An Indian wedding isn’t one invitation — it’s a series of them, sent to overlapping guest lists over several months. Send too early and people forget; too late and outstation relatives can’t book trains or leave. Here is when each card should go out.
The quick answer
| Card | When to send |
|---|---|
| Roka | As soon as the date is fixed — often a week before |
| Engagement / sagai | 3–4 weeks before |
| Save the date | 4–6 months before; 6–8 months for destination weddings |
| Wedding invitation | 6–8 weeks before; 2–3 months for outstation or destination weddings |
| Haldi, mehendi, sangeet | With the wedding invitation, or 2–3 weeks before |
| Cocktail party | With the wedding invitation, or about 3 weeks before |
| Reception | 4–6 weeks before |
| Reminder | 1 week before, and the day before |
Why the wedding season changes everything
In much of North India, the busiest wedding months run from roughly November to February, and auspicious muhurat dates cluster together. Guests may have two or three weddings on the same weekend, trains and flights fill early, and venues and halls book out. If your date falls in peak season, move every step of the timeline earlier.
A countdown for your invitations
6 months before
- Fix the guest list in rough numbers, split by function. Not everyone invited to the reception comes to the haldi.
- Send a save the date if the wedding is in another city, abroad, or in peak season.
3 months before
- Finalise the wording with both families. Check names, spellings and titles with elders — see our wedding invitation wording samples.
- Choose a design for each function so the cards feel like one family.
8 weeks before
- Send the wedding invitation to outstation guests and anyone who needs to travel.
- Many families first offer a card to Ganesha or the family deity, then invite elders in person or by phone before any card goes out on WhatsApp.
6 weeks before
- Send the wedding invitation to local guests.
- Send the reception card to guests invited only to the reception, such as colleagues.
3 weeks before
- Send haldi, mehendi and sangeet cards to the people invited to each, if you didn’t include them with the wedding card.
- If the sangeet has performances or a theme, this is the latest point to announce it.
1 week before
- Send a short reminder with the map link and timings. Ask for a headcount if you still need one for the caterer.
The day before
- A last message for each function the next day: time, venue and parking or dress code notes.
Printed cards and digital cards together
Plenty of families do both: printed cards for elders and close relatives, delivered by hand, and a digital card for everyone else. The timeline is the same, but printing adds two to three weeks for proofs and delivery, so start the printed set earlier. A digital card can be designed, approved by the family and sent the same day.
How many cards should you make?
One per function is simplest. Each card then goes only to the people invited to that function, and nobody is confused about which event they’re expected at. With ShaadiCardWala you design each card free and pay ₹51 only for the ones you send — see pricing.
For sending itself — personal messages, broadcast lists and reminders — read how to send wedding invitations on WhatsApp.
