Turning 30 or 40 is a good excuse to tell someone what they mean to you. These birthdays often come with a party, a trip or a dinner, and the card is the part people tend to keep.
Below are 66 wishes for a 30th or 40th birthday card: short messages, wishes for a friend, a husband or wife, family and coworkers, funny wishes and religious wishes.
Article contents
- How to Write a 30th or 40th Birthday Card
- Short 30th Birthday Wishes
- 30th Birthday Wishes for a Friend
- 30th Birthday Wishes for a Husband or Wife
- 30th Birthday Wishes for a Son, Daughter or Sibling
- Funny 30th Birthday Wishes
- Short 40th Birthday Wishes
- 40th Birthday Wishes for a Friend
- 40th Birthday Wishes for a Husband or Wife
- 40th Birthday Wishes for a Brother or Sister
- Funny 40th Birthday Wishes
- 30th and 40th Birthday Wishes for a Coworker
- Religious 30th and 40th Birthday Wishes
- What to Avoid
- Frequently Asked Questions
How to Write a 30th or 40th Birthday Card
- Open with the milestone. "Happy 30th" or "Happy 40th" by name.
- Share a memory or something you admire.
- Look ahead to the new decade.
- Keep age jokes light. A gentle joke is fine if you know they will laugh.
Example: "Happy 40th, Chris! I still laugh about our camping trip when the tent blew into the lake. Thanks for twenty years of friendship. Here's to the next forty. Love, Sam"
Short 30th Birthday Wishes
- Happy 30th birthday!
- Happy 30th! Welcome to your best decade yet.
- Thirty years down and the best still ahead. Happy birthday!
- Thirty looks great on you. Happy birthday!
- Happy 30th birthday. Enjoy every bit of it.
- Happy 30th! May this decade bring you everything you are hoping for.
- Happy birthday! Here's to a great start to your thirties.
- Happy 30th! Go make a big deal of yourself today.
30th Birthday Wishes for a Friend
- Happy 30th! You have been there for every big moment of my twenties, and I plan to keep you for my thirties too.
- We have come a long way since our twenties started. Happy 30th, my friend.
- Thirty years old and still the person I call first. Happy birthday.
- Happy 30th birthday! You have worked hard for everything you have, and it shows.
- Here's to your thirties: more confidence, better sleep and the same great friends.
- Happy 30th! Thank you for every road trip, every long phone call and every laugh.
30th Birthday Wishes for a Husband or Wife
- Happy 30th birthday to the love of my life. I'm so happy we get to start this decade together.
- Thirty years of you, and I get to share so many of them. Happy birthday, my love.
- Happy 30th, babe. You are my favorite person, and you only get better with time.
- I can't wait to see everything we do together in our thirties. Happy birthday.
- Happy 30th birthday to my best friend and partner in everything.
30th Birthday Wishes for a Son, Daughter or Sibling
- Happy 30th birthday. The home, the work and the friends you have made are a joy for us to watch.
- Thirty years ago you made us parents. You are still our greatest joy. Happy birthday.
- Happy 30th to my little brother. When did you get so grown up?
- Happy 30th, sis! You have always been the one who has it together, and I'm proud of you.
- Happy 30th birthday. Watching you grow into the person you are has been a gift.
Funny 30th Birthday Wishes
- Happy 30th! You are now officially the age where a good night's sleep is a big deal.
- Welcome to your thirties, where your back makes new sounds and you think a new vacuum is exciting.
- Happy 30th birthday! Don't worry, 30 is just 21 with a lot more experience.
- Thirty is when you stop going to bed late on purpose and start doing it by accident.
- Happy 30th! Remember, you are not getting older. You are getting harder to fool.
Short 40th Birthday Wishes
- Happy 40th birthday!
- Happy 40th! Four decades of you is worth a party.
- Happy 40th! Here's to the best years yet.
- Forty and fabulous. Happy birthday!
- Happy 40th birthday. Wishing you a wonderful year.
- Happy 40th! You make this age look like a lot of fun.
- Here's to 40 and many more birthdays to come.
- Happy 40th! Celebrate like you mean it.
40th Birthday Wishes for a Friend
- Happy 40th to a friend who makes every year better. I'm glad we are getting older together.
- Forty years of being wonderful. Happy birthday, my friend.
- Happy 40th birthday! You have grown wiser, kinder and funnier every year I have known you.
- Here's to 40 years of you, and to the next 40 years of friendship.
- Happy 40th! You have a great life, and you built it yourself. Enjoy your day.
- Happy 40th birthday to the friend who always knows what to say.
40th Birthday Wishes for a Husband or Wife
- Happy 40th birthday, my love. You are more wonderful now than the day I met you.
- Forty years of you, and I love you more with every one I get to share. Happy birthday.
- Happy 40th to the best husband and dad I know. We love you so much.
- Happy 40th birthday to my wife. Our kids and I are the luckiest people in the world.
- Here's to 40, and to growing old together. Happy birthday, my love.
40th Birthday Wishes for a Brother or Sister
- Happy 40th, big brother. You still give the best advice in the family.
- Happy 40th birthday, sis! I will always look up to you, even if I am taller.
- Forty years old! You have been my best friend since we shared a bedroom. Happy birthday.
- Happy 40th birthday. It has been fun growing up with you, and even more fun growing older with you.
- Happy 40th! Don't worry, I will always be younger than you.
Funny 40th Birthday Wishes
- Happy 40th! You're not over the hill. You are just taking the scenic route.
- Forty is the age when you start saying "back in my day" and meaning it.
- Happy 40th birthday! Your reading glasses are around here somewhere.
- Congratulations on turning 40. You are now officially allowed to complain about the thermostat.
- Happy 40th! They say life begins at 40, so you are basically a newborn.
30th and 40th Birthday Wishes for a Coworker
- Happy 30th birthday! Thanks for making work more fun for all of us.
- Happy 40th! We hope you take the afternoon off and enjoy some cake.
- Happy milestone birthday from all of us. Enjoy your day.
- Happy 40th birthday! We're lucky to work with you.
Religious 30th and 40th Birthday Wishes
- "May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us." (Psalm 90:17) Happy 40th birthday.
- Happy 30th birthday. We thank God for you and pray He blesses this new decade.
- May God fill your forties with good health, strong faith and people who love you.
- Happy 40th! God has been faithful through every one of your years, and He will be in the years to come.
What to Avoid
- Jokes about weight, looks or health unless you are sure they will be taken well.
- Comparing their life to someone else's.
- Questions about marriage, kids or careers.
- Only signing your name on a card you are giving on your own. Add one personal line.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should I write in a 30th birthday card?
Wish them a happy 30th by name, mention a favorite memory or something you admire, and wish them a great start to their thirties.
What is a nice message for a 40th birthday?
"Happy 40th! Here's to the best years yet" is a warm, simple choice. For someone close, add a line about a memory or what they mean to you.
Are age jokes OK in a 40th birthday card?
Yes, if you know the person well and they enjoy that kind of humor. Keep it gentle and end with a warm line.
Need more ideas? See our guide to what to write in a birthday card, funny birthday wishes, or the Message Finder. Writing to your spouse? See our birthday wishes for your husband and your wife. Our Happy Birthday Assorted set is blank inside, so any of these messages will fit. See all birthday cards.
Milestone birthday wishes: sweet 16, 18th and 21st, 30th and 40th, 50th, 60th and 70th, 80th and 90th.
