Rajasthani wedding invitation for a royal Marwari or Rajput wedding

Marwari and Rajput cards usually open with Lord Ganesha and the family’s kuldevi, and often name the eldest of the family before the parents. Many Marwari families also give their native town alongside the city they live in now, which helps relatives place the family.

Hindi cards often close with two lists: the nivedak, family members who extend the invitation, and the darshanabhilashi, those who look forward to seeing you. A bal manuhar from the children of the house, asking guests to come to their chacha’s or bua’s wedding, is a much-loved touch.

Rajput families often keep titles such as Thakur or Rao, write the thikana or village with the family name, and use Kanwar in women’s names. Type these exactly as the family writes them: the invitation shows your wording as typed.

Several functions are shared with other North Indian Hindu weddings, but some are particular to Rajasthan, and their names vary between families and regions.

• Tilak or sagai: the bride’s family visits the groom’s home to apply the tilak and confirm the match.
• Mayra or bhaat: the mother’s brothers and her family of birth arrive with clothes, jewellery and gifts for the bride or groom and the household. Many families give it its own time and place.
• Pithi: the turmeric ceremony at home, called pithi or pithi dastoor in many families.
• Mehndi and mahila sangeet: henna, folk songs and ghoomar, usually led by the women of the family.
• Baraat: the groom sets out on a ghodi in a safa, with the baraat dancing behind him.
• Toran and phere: in many families the groom touches the toran at the bride’s door before the jaimala, and the pheras follow.
• Reception: often hosted by the groom’s family once the bride has come home.

Fort and palace weddings in Jodhpur, Udaipur or Jaipur often spread across several spaces in one property: a courtyard for the mehndi, a lawn for the sangeet, a terrace or rampart for the pheras. Name the space on each function, not just the property, so guests are not left wandering a large estate.

Outstation guests need more than a date. Say who arranges pickups from the airport or station, where guests are staying, and what to wear: safas for the baraatis if the family is providing them, leheriya or bandhej for a day function, and a shawl for winter evenings in the desert.

Each function on the invitation has its own date, time, venue and map link, and guests reply for each one. You see each family’s headcount for the mayra, the baraat and the reception separately, which helps when booking rooms and transport.

A royal wedding invitation card from Rajasthan usually borrows from its architecture: jharokha arches, marigold torans, mirror work and deep reds, saffron and indigo. Desert Jharokha draws a jharokha arch over the dunes with a swinging marigold toran, and Pichola Moon sets the invitation beside a moonlit lake in Udaipur. Blue City Nights brings jharokha light and mirror work from Jodhpur.

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