Tips and Tricks for Personalizing Your Hallmark Video Greeting Card

Step 1: Choose a card. We’ve got Video Greeting Cards for everything—birthdays and holidays, special occasions like weddings and anniversaries, and even thinking of you and encouragement. You can find them at Hallmark.com and in your favorite Hallmark store (find one near you).

Step 2: Remove the tab inside the card and use the camera on your phone to scan the code. Then follow the link that pops up to create your video. (If you don’t already have an account, you’ll need to set one up so all your content is saved online.) 

Step 3: Hit “personalize” and get started. Tell us who it’s for (so their name will show up when the video starts) and choose the background music from a library of choices, then click “continue.”

Step 4: Choose your own adventure. You get three choices on the next screen. You can: 

• Preview your video—see the animated opening and hear the background music.
• Add photos or videos—make a video or take a photo, or upload content you’ve already got on your device.
• Invite friends to contribute—you can personalize the message we’ve provided if you’d like and then send the invitation via text or email. It’s so easy!

There is no limit to the length of your Video Greeting—so invite as many folks and make it as long as you’d like. We’ll stitch them all together for you. 

Step 5: Finish the video. Once all the content is in—or you’re finished with yours—click “preview your video” again. You’ll have a chance to edit it by scrolling through to add, delete or change the order of videos and photos, or you can just hit “finalize.” We’ll ask if you’re really sure.

Once you finalize the video, it’s ready to share. You can mail or give the card or send the video link by text, email or a post on social media. 

That’s it! Except for checking out. For online purchases, you’ll just need to pay before you can text or email your Video Greeting. (If you got your Hallmark Video Greeting Card at the store, you won’t have to do anything.)

You’ll find Hallmark Video Greeting Cards for lots of occasions and reasons—and a few designed to work for whatever message you want to send. 

The easiest thing to do? Just turn on the camera and deliver your message. Simple and perfect. 

If you want to make things a little extra, read on.

Celebrate the big day or let a friend or family member know how much they mean to you—or a whole bunch of people.

Anniversary Video Greetings for your partner

• Upload photos and videos from your wedding and other big moments and milestones from your lives together. Create a new video that expresses how your love has grown. 
• Create a timeline of your relationship, from getting to know each other to today, with short videos mixed in to tell the story. 
• Make a tribute to your partner with your favorite photos and videos—and a message that lets them know why you love them so much. 

Anniversary wishes video for other couples (including parents or grandparents)

• Make a highlight reel of photos and videos, and record messages letting them know how their relationship has inspired you and made your lives better. 
• For big milestones, invite family and friends to send photos taken through the years and make short videos with wishes for the couple.
• Riff on the traditional anniversary gifts by year (find them here) with puns and props.

Video Greeting for anyone you love—romantic or not.

• Tell them all the reasons they’re wonderful. Be sincere. Specific. Honest. Effusive. Make them blush. (It’s not like they can stop you.)
• Create an acrostic video: Start each video (or sentence, if you’re going solo) with a word that begins with a letter in the recipient’s name. Assign letters and be sure to edit them into the right order.

Find a perfect card and send a Video Greeting for a birthday. It’s like sending a surprise party through the mail.

• There’s no better excuse for a timeline of videos and photos, edited in order from Baby Birthday Person to today. Add videos to tell the stories. For milestone birthdays, invite friends, family and co-workers who’ve known them through the years.
• Welcome 16- and 21-year-olds to the age of new privileges and responsibility with driving tips, cocktail recommendations and other appropriate advice. 
• Send birthday wishes. Ask people to make videos expressing their hopes and dreams for the Birthday Person’s day, evening, year or future. 
• Sing the birthday song. Assign lines of the song to each person in your invitation and edit them together in order. Bonus prop: Everyone holds a candle. 
• For a silly, funny birthday wishes video, encourage your fellow video “guests” to crouch behind a chair, hide in a closet or stand behind a plant, then jump out and yell, “Surprise!”

Through the year, you can put your holiday traditions on video to share them with family and friends. 

• Send video newsletters: Record a family conversation or let tech-savvy kids make their own videos. 
• Make your videos in front of decorations, even if it means getting them out or putting them up a little early.
• Send a Christmas greetings video to—or from—family members who won’t be able to gather at the holidays.
• For festive occasions, bring out the holiday swag and matching outfits. Include the pets.
• For solemn holidays and observances rich with meaning, deliver heartfelt messages from the whole family.

There’s no better time to send video congratulations than when good things happen to good people: graduations, promotions, retirements, engagements, weddings, awards and recognitions.

• You know this one’s coming: Timeline video. Pictures are great—or you can just ask your fellow video stars to start each one with “I remember when…”
• Send an engagement or wedding wishes video with helpful advice from “experienced” couples. Invite friends and family members in long-term relationships to make videos together (this is where shooting sideways is really helpful) giving their best tips for a happy marriage.
• Raise a glass: Whether you’re sending your video solo or with a group, give a heartfelt toast. (We’ve got tips for toasts here.)
• Tell them they deserve it. Take the chance to sing their praises when they can’t say, “Oh, hush.” Let them know what you admire about them, what you’ve learned from them and how they’ve inspired you. 
• Don the team colors: Deck yourself out in their school, team or company colors. Bonus prop: DIY tissue paper pom poms.

Educators, coaches, trainers, mentors, real estate agents, health care professionals—here’s your chance to record your gratitude your way.

• Go all in and invite a whole class, team or office to say thanks. Recommend a time limit—like a minute or two—or just let them talk as much as they’d like. When you send them invitations, give them some tips, like “talk about a specific moment or event,” “be really specific about what you appreciate” or “tell them about something good that they made happen.” 
• Those pom poms we mentioned above? They’d be perfect props for a team cheer. Assign everyone a line and tell them to give it all they’ve got—without, you know, hurting themselves. 
• Show the results (because actions speak louder and all). If you’re grateful for something that had visible results—diplomas, acceptance letters, trophies, projects, muscles, new homes, improved health—show them off. 

When a pal needs a boost, it’s not always easy to deliver your encouraging message in person. Seeing your face may be just what they need—so send your support in a video they can watch any time they need to, over and over. 

• In tough times, you can record a pep talk, remind them how strong they are or let them know you’re in their corner. (We’ve got some hints for getting the words right.)
• For folks going through a health care journey, Video Greetings can keep them connected to friends, family and co-workers. Invite folks to say “we’re thinking of you,” send prayers or just give updates on what’s going on. 
• When someone is discouraged or depressed, face-to-face visits can be tough. So say what you would say in person in a video. You know best what your friend needs: something heartfelt and sincere, actually helpful and thoughtful advice, or your hot take on celebrity news or your favorite TV series.

Whether you’re sending a Video Greeting across town or across the miles, thinking-of-you messages can brighten someone’s whole day.

• Gather kids, friends, family and pets together (or in their own videos) to send love and updates to military folks on deployment.
• When a co-worker moves to a new gig, let them know they’re missed with commentary from the team about how things have been without them. (Encourage melodrama.)
• Surprise devoted grandparents with updates from their favorite people (your kids—we mean your kids). Capture your little ones just doing what they do…or ask older kids to make their own videos.
• One of the hardest times to know what to say is when someone you know and love begins hospice care. Turn on your camera and tell them what they mean to you…what they’ve taught you…ways they’ve made a difference in the world. Tell your favorite story. Say you’ve appreciated them and that you love them. Let them hear your voice—and give their family a memento of the impact they’ve had. If you need more help, we have hospice message examples here.

We’re going to be honest here: Sending Hallmark Video Greeting Cards can be a little addicting. It’s all about the reaction you get from the person you send it to. And once you’ve done it, you keep getting ideas. 

A few favorites from our teams at Hallmark: 

Backgrounds, props and costumes

Your theme might be inspired by the recipient’s hobbies or obsessions, the occasion or just the card. For example:

• Play up the occasion: Add streamers and balloons for birthdays, decorations for holidays (maybe everyone records in front of a Christmas tree) and office settings for co-workers…you get the idea. 
• Provide a dress code: costumes, specific colors (like teams or awareness campaigns), festive headbands or sunglasses, business or formal attire, or poorly drawn masks. (Things our team has actually tried: woodland creatures and park ranger, spa day masks, everyone dressed as a cat.) 
• Try a shared or traveling prop: Ask everyone to include something simple, like a coffee mug or hat, or provide something everyone can print and use in the background, like a sign or photo. 
• Host an “awards ceremony” (or show!): DIY some trophies, plaques or certificates (or just use something you have around the house—because they’re just for the video). Make up fancy, silly or sincere awards and “present” them in your recording. Some ideas to get you started: Most Convincing Refusal to Age by a Person in Their 50s, “Please Don’t Go” Award for Everyone’s Most Favorite Retiree, Best (And Also Seriously the MOST Patient) Coach. Also, if you’re wondering “Can this awards show video have an opening monologue and musical acts, the answer is “OF COURSE IT CAN.”

Themes for announcements

Do you have big news to share in a Video Greeting? May we suggest: 

• Action News Team, including anchor, weather, sports and news reporter
• Talk Show, with a little small talk at the beginning leading into sharing the big news everyone’s been buzzing about
• Press conference, where you announce your news from behind a podium and then take questions from other videos (this one takes a little coordinating and editing—or you can just play all the reporters yourself)
• “Oh, and by the way…” video that starts with everyday updates and casually drops life-changing news
• Surprise Guest, with an unexpected participant coming in at the end
• Wide-Shot Reveal that starts with a close-up on someone—then the camera pulls back to show a new house, college, pet or person you’ve just gotten engaged to or eloped with
• Frustratingly Long Video That Teases Long-Anticipated Announcement Without Actually Revealing Anything Until the End

Want even more, super-detailed answers to common questions? There’s a Hallmark Video Greeting Cards FAQ with alllllllll the information.

Now go, make a video and give someone you love a one-of-a-kind moment they can keep forever.