maybe check if they actually like the flowers you're sending - seems obvious, but you'd be surprised.

Fair warning: flowers don't fix everything. They're a gesture, not a magic wand. We once had a customer order $400 worth of arrangements thinking it would solve what turned out to be a much bigger issue. The flowers were returned. All of them. Sometimes you need more than flowers, you need an actual conversation. Or possibly a marriage counselor. We sell flowers, not miracles

Pro Tips

Please forgive me, I didn’t mean it, I am so deeply sorry.
I am having a lot of trouble forgiving myself for, can you find it in your heart to forgive me?
Where do I start...I have done wrong by you, I am so sorry, please forgive me darling.
Please let me have one more chance, I know I really messed up. Please forgive me.
I realise that this is just a small gesture, but I sincerely hope these flowers go some way into helping you forgive me for my wrongs.
I am truly sorry for my thoughtless actions, please try and find a way to forgive me babe.
I am lost for words to say how for how much I am sorry, please accept these flowers as a token of my sorrow.
This message and flowers are symbolic of how sorry I am. Please forgive me.
I hurt your deeply, I am aware of that now, I take full responsibility for that now. Please find a way that you can forgive me as I am hurting so much.
I hurt your feelings, I get it now, it won’t happen again. I am sorry my love.
In the heat of the moment I say silly things, that I don’t mean. It won’t happen again, and you know how hard I am working on it. I am sorry.
Your friendship means the world to me, I have treasured every moment of it. Forgive me, pretty please.
I'm sorry for any hurt I've caused. You mean the world to me and I never want to hurt you. I hope you can forgive me and that we can move forward with love and understanding. You are my everything and I will make it up to you. I love you.
I'm sorry for any pain I've caused. You bring so much joy to my life and I never want to hurt you. I hope you can forgive me and that we can move forward with love and happiness. You mean everything to me, and I will make it up to you. I love you.

Sympathy Card Messages

This is the hardest part of our job. After 18 years, it still is. Anna once spent an hour on the phone with a woman who'd lost her mum, both of them crying, trying to find the right words for the card. In the end, they went with "Your mum made the world brighter. We'll miss her laugh." Sometimes that's all you need.

The practical stuff matters here, more than any other flower delivery. When someone's grieving, the last thing they need is a massive bouquet turning up that needs three vases they have to find while organizing a funeral. That's why we push the boxed arrangements. They can sit on the kitchen bench, the hallway table, wherever there's space. Because trust us, their house is about to fill up with flowers. We've delivered to homes where you could barely see the furniture for all the arrangements.

Here's something most people don't realize: the relationship math on sympathy messages is complicated. If you worked with someone for ten years but never met their wife who passed, what do you write? If it's your best mate's dad but you only met him twice? We've helped people navigate this thousands of times. The answer is usually simpler than you think - acknowledge your relationship honestly. "I never met your dad, but through your stories, I felt like I knew him" hits different than pretending you were close.

The timing thing is real too. First week? Keep it short. They're in shock, planning funerals, dealing with family. Three weeks later when everyone else has moved on? That's when a longer message about a specific memory can mean everything. One customer sends flowers to his mate every year on his mum's anniversary with just "Still thinking of you both today." Six years running now.

> Read our blog post on how to write sympathy card messages

Card Suggestions To A Family Member - a sympathy message

We are deeply saddened to hear of the loss of John. As you grieve during this trying time please know that the memories of him will be with us forever.
We know that your heart is broken, we would like you to know that we are here and fully able to support you during this immensely difficult time.
Our family's hearts go out to your and your family and whilst we could never comprehend the hardships you are going through at this time, we would like you to know that we are thinking of you and you can call on us at any time.
We are so sorry to hear about the loss of John. We’re unsure exactly what to say, other that we are here for you.
We hope the loving memories of your father, some day, go some way to easing the pain you are going through right now.
We wish all the love in the world to you and your family during this challenging time.
Please, we are here for you, through the ups, and now through the downs, if there is anything you need, at any time, please let us know. We’re only a phone call away.
Our thoughts and love are with you.
Accept our deepest condolences at this difficult time.
Our thoughts and prayers are with you always.
Thinking of you during this difficult time and sending love and comfort. You are not alone. May fond memories bring a smile to your face and strength to get through this. My deepest sympathies and condolences.

Card Suggestions For Funeral Flowers

As we briefly mentioned about funeral flowers are different to Sympathy Flowers in that they usually are sent to the ceremony and or the cemetery. Therefore careful consideration needs to be given when sending funeral flowers. Funeral flowers are usually made up of both Funeral Wreaths and Funeral Sheaths, people rarely send flower bunches, but sometimes send flower arrangements.

This means that the card message needs to be more suited to a memory of the deceased, rather than saying something about the family member or members.

With loving memories.
Your memories will be with us forever.
The joy you brought our lives will always be remembered.
You were the light in our lives, you will be sorely missed, but never forgotten.
In loving memory of John, thanks for the memories.
May your soul rest easy my friend. Be at peace.