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From being a simple invite to a marriage ceremony, the wedding card has found many interesting and sometimes outlandish innovations.RAMYA RAMANAN on the makeover of the wedding card.
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IN AN age where wealth is the yardstick of one's status, those who have it flaunt it to the maximum. No ceremony, other than a wedding, could best express one's affluence. Those of us who prefer a simple wedding may not agree with this, but for many a wedding is an occasion of letting moolah flow like honey, extravagance and opulence being the key words.
Our weddings are rich in traditions, customs and social celebrations. All this has given birth to several secondary businesses like catering, bridal and groom wear, jewellery and of wedding invitation cards.
For years together, marriage ceremonies have been a collective reunion of people, to wish the couple a happy wedded life. The first and foremost activity in a wedding is its announcement via an invite. The Invite is a programme card, which specifies the date, time and venue of all the auspicious events.
In the past, the only form of invitation was verbal. Parents, close friends and relatives took upon themselves the task of inviting guests to the marriage. With the passage of time and advancement of technical know how, in stepped the wedding cards in a printed format.
The very first kinds of invitations were handwritten ones decorated with great care. Later it switched over to a typed version on various kinds of paper. Invitations assumed a bigger dimension as they started getting printed. More decorations, colours and styles crept in, making invitation cards both a visual treat and a very lucrative business.
Recent years have seen a shift from the usual trends. Wedding cards no more carry the common illustrations of a young couple holding hands, the simple images of Gods, or the picture of entwined hearts. They have surpassed all this to give way to the splendour of graphics and designs created by computers.
Wedding cards in metros are now adorned with the pictures of their beloved film stars, political figures and even photos of the to-be wedded couple in front of famous architec
tural buildings. Etiquette books, though prescribe the proper form of printing cards today nothing is by rule or prescribed format. Novel ideas materialize in the form of such innovative cards. The foible of printing state heads and other celebrities on Wedding cards has not yet crept in our city, but the day does not seem very far.
Wedding cards were initially made on smooth and simple paper but today they are made either of handmade paper; criss cross paper or foreign art paper. The cost of a wedding card varies with the type of paper used. A card made of handmade paper would cost more than one made of ordinary paper. According to Mrs. Solly of `Solly Johns', "The card business has made it big in the city. The Hindus and Muslims prefer grand and more decorative cards. But Christians still stick to the conventional single type cards." Custom made cards or made to order cards are very common. The customers have a particular idea and with the help of a range of displayed samples at stores, they make the necessary alterations.
At Valavi & Co, there are numerous varieties of card on display. A customer could spend hours to make a decision on what kind to choose. There are also select cards, which have a discount of 20%. "Our customer list comprises of people from all communities. People somehow have a penchant for cards with the Ganesha motif, scenes symbolizing marriage, the North Indian procession or the vidhai (farewell) of the bride", says an employee at Valavi & Co.
There are no set standard sizes for invitation cards. They could range from sizes of 10x15cms to XXL sizes of 25x30cms. There are cards of one, two or three pages. The simplest form is the single card. It is at times adorned at the edge.
The two and three pages cards come into being with folding the paper. You can see designs on the first page and the text of the invitation in the inside of the folding. The folding is sometimes ingenious which makes the card more attractive.
The most sought after patterns include combinations of Om and Ganesha printed in golden colour on a double colour background. Terracotta Ganesha painted silver and adorned with a floral border, cards bearing deities of Tirupathi richly designed on maroon background with dangling tassels are also very much in vogue.
The Muslim wedding cards usually have embossed writings from the Koran or depict a holy mosque embellished with ornamental borders. The Christian invitations are simple. They depict a bride and a groom holding hands, or wedding bells, flowers and bouquets, wedding rings- all symbols of love and commitment.
The new trend which attracts the Kochiites, is the card with a selected motif printed at the centre of a cream or off-white background bordered with a set mundu border. The design is scanned from the traditional Kerala saree and printed which imparts a traditional Kerala touch to the card. Ms.Ambika, having placed order for her sister's marriage invitation says, "We have selected a simple but elegant card. We do not believe it is necessary to get a grand one." Mrs. Gunjan Bhatia has been having a tough time not being able to decide on a particular card. She opines, "Wedding is a once in a lifetime occasion. So why not celebrate everything in a grand manner?"
Wedding invitations could range from 60 paise to Rs.60 per card. It depends on the taste, style and the budget of the clientele. With the development of instruments of communication, the methods of invitation are also fast changing. The telephonic invitations are easier and more personal. The electronic mails are also very much in vogue today. Thanks to the scanner, the invitation cards with photos are also popular. In the future, may be, virtual cards would replace wedding cards but for the time being, a marriage invitation seems to be getting more interesting by the day!
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