Everyone has something to say. The videos end up scattered across texts, email and a dozen different phones.
Not everyone makes it home. Every voice can.
Someone is always missing from the table: the son working abroad, the grandparents who can’t travel, the cousin on shift. One link gathers a short message from everyone, wherever they are, and the family watches one film together when the plates are cleared.
“Give the table your Christmas toast, exactly as you’d say it there.”
“What’s one moment from this year you want the family to know about?”
“Which family tradition are you missing most right now?”
“Ask the kids: what do you want to tell the whole family?”
How to make a family Christmas video
Send one link. Everyone records their message in their browser, on any phone or computer, and videos.me compiles the clips into one film you can watch, share or download. Contributors install no app and make no account. You tick the clips you want, drag them into the order you want, and the film is made for you. Free to start, then $0.35 per video you receive, or a bundle.
- One link, no app, no account for the people recording
- Records in any browser, phone or computer
- Free to start, then $0.35 per video received, or a bundle
- You get one film back: watch it, share it, or download it
A family Christmas video solves the empty-chair problem. The people who can’t make it home record a short message in their browser, no app, no account, and the people at the table get to hear them anyway: the toast from abroad, the grandkids’ year in review, the carol nobody sings well. videos.me stitches every clip into one film to play after dinner and keep with the year’s photos. Some families make it an annual tradition; the archive that builds over the years becomes its own gift.
What you get back
A preview cut from the prompts on this page. Yours will be the clips your people record.
How it works
Three steps and a few minutes, and never an editor.
Create a link
Add a prompt like “Give the table your Christmas toast, exactly as you’d say it there” and get one shareable link in seconds.
Everyone records
Anyone with the link opens it and records a short clip in their browser. They never install an app or make an account.
We make the film
We stitch the clips into one film that’s yours to watch, download, and share.
How to make a family Christmas video
Open the collection mid-December
Around the 10th gives everyone a week-plus and lands the film on the day.
Send one link to every branch
Family chat plus a personal text to the relatives abroad. One link works in every country.
Prompt for the toast
Ask everyone for the toast they’d give at the table. The film becomes the seat they couldn’t fill.
Play it when the plates are cleared
Compile before the day, press play after dinner, and download the film into the family archive.
Prompt ideas for your video
?
Pick one. One clear question gets more replies than four. People answer a question; they stall at a brief.
Make it theirs. Swap in the name and the detail only your group knows. “Share a memory of Dad” beats “share a memory.”
Say the length. Naming thirty seconds gives permission to stop, which is usually what someone is waiting for.
Say when you need it. A date does more for replies than any wording.
Give contributors a great question, or write your own.
“Give the table your Christmas toast, exactly as you’d say it there.”
“What’s one moment from this year you want the family to know about?”
“Which family tradition are you missing most right now?”
“Ask the kids: what do you want to tell the whole family?”
Tips for the best results
Get the faraway ones first
The whole point is the missing chairs. Personal messages to the relatives abroad, before the group link goes out.
Let the kids run wild
One unscripted kid clip outperforms every adult toast. Film them mid-chaos.
Download it into the archive
The annual films become the family record. Keep each year’s copy on your own storage.
Works for these, too
One link, the same effortless flow, whatever you’re collecting for.
Mother’s Day videos
Every kid, grandkid, and in-law in one film for Mum.
Mother’s Day →Father’s Day videos
The whole crew’s messages for Dad, in one film.
Father’s Day →New baby videos
Welcome messages for the newest arrival, kept for later.
New baby videos →Birthday videos
A montage of messages from everyone who loves them.
Birthday gifts →Frequently asked questions
When should we start collecting Christmas messages?
Mid-December is ideal: recent enough to feel like the holidays, with a week-plus of runway. A free collection gathers for up to 60 days, so opening it around the 10th lands the film on the day.
Can relatives abroad join easily?
That’s the point. Anyone with the link records in their browser from any country, on any phone or laptop, no app to download and no account to create.
How many family members can join?
As many as you like on pay as you go, from the immediate family to the whole extended clan. Bundles cover up to 10, 25, or 50 people.
When do we watch it?
Most families play it after the meal, when everyone is settled. Compile whenever you’re ready, the film takes minutes, and share a private link with the relatives who contributed so they see the whole thing too.
Can this become an annual tradition?
Many families run one every year and download each film. Five Decembers in, the archive is the tradition: the voices change, the kids grow, and the toast stays terrible in the best way.
What about messages that arrive late?
Late clips land at the end, and you can re-compile any time, including for the relatives who record on the day itself.
Capture every angle of the moments you’ll never get back.
Two minutes to set up, free to create, and nothing to pay until you unlock your videos.
Will people actually record something?
They open the link and record in their browser. Nothing to install, and no account to make.
What if I set it up and nobody sends anything?
Creating a collection is free, and you pay when you unlock your videos. An empty collection costs you nothing.
What do I even ask people to say?
Every occasion page here comes with prompt ideas you can send as they are, or write your own.