Mehndi invitation for your mehendi ceremony

Henna artists draw patterns on the bride’s hands and feet, often up to the elbows and shins, and the bride sits still for several hours while it is done and left to dry. Around her, women of the family and friends have their own hands decorated, sing to the dholak and eat. Many brides have the groom’s name or initials hidden in the design for him to find later.

Traditionally the bride’s family hosts it, usually a day or two before the wedding, in the afternoon or evening. Many grooms’ families hold a smaller mehndi of their own, and some grooms have a little henna applied too. It was once a gathering of women, and many families still keep it that way, while others now invite everyone.

• Punjabi and Sikh families often hold the mehndi on the same day as the maiyan or the jaggo, so guests move from one to the next.
• In many Muslim families the evening is called the mehndi or rasm-e-henna, with dholak songs, and each side may hold its own.
• Rajasthani and Marwari families often fill the afternoon with folk songs sung by the women of the house.
• Many families now join the mehndi and the sangeet into one long day, with henna in the afternoon and dancing at night.

Whatever your family calls it, type that name on the invitation. A short description underneath helps guests who are coming to their first one.

The single most useful line is when the artists start and finish. Guests who want henna should arrive early, because the artists work through a queue and the designs need time to dry before anyone can eat, hug or pick up a phone.

• Sleeves that roll up easily, and nothing precious near the hands, since wet henna marks fabric.
• Greens, pinks and bright colours are a common dress code; say if you have one in mind.
• Whether there is a meal or only snacks, and what time it is served.
• Whether it is for women only, for both families, or for everyone, so nobody has to ask.

Add the mehndi as one function on your wedding invitation, with its own date, time, venue, map link, description and dress code. Guests reply for each function, and you see each family’s headcount for the mehndi, which helps you tell the artists how many hands to expect.

If the mehndi has its own guest list, for example your mother’s friends from the neighbourhood, you can publish a separate invitation with only the mehndi on it. Both partners’ names are needed to publish. Pick the mehndi while setting up your invitation or add it in the editor, since templates do not bring their sample functions with them.