Luxury Digital Wedding Invitations in India: A Complete Guide

Most Indian weddings are now announced on a phone. The printed card has not disappeared, and some families still send a handful to elders, but the invitation that reaches everyone, from the neighbour downstairs to the cousin in California, is a digital one.

That raises practical questions families ask us every week. Should the invitation be a still image or a video? What should it say? When should it go out, and how do you send it on WhatsApp without it feeling like a forward? This guide answers them as simply as we can.

What a luxury digital wedding invitation actually is

A wedding e-invite can be anything from a photo of a printed card to a template filled in on a phone. A luxury digital wedding invitation is something else: an illustrated card designed for the phone screen from the very first line, personalised for your family and finished with the same care you would expect from fine stationery.

In practice, that means a few things. The card is tall, made to fill a phone screen rather than shrunk from a paper format. The illustration has real detail, so it still looks beautiful when a guest zooms in. The type is set by hand, with room to breathe. And if it moves, it moves gently.

At Taarikh, every card is 1080 by 1920 pixels, sized for WhatsApp and Instagram, and illustrated in our studio rather than assembled from stock art.

Still or animated: which should you choose?

Both are beautiful. They simply do different jobs.

The still invitation

A still is a single high resolution image. It opens instantly, even on a slow connection, it can be saved to a gallery and found again later, and it prints well if an elder would like a copy on paper. If your guest list leans older, or many guests will receive it in places with patchy signal, a still is a wise and elegant choice.

The animated invitation

An animated invitation is the same design brought to life and delivered as a short video. Nothing flashy: a lantern sways, petals drift, a diya flickers, the words softly come into focus. It feels like a small film, and guests tend to watch it more than once.

Seen herePrabhatWedding invitation

Prabhat shows what gentle movement can do. Dawn on the Ganga: a boatman rows a boat heaped with marigolds and lit diyas toward the ghats, leaf-cup lamps drift ahead, and temple spires sit soft in the mist. The camera opens on the boat and rises to reveal the ghats. For a wedding in Varanasi, it says almost everything before the names appear.

A simple way to decide

• Choose still if you want something timeless, quick to open and easy to print.
• Choose animated if the invitation is the first impression of a larger celebration, or if the design has a moment worth watching, like a lotus opening or a curtain parting.
• Many families use animation for the main wedding invitation and stills for smaller events. That works well.

What details to include

A digital card has room for less text than a printed booklet, and that is a good thing. Keep each card focused, and send practical details as a message alongside it.

On the card itself:

• A blessing line, if your family uses one, such as ॥ श्री गणेशाय नमः ॥
• Who is inviting: the parents, the grandparents, or the couple themselves
• The names of the bride and groom, written the way the family would say them
• The date, day and time of each event
• The venue name and city
• A dress code or colour, if there is one, especially for haldi, mehendi and sangeet
• A short closing line, such as "Looking forward to celebrating with you"

In the message that goes with it:

• A map pin for each venue
• An RSVP contact, with a name and number
• Travel or stay details for guests coming from out of town

Many of our designs are a short suite of two or three cards, for example invitation, events and thank you, so the wedding card stays uncluttered and the schedule sits on its own page. If you need help with the words, our guide to wedding invitation wording in Hindi and English has samples for different families.

When to send

Timelines vary by family and by how far guests must travel, but these are sensible guides:

• Save the date: four to six months ahead, and closer to six to nine months for a destination wedding, so guests can book travel and leave.
• Main invitation: six to eight weeks before the first event.
• Event cards for haldi, mehendi and sangeet: with the main invitation, or a week or two later to the guests invited to each.
• A gentle reminder: a few days before, with the map pin again.

Seen hereBaghSave the Date invitation

Bagh was made for that first announcement. A peacock crosses a Mughal garden carrying a sealed invitation scroll in its beak, and the camera rises to reveal a save the date for a Jaipur wedding. You will find more in our save the date collection.

On the studio side, plan to begin your invitation two to three weeks before you want to send it. We send a proof within 48 hours, and two rounds of changes are included, but families usually need a few days to gather spellings, timings and the blessings of everyone who wants a say.

WhatsApp etiquette for wedding invitations

The way an invitation is sent is part of the invitation. A few small courtesies make a large difference.

• Begin with the elders. Many families still offer the first invitation before Ganesh ji at home or at the temple, then call elders personally before any card is sent. A phone call followed by the card feels far warmer than the card alone.
• Send to each guest individually. Avoid adding everyone to one large group. A personal message, even one line with the guest's name, turns a file into an invitation.
• Send from the original file. Save the invitation to your phone and share it fresh each time. Forwarding it from another chat can mark it as forwarded, which feels less personal.
• Use the HD option. WhatsApp lets you choose higher quality when sending photos and videos. Use it so the detail survives.
• Mind the hour. Morning and early evening are kindest. Late night messages, however joyful, are best avoided for elders.
• Follow with the details. Send the card first, then a short text with the map pin and RSVP contact, so guests can find them quickly later.

What a luxury e-invite costs

Prices across the market vary widely, from free templates to bespoke commissions. At Taarikh, we keep it simple:

• Still invitation: ₹5,000, a single high resolution card personalised with your details.
• Animated invitation: ₹10,000, the same design brought to life and delivered as a video.
• Custom design: ₹15,000, an entirely new invitation drawn from your own idea, for your wedding alone.

Your proof and two rounds of changes are always included. Cards for further events in the same design are quoted on request.

Choosing a design for every event

A wedding is rarely one event. Most families need cards for a haldi, a mehendi, a sangeet and a reception as well as the wedding itself, and often an engagement before all of it.

Seen hereNeelkamalEngagement invitation

Neelkamal is one of our engagement designs: a blue water lily bud on a still pond slowly opens, petal by petal, to reveal an engagement ring resting on its golden heart. It is a good example of why some designs are worth choosing in motion.

You can also browse by tradition, with designs for Marwari, Punjabi, Gujarati, Telugu and Malayali weddings among others, or by city, from Delhi and Mumbai to Goa and Hyderabad.

How to order

Choose a design from the collection and write to us on WhatsApp with your names, dates and venues. We personalise the card, set every line with care and send you a proof within 48 hours. After two rounds of changes, your final files arrive ready to share.

If you are still deciding what makes an invitation feel special, you may enjoy our note on what makes a luxury wedding invitation.