The shaadi is a week, not a day
A Pakistani wedding in Britain runs across a week or more. The dholkis start it, with songs and the dhol at the house. The mayun keeps the bride at home with ubtan and close family. The mehndi is the big night, often joint, with dances from both sides. The baraat is the wedding itself, hosted by the bride's family, with the nikah if it has not been done, dinner and the rukhsati. The walima, given by the groom's family, closes it.
Each function has a different host, a different hall, a different dress code and a different guest list, and each needs numbers. One shaadi card with five inserts cannot collect them. One link can.
Mehfil, the gathering
Mehfil is the word for the gathering, and the design is the mehndi night's colour made into a page: magenta, emerald and gold on ivory. Mughal flower borders in gold frame the cover and the dark bands. A paisley medallion sits over the cusped arch that holds your names. The Bismillah opens the page, شادی مبارک sits beneath your names in Nastaliq, and Surah Ar-Rum 30:21 stands in Arabic and English on deep emerald with gold type. The functions appear as cards: the dholki and mehndi in emerald, the mayun in mustard, the baraat in magenta, the walima in deep plum. It closes with the dua and "We kindly request your duas".
If you want a quieter card for the nikah itself, Jannah and Noor carry the same Arabic in a more restrained setting, and the details move across without retyping.
What is already written for you
- The Bismillah in Arabic with its translation, and Shaadi Mubarak in Urdu as the tagline.
- Surah Ar-Rum 30:21 in Arabic and English with its source. Clear the Arabic line if your family would rather keep the text of the Qur'an off a page with dinner timings, and the translation stays.
- Both families: "The parents of the groom" then "The parents of the bride", with "kindly request the honour of your presence at the Mehndi, Baraat and Walima of their children". Swap the order for the baraat card, where the bride's family invites.
- Five functions to edit: Dholki, Mayun, Mehndi, Baraat, Walima, each with its host, its dress note and a line about what happens.
- The order of the baraat: guest arrival, baraat arrives, nikah, dinner, rukhsati.
- A dress code ("Yellows, greens and oranges for the mehndi; please avoid red at the baraat") and the gift line ("Your presence is the gift. Kindly, no boxed gifts please.").
- Lamb, chicken, fish and vegetarian on the reply form.
- The closing dua, in Arabic, transliteration and English, with the request for your guests' duas.
Replies for each function
The reply form asks for a yes or no and a meal choice per person. Add "Which functions will you be joining?" with the five as options and every reply says who is coming to what, so the mehndi caterer and the walima caterer each get their own number. Ask ladies' side or gents' side for the seating plan, or whether a household needs the coach from the mosque.
Give every household its own link with their names on it, with a note at the top: "Please join us for all five functions" for the family, "You are warmly invited to the walima" for the wider community. One guest list, tagged, and the export carries the tags.
Sending it
Paste the link into the family group, or send each household its own by WhatsApp. For the walima, where the list runs to hundreds, the open link lets a family who were invited by word of mouth reply by entering their names. Our Pakistani wedding invitation wording guide has the Urdu and English lines for every function, and the events guide explains the week for guests who are new to it.
What it costs
One payment of £40, VAT included, for any number of guests and functions, live for a year from the day you pay. That is the launch offer; the usual price is £59. Nothing to pay until you are happy with it. Four hundred guests at the walima cost the same as forty at the mayun.
Your own web address
Your invitation lives at yourname.invalia.io out of the box. Connect a domain you already own from the dashboard, at no extra cost.
Good questions
- Is the Urdu set properly?
- Yes. Shaadi Mubarak and any Urdu line you add are set in Noto Nastaliq Urdu, right to left, with the deep line height Nastaliq needs. The Arabic is in Amiri with full vowel marks. Every line is a field you can change.
- The bride’s family hosts the baraat and the groom’s the walima. Can the invitation say so?
- Yes. Each function card names its host in the note, and the families at the top can be in either order. Many families make two invitations in the same account, one for the baraat and one for the walima, each with the right family first.
- Can guests say which functions they are coming to?
- Yes. Add the question to the reply form with the functions as options. The answers come through with every reply and export with the guest list.
- Can we invite the whole community to the walima without a guest list?
- Yes. Share the open link. Households who were not on your list reply by entering their names, and you cap how many people a reply may include.
- Can we keep the nikah separate?
- Yes. Put it on the baraat card as part of the day, or make a separate nikah invitation with Jannah or Noor in the same account, with its own guest list.
- Do guests need an app?
- No. They open the link in WhatsApp and reply from their phone. Elders can be helped by anyone with the link, or can search their name on the page.
- Is it one price for any number of guests?
- Yes. £40 one-off (the launch offer, usually £59) covers any guest list and any number of functions, live for a year from payment.
Make yours this evening.
Preview it on your phone. Pay once when it’s right.