Wedding cards and invitation ideas

Wedding invitations are not really that important - said no bride, ever!

These timeless keepsakes are arguably the first thing to be fussed about on a presumably long list of wedding preparations. And rightfully so!

Wedding cards are little windows into the actual ceremony, offering your special guests a glimpse of the big day. They are cherished for years to come, and have certainly evolved to mean more than just inviting friends and loved ones to witness your special day.

Modern wedding invitations have certainly come a long way from the traditional British Town crier, walking through the streets and announcing the news of the day. The way for written and printed wedding cards have been paved and the options to choose from are endless.

For the wedding planners on a budget, you can never go wrong with a typical but classy embossed invitation card. Adorned with floral patterns for a spring wedding or autumn leaves for fall and a single encrusted stone on the envelope, these simple yet stylish cards are your go-to. These are probably the cheapest, and prices range from Tk 26 apiece. If you adore simplicity with a slight touch of extravagance, you can always choose pop-up wedding cards. The pop-up image inside the card can be of the Eiffel Tower to give it an air of modern romance or a vague template of a bride and groom with traces of glitter to take it up a notch. These can easily be bargained for Tk 100 per card.

If you feel like creating a truly unique invite, branching far out to vintage booklets as wedding invites, with the sketch of the matrimonial couple to be the first thing you see as you open it, could be your calling. These literary but rather expensive versions of wedding invites are just as classy and have to be especially requested. In fact, go the extra mile and opt for a scroll invitation reminiscent of the golden era for the classic feel of royalty.

While it is very important to select the right type of card, the fonts and the prints of the content are equally debatable. Typically though, cursive fonts announcing the bride and the groom's names in all their glory are known for their traditional value.

Modern options, however, extend from elegant gold-foil letterpress wordings on embossed surfaces, custom calligraphy prints for an artistic and sophisticated look or even shimmered engravings of unique monograms.

And the depth of planning does not stop there!

Presenting the much fussed-about ceremonial card to a loved one has evolved to be representative of certain family values and traditions. People aim to please and during a wedding this is truer than ever.

Aim for the limelight by opting for themed mini shopping bags equipped with panoply of wedding supplies: boxes of traditional sweets, pairs of colourful glass bangles matched with traditional attires of saris and sherwanis, presented with a royal maroon, printed card complemented with a bouquet of scented flowers.

For some, however, keeping things humble is more important than showy displays. In that case, just a box of sweets from the best confectionary in the area teamed with your individualistic wedding card, perfectly tied with a graceful, silk ribbon can set just as strong an impression.

If you think you can do better than traditional cards, choose to pull out all the stops with music box invites, complete with a wind-up key, a melodious tune and figurines of the bride and groom holding up the actual invite as you open the box.

Shops at New Market specialising in all things bridal offer such extraordinary invites and you can expect prices to be anywhere from Tk3000-5000 apiece. Another exciting direction to venture into is going for a crystal bowl, with the actual wedding card sitting atop the bowl filled halfway with gold-leaf sweets. Thus, the invitation ideas are truly infinite.

Wedding cards are much more than just some writing scribbled down on heavy paper. They take a lot of effort, are well thought-out, personal and often a ritualistic part of a wedding ceremony; they are beautiful keepsakes that you will want remembered for years to come, and are thus, very important, to say the least.