Heirlooms on Cardstock

Siya Bhambwani reminisces about when wedding cards were more than stationery — and what we've lost in the shift from paper to pixels

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There was a time when the first whisper of a family wedding wasn't a save-the-date on WhatsApp. It was the rustle of thick cardstock, the gleam of gold embossing, the faint trace of incense clinging to an envelope carried alongside a box of mithai. The Indian wedding invitation was never just a piece of cardboard carrying logistical details. It was a ritual, a sign of respect, and the first glimpse of the grandeur to come.

A CEREMONY BEFORE THE CEREMONY

For decades, wedding invites were a theatre of imagination — scrolls tied with silk threads, cards carved like miniature temples, paisleys glimmering with foil and sequins.

Choosing them was an event in itself. Families would gather in printing shops, poring over catalogues as thick as encyclopaedias, filled with velvet swatches and ornate fonts.

Even delivery had its own script. The bride or groom's family would visit homes with a carefully wrapped sweet box, perhaps a silver coin, and the invitation was handed with both hands as an exchange of blessings. Of course, in true Indian fashion, the ritual sometimes worked the other way too — a neighbour or distant relative would catch wind of the mithai rounds and appear at the door, half-teasing, half-serious: “Where's our card?” More often than not, they'd leave with one.

AMONG TOWERS OF PAPER