70 Sweet Messages to Write in a Valentine's Day Card (2024)

Remember how it felt to give and receive those adorable Valentine's Day treats that marked the big day when you were a kid? Back in the day, the only thing more fun than painstakingly creating dozens of Valentine's Day crafts and getting a good sugar buzz off those little heart-shaped candies was picking out the perfect card for everyone in the class. For adults, crafting heartfelt Valentine's Day messages has likely fallen to the wayside, subsumed by grocery lists and reminder notes. After all, it's easier to buy a Valentine's Day gift for your SO, grab a card with a generic sentiment, sign your name and call it done. That said, taking a few extra minutes to share thoughtful Valentine's Day messages with people who have made a particular difference in your life is more meaningful than ever.

"Anyone you consider part of your inner circle should receive a card," says Jodi RR Smith, founder of Mannersmith Etiquette Consulting. "Whether you’re expressing affection for a partner or appreciation for a friend, there is something so special about giving out handwritten, heartfelt messages of love."

If you're not sure what to write in a Valentine's Day card, start by thinking about why this individual is important to you, Smith suggests. And really reflect on it: What about them makes your heart swell? What do you treasure about their friendship? Why are they one of your ride-or-die people? If you really get stuck, share a beloved memory, funny story or inside joke that brings the two of you together.

For inspiration, check out the sweet sentiments, cute jokes and romantic quotes below. Putting words to paper is a great way to remind your partner, family and friends just how special they really are. A meaningful Valentine's Day message also makes a nice keepsake they can hold close to their heart.

Cute Valentine's Day Wishes

Happy Valentine’s Day! My favorite place in the world is next to you.
You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.
You may hold my hand for a while, but you hold my heart forever.
I love you more than coffee.
Thank you for being mine.
You make me feel like the heart-eye emoji.
The best things in life are better with you.
Whenever I feel like giving up, your love keeps me going.
I never believed in luck until I found you.
I met you. I liked you. I love you. I’m keeping you.
To another Valentine's Day spent with the love of my life, and to many more.
Whenever I'm with you, wherever we are, I'm home.
Every love story is beautiful but ours is my favorite.
You’re the one. I’ve never been so sure of anything in my whole life.
I fell in love with you because of all the small things you don’t even realize you’re doing.
Thank you for making me laugh and smile every single day since the day we met.
Like you and me, some things are just meant to be.
Here are all the ways I'm a better person because of you.

Funny Valentine's Day Messages

Valentine's Day Messages and Wishes for Friends

Happy Valentine’s Day! Thanks for being my person.
To the person who makes me the best version of myself.
Happy V-Day to the person who would help me hide a body.
Our friendship is #relationshipgoals.
Happy V-Day to the Bonnie to my Clyde.
We’ve been friends for so long that we’re basically married. I now owe you a Valentine’s Day card every year.
You’re the Tina Fey to my Amy Poehler. (Or, any pop culture duo you love!)
Making friends as a grown-up is hard. Thank you for making it easy.
Good times. Bad Times. Fun Times. Tough times. No matter what, you’re always by my side.
I love that you're my emergency contact.
Don't eat too much chocolate today. Leave room for wine.
Happy Galentine's Day to my bff.
Friend love is the best kind of love. We’ll never break up because you refuse to pick up your socks.
We go together like wine and any day of the week.
Who needs a Valentine when I have a best friend like you?
Happy Valentine’s Day! Just wanted to let you know that you are loved.

Romantic Movie Quotes for Valentine's Day

"I would rather share one lifetime with you than face all the ages of this world alone." — Arwen in The Lord of the Rings
"When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible." — Harry in When Harry Met Sally
"To me, you are perfect." — Mark in Love Actually
"I’m scared of walking out of this room and never feeling the rest of my whole life the way I feel when I’m with you." — Baby in Dirty Dancing
"I want all of you, forever, you and me, every day." — Noah in The Notebook
"I’ve come here with no expectations, only to profess now that I am at liberty to do so, that my heart is, and always will be, yours." — Edward in Sense and Sensibility
"I am in love with you. I know that love is just a shout into the void and that oblivion is inevitable. And that we’re all doomed and that one day all of our labors will be returned to dust. And I know the sun will swallow the only Earth we will ever have. And I am in love with you." — Gus in The Fault in Our Stars
"I think I’d miss you even if we’d never met." — Nick in The Wedding Date
"You have bewitched me, body and soul. I love, I love, I love you. I never wish to be parted from you from this day on." — Mr. Darcy in Pride & Prejudice

Quotes About Love for Valentine's Day

"When first we fall in love, we feel that we know all there is to know about life, and perhaps we are right." — Mignon McLaughlin
"Love doesn't make the world go 'round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile." — Franklin P. Jones
"Love is life. All, everything that I understand, I understand only because I love. Everything is, everything exists, only because I love." — Leo Tolstoy
"It is a curious thought, but it is only when you see people looking ridiculous, that you realize just how much you love them." — Agatha Christie
"Much love, much trial, but what an utter desert is life without love." — Charles Darwin
"I don’t want to live—I want to love first, and live incidentally." — Zelda Fitzgerald
"Love does not consist in gazing at each other but in looking outward together in the same direction." — Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Of all forms of caution, caution in love is perhaps most fatal to true happiness." —Bertrand Russell
"Love doesn't just sit there, like a stone, it has to be made, like bread; remade all the time, made new." — Ursula K. Le Guin
"When we love, we always strive to become better than we are. When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too." — Paulo Coelho

Andra Chantim

Deputy Editor

As the deputy editor of Woman’s Day, Andra (she/her) oversees all print content for the brand. She is a former editor at Good Housekeeping, Redbook, Real Simple and People. Over the course of her 13 year career, she’s covered every inch of the lifestyle space, and has interviewed hundreds of experts on topics including but not limited to relationships, etiquette, personal finance, technology, organization, travel, fashion, beauty, and sustainability. (She's also interviewed a few celebrities, ask her for Kim Kardashian's eBay shopping secrets.) During her off hours, Andra enjoys Thai dramas and long walks down the snack aisle.

Lizz Schumer

Senior Editor

Lizz (she/her) is a senior editor at Good Housekeeping, where she runs the GH Book Club, edits essays and long-form features and writes about pets, books and lifestyle topics. A journalist for almost two decades, she is the author of Biography of a Body and Buffalo Steel. She also teaches journalism as an adjunct professor at New York University's School of Professional Studies and creative nonfiction at the Muse Writing Center, and coaches with the New York Writing Room.