Indian Wedding Cards UK Checklist

This article will cover the main items required on an Indian Wedding Card, which will also cover why they are important.

Religious Symbols

For many Indians, having a religious symbol, whether it be a Hindu wedding symbol such as a Ganesh or an Om for Hindu wedding cards, a Khanda or Ek Onkar Sikh wedding symbol for Sikh wedding cards or a Bismillah Muslim wedding symbol symbol for Muslim wedding cards can be the most important item on the card.  This is particular important for those that are religious and traditional.  Out of respect, the religious symbol is usually placed at the top of the invitation card, to represent the supreme power at the top.

Hindu Wedding Cards with religious symbols

For Hindu wedding cards, usually the first symbol that is used, is Ganeshji. Ganeshji is known as the remover of all obstacles. The Ganeshji symbol would usually be found on the envelope, the outer Hindu invitation cards and on the inserts as well. Other symbols can be added to the Hindu invitation depending on individual beliefs. Some other Hindu symbols would include Radha Krishna, Sita Ram, Shrinathji, Kuldevi Maa, Jalaram Bapa, Shiv, Sai Baba or an Om symbol (to name a few). Below we have an example of an Indian wedding card UK with a Ganeshji in the top right corner and an Om symbol in the top left of the Wedding insert:

Click here to see our Hindu Wedding Symbols

Sikh Wedding Cards with religious symbols

For Sikh wedding cards, there are also a number of Sikh wedding symbols available. Sikh wedding invitation cards is also known as Punjabi wedding cards. Some may opt for an Ek Onkar symbol (which means “One With Everything”). Another popular Sikh wedding symbol would be the Khanda. Lastly, some may decide to have an image of Guru Nanak. At CardFusion, we have a plethora of symbols available. For a religious symbol like the Ek Onkar, although the symbol is standard, we have a range of different variations. Below is an example of a Sikh wedding invitation with a Khanda in the top left corner and an Ek Onkar symbol in the top right:

Muslim Wedding Cards with religious symbols

For Muslim wedding cards (also known as Islamic wedding cards or Pakistani wedding cards), we often use the Bismillah symbol (“in the name of Allah (the true God)”) symbol

At CardFusion, we also offer watermark printing, whereby we can have a watermarked religious symbol on the back of the invitation text.  The watermark is subtle enough to see in the background, but not visible enough to conflict with the wedding writing on the front of it. See the below Indian Wedding Card with a watermark dancing couple in the background (suitable for a wedding reception insert):

On the other hand, many people often opt not to have any religious on any parts of their invitation cards whatsoever.  There are a couple of important reasons for this.  The first is that many invitation cards for weddings will be posted.  Once posted, these cards will be delivered by post and land on the floor at the recipient guests’ house.  This means that the invitation card with a religious symbol will be on the floor, to the dislike of many religious people, hence they leave religious symbols off their Indian wedding cards completely.  This is not a huge problem if the invitation cards will be hand delivered.  However, if the wedding cards will be hand delivered, after the wedding events, many of the Indian invitation cards will be chucked away, hence many people do not believe that anything with religious symbols should be chucked away.  There is no clear-cut answer for this and it completely depends on yours (and your families) beliefs.

Religious Lines

Before beginning with the actual wedding card information, customers often decide to put a religious sentence, many use a religious sentence that is close to them.  Here are some popular lines that can be used on non-religious wedding cards, Hindu wedding cards, Sikh wedding cards and Muslim wedding cards:

Wedding Poems (non religious quotes for weddings)

• ‘Marriages are settled in heaven but celebrated on Earth, The unity of two unknown souls written right from birth’
• “Our two hearts beat as one, Cherishing what we have from above, Dance with me forever, Dance me to the end of love”
• “The best thing to hold onto in life … is each other”
• Once in a while, in the middle of an ordinary life… love gives us a fairy tale”
• “Trusting the magic of new beginnings”
• “To All Our Wonderful Family, To All Our Cherished Friends, Our Hopes Are That You’ll Join Us For Merriment That Never Ends……”
• “The sun will shine and the flowers will bloom as we celebrate the mehndi party of the groom”
• We slipped a ring on each other’s finger and made a promise for life…Join us as we celebrate now that we’re husband and wife”
• “Our journey to find true love ends, Our journey to cherish true love begins, Together with their beloved families”
• “Love has chosen us for each other, In all its wisdom it could see, That we were always meant to be, Together.”

Religious Lines for Hindu Wedding Cards

• ‘Riddhi Siddhi Sahit Padharjo, Gauri Nandan Ganesh, Sahu Kutumb Sathe Padharjo, Bhrama, Vishnu Mahesh‘
• ‘Shree Vakratunda Mahakaya Suryakoti Samaprabha Nirvighnam Kuru Me Deva Sarva-Kaaryeshu Sarvada‘
• The Lord with the curved trunk and a mighty body, who has the magnificance of a Million suns, I pray to you Oh Lord, to remove the obstacles from all the actions I intend to perform. -O lord with the twisted trunk, with the effulgence of a billion suns, always remove the obstacles when I am on an auspicious undertaking.

Religious Lines for Sikh Wedding Cards

• “Reason is powerless in the expression of Love.”

Religious Lines for Muslim Wedding Cards

• “Reason is powerless in the expression of Love.”
• “This is love: to fly toward a secret sky, to cause a hundred veils to fall each moment. First to let go of life. Finally, to take a step without feet.” Rumi
• “Its forever you and me InshaAllah.”

More quotes Muslim quotes for wedding cards can be found by clicking here (will open in a new window).

The Couples Names

Another part of the invitation with great importance is the names of the couples.  The names are required so your guests know exactly who is getting married.  Which name goes first also has an impact on the invitation cards.  We usually recommend that if the couple want the exact same card, with the exact same wording, then the name that appears first is amended according to who is sending the card.  For example, if Sunil is marrying Amisha, then for Sunils’ cards, it reads ‘Sunil weds Amisha’ or ‘Sunil to Amisha’.  For Amisha’s cards, it would be the opposite i.e. it would read ‘Amisha weds Sunil’ or ‘Amisha to Sunil’.  These mentioned name orders are not set in stone, but it is a recommendation.  Some couples may still opt to have the wedding cards exactly the same (including the couples names’ in the exact same position).

The couples names are usually placed on two separate lines on the wedding card.  However, if there is a lot of wording on the card and depending on the layout of the invitation card, we can have the names on the same line – side by side.  Please see the examples below:

On the second example, where the couples’ names are side by side, it can be seen that additional information can be added to the wedding card. In this example, the ‘Please accept this card as a personal invitation’ and ‘No boxed gifts please’ have been moved from the bottom right corner, to below the venue address, allowing the ‘With best compliments from the Mistry family’ to be added in the bottom right corner.

Grandparents Names

For many people, their grandparents are very important to them, which is often why they would like this to show on their wedding cards.  Grandparents names are often placed near the top of the wedding card (beneath any religious symbols).  Although many families include both the paternal and maternal grandparents, around 70% of people opt to only include their paternal grandparents.  If the grandparent’s names are kept at the top of the card, this would usually mean that the invitation card is actually coming from them.  Although many people choose to keep their grandparents names at the top of the card, others decide to put it beneath their own names.  Below we have an example of both.  The first is having the grandparent’s names at the top of the card, followed by the wedding information, the second is having the parent’s names first, followed by the names of the couples, with the grandparent’s names under theirs.

If the grandparents have passed away, customers still use their grandparents’ names at the top of the invitation card, out of respect. Usually the word ‘Late’ is used before the name of someone that has passed away. This can be seen in the above examples. From our observations, we have noticed that many will put their grandparents’ names near the top (under any religious symbols) on the Indian invitation card as a sign of respect.  There is no right or wrong way for this to your invitations, it is completely personal preference.

Parents’ names

This again is similar to the grandparent’s names as mentioned above.  If on the Indian wedding card, you decide to put your grandparents’ names closer to the top of the page, then the parent’s names would be put under the names of the couples.  If you decided to place the grandparents names below yours, then near to the top of the card, it would be suitable for the parents names’.  This in essence would mean that the invitee for your wedding cards is your parents.

Wedding invitation wordings

After you have decided whether to use your names, your grandparents’ names or your parents’ names first, this will then be followed by a respectful line inviting the guests to join them in celebrating the auspicious occasion with them.  There are several different ways that this can be done.  Here are some of the most popular lines that we at CardFusion recommend and have used previously:

• Would like to request your presence to join us celebrate the wedding of our son / daughter / grandson / granddaughter… (if this line is used, then you do not need to add a separate line for the guest’s name)
• Request the pleasure and blessings of (guests name here) at the wedding ceremony of their beloved son / daughter / grandson / granddaughter
• Request the pleasure of (guests name here) to join us in celebrating the forthcoming wedding of our son / daughter / grandson / granddaughter
• Requests the presence and blessings of (guests name here) at the wedding ceremony of their beloved son / daughter / grandson / granddaughter
• Request the pleasure of the company of (guests name here) to join us in celebrating the engagement of our beloved son / daughter / grandson / granddaughter
• Request the honour and pleasure of your company (guests name here) to grace the auspicious marriage ceremony of their beloved son / daughter / grandson / granddaughter
• Request the pleasure of the company of (guests name here) to grace the auspicious wedding ceremony of their beloved son / daughter / grandson / granddaughter
• Request the pleasure of your presence and blessings of (guests name here) To attend the auspicious Wedding Ceremony of their beloved son / daughter / grandson / granddaughter
• Would like to request the presence of (guests name here) To grace and bless the auspicious occasion of their beloved son / daughter / grandson / granddaughter

Names of your guests

Following from the above, you will need to leave a line (either blank line or a dotted line) to hand write the guests names.  Alternatively, some customer may opt to have the names of their guests printed on their wedding cards so there is no manual hand writing required.  Many printing companies would be able to accommodate being able to individually print out the names of the guests on the invitations. Here is an example of how your guests’ names (and number of guests) would look if they were printed by CardFusion.co.uk:

To make the guests names stand out a bit, they could be put in different font styles (including a completely different font, italics, or in bold) or even a different colour.

Number of guests

It is always good to know the numbers around your wedding events.  It can be extremely helpful in planning for venue sourcing, catering, décor, seating arrangements and more.  This information is also useful to ensure that numbers do not spiral out of control.  Having the number of guests you are inviting on the wedding card is a good idea to keep in control.  CardFusion usually recommends one of the following layouts (to be used with in conjunction with the guests names):

• Line for guests name (        guests)
• Line for guests name ____ guests
• Line for guests name (Number of guests        )
• Line for guests name (No. of guests        )

Having the actual names and number of guests that will be attending will also help with arrangements in terms of the wedding seating chart and also the wedding place cards.  Having the names of each guest on the seating chart and then also on their respective seats will add that extra level of personalisation.  Both the wedding seating chart and the wedding place cards can also be themed.  It would look particularly nice if the theme was continued throughout the entire wedding i.e. if you opt to have a floral theme, then for the wedding décor to be floral, the centrepieces to have a floral element, the Indian wedding cards to be floral themed, the wedding place cards to be floral and the wedding seating chart to also be floral.  This will make a great impact to your guests, whilst ensuring everything is consistent and thoroughly thought from your side.  Please see the below matching floral wedding invitation card, floral place card wedding and floral wedding seating chart.

Venue details

Make sure you get the sat nave post code correct!  That is the first piece of advice that we can offer.  Speak to the venue and ensure that the correct sat nav post code is given.  Also going on the venue’s website, they may have two post codes; one for the actual venue and one for sat nav use.  This is imperative as the last thing you want is for your guests not arriving on time because they cannot find the venue.  Give as much details as possible for the venue details.  Bear in mind that particular venues have different rooms that they host events in and they may also have other functions on the same day and time as your event.  The venue name (plus any particular hall name or room name), the address, city and post code are a must.  To add the country is optional (it is useful to add the country if you have many guests coming from abroad, or if your wedding will be a destination wedding).

Date and times

Keep this as clear and concise as possible.  If you are all about punctuality, using words such as ‘prompt’ on the wedding cards will create a sense of urgency within your guests.  Writing something like ‘the wedding ceremony will commence at 1.00pm prompt’ has a level of urgency about it.  On a side note, people are prone to be a bit late, so if your function is starting at 1.00pm, writing on the invitation card for your guests to be there for 12.30pm will not do any harm. For the date of the function, use a full date rather than a shortcut such as 20/08/2022.  Your guests do not want to then check their calendars to see what day the 20^th falls on.  Again, be concise with this and keep things simple for your guests i.e. Saturday 20^th August 2022 from 12.30pm.  There is no ambiguity with this.

Will breakfast, lunch or dinner be served?

Many of your guests may be coming from another city and potentially have driven for one and a half hours or more. They would like to know if food will be served when they arrive, or should they arrange to eat before they leave. From your side, if you have made arrangements for breakfast, lunch or dinner, let your guests know this. The last thing you want is to pay for a menu, without letting your guests know and then the food to be wasted. Some customers may even provide options to their guests with regards to their preferred meal options i.e. vegetarian food, non-veg food, gluten free, vegan etc.

Dress code

Are you looking at any particular dress code for your Indian wedding? Would you like for your guests to dress up in a specific colour theme for any of your events? Many people may ask their guests that at their Indian wedding, formal Indian attire is worn, whilst at their wedding reception party, they may request ‘Formal – Black Tie’. More information about wedding formal wear can be found here: https://stylecaster.com/black-tie-formal-wear/.

Wedding RSVP details

For catering, décor, seating charts and place cards, it is important to ensure that your guests reply in time to let you know whether they can attend or not.  It also makes sure that wastage in terms of catering is minimised.  Many customers will begin with a maximum capacity in mind, say 300 for example.  From here they will have two to three lists of guests that they will invite.  The first list will be the first 300 people that they would like to attend (usually all their family and friends).  These are the people who will receive the first invitation cards.  It is worth noting that is advisable to send the invites to the first 300 people maybe around 10 weeks in advance, with a RSVP date 4 weeks after sending the invites to them.  Once you get the list back of who can and cannot attend, it is time to potentially move onto the next list of guests.  So, from the 300 people that you invited first, 250 people said that they can attend.  You can then send another batch of invitation cards to your next list and they will still have sufficient time to respond, without feeling like they are an afterthought.  We have seen on a number of occasions that some customers are actually trying to fill numbers and inviting guests one week before the function.  This can literally affect relations as well as making them look very unorganised. The couple will usually create a joint wedding email address.  This can be used for both sets of invitation cards, so they can keep on top of who has replied.

A contact number may also be used for guests to call and RSVP to.  This contact number will be different for the couple.  The groom’s side of invitation cards will reply back to a member of his side of the family and the bride’s side of guests will reply back to a member of her side.  We advise to use the contact number of the person that is the most available in terms of being able to answer calls and also who is organised.  Some customers will include an email address, a mobile number and a home telephone number.  Have a RSVP on a dedicated website created by the couple is also becoming increasingly popular as are online platforms such as RSVPify.  Although we supply wedding rsvp cards, they are becoming increasingly uncommon due to the cost (cost of the card, envelope and pre-paid stamp for your guest to send it back to you) and with most people being able to RSVP by email or phone, this is usually the most popular way to RSVP to a wedding.

No boxed gifts please

Most couples would prefer either a cash gift or no gifts whatsoever.  Long gone are the days where microwaves, kettles etc were gifted.  Although that statement is true, many people do not want to leave that door open and close it with one of the following statements on their Indian wedding cards:

• We kindly request no boxed gifts please
• No boxed gifts please
• Polite request: No boxed gifts please

This information is usually placed nearer to the bottom of the wedding card.