Rather than letting the burden of missing a significant person’s birthday plague you or worrying yourself over the right words to say in response, free your mind by extending those late birthday greetings using these gracious words we have provided for just such a mishap!
Better wishing late than never!…
• Happy (Belated) Birthday!
• Happy (Belated) Birthday for a Friend
• Happy (Belated) Birthday for your Brother
• Happy (Belated) Birthday for My Sister
• Happy (Belated) Birthday for Mom
• Belated Happy Birthday for Dad
• Belated Birthday Wishes for My Boss
• Happy Belated Birthday Images
• Happy (Belated) Birthday Memes
Happy (Belated) Birthday!
• I’m sending you oceans of kisses and a warm hug to try to make up for missing your Big Day. Bleated happy birthday, my dear.
• I suck big time for missing your birthday! I’m so sorry, and I promise it will never happen again. I wish you all the best in your endeavors.
• It feels great to receive birthday messages on your birthday but it feels greater to receive more wishes even after the birthday. Hope you enjoyed your birthday.
• This wish is late but it comes from the deepest parts of my heart and soul. You mean the world to me, and you’ll always do. Happy belated birthday.
• If I were in your shoes I would be glad that some friends forget my birthday but remember it after that day. Annoying isn’t it? But the better side of it is the double portion you receive. You get to have two gifts: one for your birthday and the other to make up for forgetting your extraordinary day.
• Wishing you a belated happy birthday, my sweet one. I pray you can forgive me for missing your special day. I hope your celebration was a memorable one. I love you.
• I thank heavens for giving me an opportunity to send my wishes to you even though they’re late. It’s my prayer that life makes us conscious of the extent at which we mean to each other as friends.
• Though my message came late that wouldn’t stop me from expressing my affections. Pardon me for forgetting this special day of yours. I thank God I didn’t forget that I forgot your birthday. Happy belated birthday. May you always know happiness.
They say that if someone forgets your birthday you don’t get older that year! You’re welcome.• Wishing you a fabulous belated birthday. My wishes might be late, but they come loaded with nothing but love. May happiness make its way into your heart and be your companion for life.
• Hope you had a wonderful birthday; it’s my prayer that you have amazing ones as the years go by. Hope you consider me as a friend who can only forget your memorable days sometimes but not that friend who will forget about you. You will forever mean a great deal to me.
• Forgetting your birthday is without a shred of doubt my biggest blunder of the year. Please forgive me, for I’m terribly sorry. Even if it takes forever, I’ll surely make it up to you. I promise.
• I’m so sorry I missed your Big Day. I really hope you had a wonderful, exciting and fantastic day. God bless you.
• To me, it’s never too late to wish the best in life to an extremely loving and caring person. I can never repay you for all the joy and happiness that you regularly bring into my heart. Happy belated birthday.
• Wishing you an awesome belated birthday, dear one. Birthdays come once in a year but our friendship is an everyday affair. I missed this celebration but I hope I don’t miss the subsequent ones.
• A big shame on myself for not being able to wish you well or make myself available to celebrate the greatest and most special day of the year with you. I’m so sorry for that. I will definitely make it up to you, come what may.
• I deem it a great honor to be considered one of your closest friends, and I don’t want to lose that position. Hope you will find a place in that soft heart of yours to forgive me for my forgetfulness. Happy belated birthday.
• Sorry I couldn’t show up at the fete or send any birthday messages. That was a very terrible mistake I made. It wasn’t my intention to change a friend’s impression about me. I know I made you wait for my wishes to come but they never came. Sorry for this late arrival. I promise it shall never repeat itself.
• I truly apologize for not wishing you well on your birthday. I feel so sad that I didn’t get the opportunity of being counted among your loved ones who sent messages or came around to make your day a great one. Happy belated birthday.
• I’m having a feeling that sending you belated birthday greetings extends the celebration of your birthday. I’m beginning to like the idea of wishing you late always in order to make it last even longer and turn other days into party days.
• Wishing a happy belated birthday to one of the most wonderful people in my life. I’m sorry my wishes turned up late, but I believe it is never late to celebrate the life of a wonderful person like you!
• Happy belated birthday to one of the dearest people in my life. I hope that life always treats you well and gives you a reason to smile. My wish may be late, but they are true and come straight from the bottom of my heart.
• Happy belated birthday to a phenomenal person. Congratulations for a well lived life. May you always have a smile on your face.
• There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to make up for forgetting the birthday of a wonderful person like you. Happy belated birthday, dear. I pray that all the days of your life be filled with joy and pleasure.
• My wishes might have reached you late, but that in no way means that you are not special to my heart. I’ll forever feel blessed to know a wonderful person like you. Happy belated birthday, sweetheart, and may God continue to sprinkle the choicest of His blessings on your life.
• I missed your birthday deliberately because I care about you so much, I couldn’t bring myself to reminding you of how old you’re getting. Happy belated birthday!
• Wishing a belated happy birthday to a special person in my life. Words can never express how sorry I am for committing the grave mistake of missing your birthday. I swear I’ll do whatever it takes to make it up to you!
Happy (Belated) Birthday for a Friend
• Buddy, sorry I missed your special day. However, I still want to extend my desire that this new age be the best in your life so far!
• I totally missed your day once again, dude. But that doesn’t mean it’s too late for me to take you out for a drink!
• I waited to see if we could meet face-to-face, but since it doesn’t seem so, let me extend this late though heartfelt congratulations for reaching a new age!
• Your birthday caught me completely by surprise this year, but what may be equally surprising is that I’m still sending you this gift because I can never just ignore the birthday of my boy!
• You know I like excitement, but not this much. I’m a bad friend for missing your birthday but still wanted to wish you a happy one, along with my promise that I’ll make it up to you!
• I know you’re not sweating a late birthday shout-out, but I still wanted to make sure I got one to you anyway because your friendship means so much to me!
• Happy belated birthday to my best friend in the world! Although this message has been delayed a little, my wish for you is evergreen as I pray for never ending happiness for you.
• Ever since you came into my life, I have experienced great improvements, and I pray that the good Lord will bless us with many more years so that I can enjoy this wonderful friendship to the fullest. Have a belated happy birthday, dear friend.
• I have always wished for the very best for you, and I trust that the good Lord will grant us long lives so that I can continue wishing the best for you. Happy belated birthday!
• It is hard to understand that I missed the day of your birth, but it is never too late to say a wish for such an amazing friend like you. I pray that you have many more happy days like you had on your birthday.
• I can’t believe I delayed my wishes for you on such a special day in your life. Accept my apology, dear friend. I hope you enjoyed your birthday. I pray for many more of such days for you.
• Dear friend, I apologize for sending a delayed message to commemorate the most unique day in your life. Happy belated birthday! I pray that every day in the years ahead of you will be stocked to their brims with joy and happiness.
Happy (Belated) Birthday for your Brother
• You have the sincerest apologies from the bottom of my heart, but I know you’re man enough to understand that I still love you!
• Birthdays are just a date, and you know that I love you every day! But anyways… congratulations on making it to a new age!
• Long life gives us extended opportunities for joy, prosperity… and always to forgive those who do stupid things like forget our birthdays. Happy belated, bro!
• Extending my belated prosperous birthday wishes to you is more than a formality but rather is a true expression of my love.
• I can’t tell you how sorry my heart is for the late birthday greetings. I hope your celebration was a feast of joy!
• Sending your way a million warm hugs to make up for my silly mistake of forgetting your birthday. I treasure you very, very much, brother.
• Dear brother, I’m deeply sorry for failing to remember the most important day of your life. I hope you had a fun-packed day on your birthday.
• I believe that you had a wonderful celebration. I am really sorry that I missed your birthday. That said, I want to let you know that to me, every day is amazing because I am blessed to have a brother like you.
• I just realized I missed something very special this year, and that is your birthday, brother. I hope my apology is accepted. Wishing you a happy birthday, even though belated!
• I expected this year’s anniversary to be fun-packed, and I hope you have many more exciting celebrations in the future. Happy belated birthday, brother!
Happy (Belated) Birthday for My Sister
• I should be flogged for missing your birthday, sis. The flogging can come later. For now, may all the world’s most important riches be yours.
• I am angry at myself for totally missing your day. However you know it wasn’t intentional and that I still wish you the best!
• Sorry I didn’t have the resources to acknowledge your birthday promptly, but there was no way I was going to let too much time pass before displaying my love!
• If I had a time machine I could only use one time, it would be to go back to your birthday. Happy belated, dear!
• Even if this birthday wish came terribly late, know that I still love you. Sorry anyway!
• Thank you for continually being the best sister I could ever ask for, even when I make mistakes! You are always in my heart, and may your birthday joy extend even ‘til this day!
• Age makes you wiser, more beautiful and hopefully more forgiving! An overdue merry birthday shout goes out to my beloved sister!
• Having a sister like you gives me a lot of joy, and even though I missed an important day in your life, which I apologize for, I want to let you know that you are always in my thoughts.
• Dear sister, I wish the best in everything that you do on this earth. I know this birthday message to you is late, however, it remains evergreen.
• Sweet sister, please accept my apology for forgetting your anniversary. But I want you know that no day passes by without the thoughts of you running through my mind. I pray for the very best this universe has to offer you.
• Lovely sister, I hope you had a blissful anniversary. I am sorry I missed such a relevant day in your life. May your cup never stop overflowing with blessings. Have a beautiful day!
• Sometimes, we forget certain important days on the calendar, just like I did with your birthday. I trust that you had a birthday full of excitement. I wish you more of such exciting days to come.
Happy (Belated) Birthday for Mom
• I just wanted to say I’m ashamed, I’m sorry, but most of all I love you. Happy belated birthday, Mom.
• If there is any way I can make it up for missing your birthday please let me know. I am always at your beck and call, Mom.
• Missing your birthday was one of the worst mistakes I ever made. If there is any way I can make it up to you, then please let me know!
• I’m sorry for always testing the limits of your forgiveness, Mother. May my loving birthday wishes still reach you today, even if it is a little late.
• An overdue birthday wish doesn’t mean it’s not from the heart, Mom. May this new year of your life prove that it is never too late to be blessed.
• Your birthday means more to me than anything else. Sorry that I’m late in telling you that, though!
• I hope your birthday was beautiful, but subsequent days like today even more joyous. Happy belated, Mom.
• Mom, please forgive me for sending such a late birthday message. To me, you have been the best, and I pray that you continue being the best in my life. I pray for love and happiness in your life. Happy belated birthday!
• I am shamefaced sending a late birthday message to such a flawless woman like you. Mom, please forgive me for this forgetfulness of mine. May God bless the many years that you have ahead of you.
• Thanks mummy for being the backbone of the person I am today. Even though I missed it, I have always looked forward to your special day. Happy late birthday, sweet mother!
• I wanted to be the first person on this earth to wish you a happy birthday, but unfortunately I missed it entirely. Please accept my apology, mom. I hope your celebration was fun.
• I pray to God Almighty to grant you many, many more years full of happiness and good health. Happy belated birthday to you, mom!
• A good mother is always there to support her children through good and unpleasant times. Mother, you have been more than a good mother to me, and I wish you a world packed with joyfulness. Happy late birthday!
Belated Happy Birthday for Dad
• Sometimes the hustles of life make us overlook the more important things. Wishing you all the glorious blessings of life, Dad.
• I don’t want to burden you with excuses but just say I love you and consider you a blessing in my life.
• As you grow older, you grow wiser – wise enough to know I can be a complete idiot at times! Happy belated, Dad.
• I am looking forward to the opportunity to make up my late birthday wishes to you. Love you, Dad.
• This is the first and last time I will be late in congratulating you for achieving another age in which we all get to partake of your love!
• I really wish I had gotten to this sooner, Dad, but I love you so much and wish you a happy new year of your life.
• Don’t read too much into my being a knucklehead, Dad. No matter how untardy I may be I will always love and wish you the best birthday ever!
• Dad, you are such an instrumental pillar in my life, and it is hard to believe that my wishes have been long-delayed. I am guilt-ridden. May you be blessed with blissful days ahead.
• You have always shown me the best ways in life, and I am forever grateful to the Lord Almighty for having you as a father. My wish for you is good health and long years full of joy. Sorry I forgot your special day.
• Dad, I hope that you had a splendid anniversary. Even though this birthday wish from me is long-overdue, I pray that your life continues to overflow with joy and happiness.
• Every second of my life, I wish the very best for you. I can’t tell you how sorry I am for not remembering your Big Day. May all your dreams come to fruition much grander than you ever imagined. I love you, dad.
• Dad, I will never forget your birthday even though I forgot to send you a wish on time. I hope you enjoyed your special day to the fullest. Wishing you the finest of years to come.
• I hope that you enjoyed your special day and that this new year of your life will be an exceptional one!
• Your birthday is a day worth acknowledging, and as such I want to extend to you a happy belated.
• Some lateness is inexcusable, but I sincerely hope that this one isn’t. Please accept this small, professionally-courteous birthday gift!
• May your recent birthday usher in an age where all of your dreams and aspirations come to pass!
• I crave not only your level of professional success but also your ability to age so gracefully. Sorry for being late, but these sentiments come from the heart.
• I received notification of your birthday late, but I hope I’m still in time enough to wish you a happy and prosperous one!
• Thank you for not only showing what it means to be a professional but also an understanding person. My belated wishes for you to have a joyous birthday, sir.
• Sending you a late wish on your special day feels disappointing to me, but I want you to know that it is always in my prayers that you have more successful days ahead. I hope you had a cheerful birthday.
• Happy belated anniversary, boss! You are the finest boss I have ever come across. I pray that your life is enriched with more success, good health and eternal happiness.
• I feel so ashamed that I forgot the special day of a very special figure like you. I hope your birthday was as wonderful as your life is to everyone who knows you.
• Sorry for forgetting this special occasion of yours. I hope you had a very enjoyable occasion. May God reward you for all the good things you have done for me.
Happy (Belated) Birthday Memes
All of us want to have a good relationship with our boss. You should always go the extra mile to build a positive relationship with your boss without appearing to be a suck-up. The extra effort you put in could mean their assistance or approval in your work, when it matters.
One of these opportunities comes once a year: What do you do when your boss’s birthday comes up?
Be careful though, there is a thin line between cultivating a good relationship with your boss and being seen as the office sycophant.
• Should you even greet your boss a happy birthday? Why?
• What do you do for your boss if their birthday comes up?
• What to consider when greeting your boss a happy birthday.
• How to greet your boss a happy birthday without looking like a kiss-a**
• What to write to your boss:
• What to say to your boss:
• Some strategies to surprise your boss on his or her birthday:
• Fill up a Group Birthday Card for Your Boss
• Make a Birthday Pillow for Your Boss
Should you even greet your boss a happy birthday? Why?
It’s always part of common courtesy to greet someone (who might be your boss) a happy birthday, especially if the date is known to all or posted on the department’s bulletin board.
For me, there’s no issue at all, and you can’t be considered as trying to suck-up to the boss if you do greet. Don’t go beyond buying your boss a birthday card or sending a birthday text message, however. For example, buying your boss an expensive, large birthday cake (unless the whole department chips in for it) or perfume might be looked up as fawning to your boss.
So go ahead and greet your boss—most will appreciate or remember it. Not doing so, especially when everyone else does it, might also be remembered but in a negative way, and might result in the boss thinking that you might be having problems with him or her, or simply that you’re "not part of the team."
What do you do for your boss if their birthday comes up?
• Should you give a gift, a birthday card, etc.
How you should greet your boss will vary by nationality, country, or even from company to company, which will have different corporate cultures.
I’ve worked for a large pharmaceutical company for around 25 years, before being seconded to one of its much smaller sister companies engaged in real estate, and I’ve seen how even the simplest thing like greeting your boss can vary a lot even between different companies.
Working for a large company often means that you rarely get the chance to rub elbows with the top brass, unlike in a smaller company where bosses are often seen interacting with employees on a more regular basis.
If you work in a large company, and unless you know the boss personally, I don’t think your boss will mind if you don’t send a personal birthday greeting.
However, if you work in a smaller company where the boss has regular meetings with employees, it’s part of developing a good relationship to greet your boss a happy birthday. Nowadays, you can just send a text message with a simple message like, "Happy birthday Boss!" or "Happy birthday Sir! Enjoy your special day!" or greet your boss face-to-face, which is even better.
What to consider when greeting your boss a happy birthday.
You shouldn’t just greet your boss happy birthday and skip greeting your other co-employees, unless you want to be known as the office sycophant. However, you should always consider these things when greeting your boss happy birthday:
Is it the common practice in your department to greet bosses? Does everyone in the department know it’s the boss’s birthday?
When deciding to greet your boss for his or her birthday, you must first be aware of these things because this might be frowned upon in some companies, where bosses are reluctant to have their birthdays announced, and who insist on keeping their personal and work relationships separate.
If you must greet your boss, remember to make it short and sweet. Definitely do not give any gifts (unless you and your boss have known each other a long time outside the company), no group singing, and no theater productions. Better, you can just send a birthday message through text or messaging app where you’ve connected professionally, or simply offer a birthday greeting when you arrive at the office.
Then, more importantly, get back to work! Doing your job well might be the best birthday gift you can give your boss.
How to greet your boss a happy birthday without looking like a kiss-a**
There are many ways to say happy birthday to your boss while still being as professional as possible. However, bosses are human too and might appreciate it if you add a few encouraging words in addition to the usual birthday greeting. Here are also some suggestions on what you can do to surprise your boss.
What to write to your boss:
You can either be formal, informal or even funny when you write your birthday greeting on a card or text message, depending on your relationship with your boss. Here are some examples:
"Happy birthday! Thank you for being the best boss ever!"
"You’re truly one of the most hardworking bosses I’ve ever worked for. Congratulating you on your birthday. Have a great one!"
Both of these should be safe to put in a card or text. Aside from the birthday greeting, it also shows how much you appreciate your boss.
"Dear Sir, I’ve worked for many heads before, but you undoubtedly are the best! Happy Birthday!" – I got something similar to this message while celebrating my last birthday with the company, and this is one of the more memorable birthday messages you can write to your boss, in my experience.
If you want to be a little more formal while still giving your boss appreciation, you can write, "Anyone can be a boss. But not everyone can be a leader. It’s a blessing for us that you are both a boss and a leader. May this birthday bring great happiness to you and your family!"
If your boss is the type who is comfortable with jokes, and wouldn’t mind one, here’s a good example: "Happy Birthday, Boss. Sending you warm wishes. Please take the day off and enjoy your day. We’ll be doing our duties properly, promise."
What to say to your boss:
If you happen to meet your boss on the morning of his birthday, here are some of the things you can always tell him in person:
"Good morning Sir! And Happy Birthday, too!" – Short and sweet. If he stops to say a few words to you, you also add, "Hope you have a good one today!"
If you’ve known your boss for some time now, you can also say, "Happy birthday Boss! Any plans for today?"
It’s definitely more awkward when you greet a person face-to-face because after the initial greeting, you’re left wondering what to say next, unlike when you write your birthday greeting in a card or text message. Still, the key to greeting your boss in person is to show that you’re genuinely pleased to greet him or her. You can do this by giving your best smile and your warmest handshake.
Some strategies to surprise your boss on his or her birthday:
Aside from writing or greeting your boss in person, here are some other simple ways you and your team can greet the boss, that are a bit more involved.
Fill up a Group Birthday Card for Your Boss
In my own experience, we would usually buy a large birthday card and everyone in the department would sign it and write a short personal message to our boss. You can choose a standard birthday card or even go towards the more creative or funny cards, depending on the team’s relationship with the boss.
Make a Birthday Pillow for Your Boss
The Birthday Pillow is similar to the group birthday card above, but this time use a throw pillow that you can write on using a Sharpie marker. Members of the department or team can write short personal messages and birthday greetings and sign them.
My staff did this for me once, and I’ve always treasured the pillow ever since. The advantage of using a pillow is that it lasts longer than a card, and that you can actually use it. Looking at the inspiring and appreciative birthday messages they wrote on my pillow always brings a smile to my face.
Remember that building a personal relationship with your boss is one of the things that can help you in your career. Not only that, it’s important that you make your bosses know that you appreciate and care for them, especially on their special day.