The Hindu weddings are absolutely unique in many aspects as compared to any other religion in the world, and same is the case with Hindu wedding cards. While most of other religions ignore the fact that a wedding card is the representative of their culture and religions, Hindu families have always been considering the invitation cards highly sacred and auspicious. The first invitation is always sent to the highly worshipped god Ganesha, who is an elephant-headed god of wealth and wisdom. It is believed that after receiving invitation, lord Ganesha comes to the home of hosting family and stays there for more than a week, till the all events and programs get complete without any trouble. The first invited gets a special place on each printed invitation through his sacred worship mantras and a fascinating image on the front page, in most of the cards.
The traditional types of wedding cards are the most popular in Hindu families, which carry an impression of their culture and beliefs. Especially, the handcrafted cards are highly preferred, considering their personalized layout and design. In most of the wealthy families, the wedding card is distributed coupled with a small pack of sweets to spread cheers among friends and family members.
On the information front, these wedding cards somewhat similar to the cards of other parts of the world, containing detail like a wedding venue, family and profile of bride and groom etc. Some families also prefer to mention the names of their enterprises along with contact details to create a further impact. However, unlike the western cultured marriages, guests are not asked to carry cards along with them as an entry pass to the ceremonies. The family members of groom are invited with garland and tilak, which further enhances the uniqueness of this occasion.
However modern the society has become and whatever progress technology has made in the field of printing, still the scroll invitations are one of the most preferred invitations for marriage. Though modern means such as email, social networking sites, SMS and WhatsApp have to an extent helped people remind about the marriage but the invitations are still the most sought means of inviting guests. These alternate means or popularly called as secondary means are apt for the sake of reminders only and as the wedding cards are part of the tradition so these cannot be avoided in any marriage.
Also, with the new innovations in printing, the cards have not only become more affordable and bulk printing is ultra-affordable, these have also become too myriad in terms of color, design and patterns. Earlier when card printing was painstaking, these days it is all digital and multiple designed cards can be printed instantly. In addition to this, card printing has also taken a next step with the advent of digital printing and now these are more affordable than ever. Indian tradition and wedding cards have very close connection and this is the reason why these have only evolved to a better footing than fading in use.
