Business schools will tell you that first impressions decide your entire career. Now, we’re not hinting that the future of your marriage is hinged on whether you chose to go with glossy or matte, but the wedding invitation does set the tone for the spectacle to follow. We asked invitation specialist Kanika Gupta of Iktaara to help ensure you’re making the right choices.
Budget: Rs 500- Rs 1000 per card
If you want to be traditional and send out printed cards, invest in a good quality design over fancy embellishments like foiling or metal leafing. Simplicity spells elegance, so focus on the choice of fonts, images and colours. You could add an accessory to highlight the theme — a key or a hot seal on the envelope, perhaps?
Budget: Rs 2,000 – Rs 5,000 per card
This is a good budget because you can now turn your card into a gift. A customized box or lamp could become a permanent addition to someone’s living space.
Budget: Rs 5,000 or more
This budget allows you to make it a complete sensorial experience, instead of focusing only on visual appeal. You could add fragrance by incorporating aroma candles, so when one opens the invite, it smells beautifull. You can even have a special case for shaddi ki mithaai (or kale chips if your tastes veer that way).
Colours and shapes
When planning a wedding, choosing colours is often a primary focus. Choose paper stock and font colours that reflect the overall style of the wedding. If you choose a light card stock, go with a dark font and vice versa. This helps with overall legibility. Most people default to traditional rectangular wedding invitations, even though there are more options. While a rectangle is classic , a circle may feel more whimsical, and a square may seem more modern.
Style and theme
Do you picture yourself as a modern bride or prefer classic styles? Is your wedding focused on a particular theme, such as a time period or location, or is it more about a certain feeling? Make invites that guests would like to preserve — avoid plastering your name and photos on every square inch of it. Include surprise elements that are useful like tulsi seeds (to grow in the name of the couple), aroma candles, teas or nuts.
Keep the content simple
The information on a wedding invitation needs to be clear and concise. While certain formalities, such as spelling out everything (including the time of the ceremony), lead to more text, you don’t want to overcrowd the card. Trying to fit in extra details requires the text to be smaller and that can make it harder to read.
It’s easy to overlook errors when we know what the invitation was meant to say. Since you have many of these details at the tip of your fingers, you are not the ideal proofreader for your own invitation. Have the proofs checked by a few friends and family members. Make sure the date and time are accurate as well as the spelling of any names and locations. Ensure that everything is in sync, right from your WhatsApp ‘Save the Date’ and notes to envelopes and invitation bags.
