Like Sonam-Anand, young couples are going for e-invites
Actor Sonam Kapoor and fashion entrepreneur Anand Ahuja have ditched paper invites for their May 8 wedding in Mumbai and have sent out a customised e-invite that guests would flash on their phones at the venue entrance. This is an approach taken reportedly for the sake of sustainability. And this idea has struck several digitally-inclined, regular young couples, too.
Wedding planners say that eco-friendly invites are popular with young couples nowadays. “We recently did a wedding where there were no paper invites and no mithai ka dabba. E-invites were sent by e-mail and WhatsApp. These e-invites are innovative and the younger generation is looking at things that are easier and simpler,” says Vandana Mohan, wedding planner.
E-invites are cheaper to create; can be easily updated in case timings or venues change; save postage hassles; and they can also make tracking RSVPs easier. E-links for everything that your guests require, including maps and menu options, are useful additions to the e-invite.
Wedding invites in the form of videos are a part of this trend. “These invites are cheaper than the huge boxes of invitations, leading to less wastage. Video invites often include images from a prewedding shoot, compiled to make an invite. Many couples want to share their love stories through customised animation [clips], followed by the invite,” says Saloni Doshi of Happy Invites, a company that makes such video invites.
Amanpreet Sassan, a 27year-old designer who wed in February, says that friends and family loved her e-invite. She says, “We got a video made, along with an e-link, to decrease the workload of sending out wedding cards. We hadn’t expected people to be so receptive, but they loved the video.”
However, the traditional printed invites aren’t left in the dust. “Yes, the [digital wedding invite] trend is evolving, but there are families who, after conversations about e-invites, come back and say that a ‘real’ invite is also important,” says Punit Jasuja, wedding planner. The paper invite is important for family elders.
Bridegroom-to-be Anshum Valecha, a 29-year-old businessman, agrees, saying, “We’ve got e-invites and printed invites — sending sweets is a tradition and a wedding card is something relatives look forward to.”