Nitesh Kumar Sahoo

Wedding invitation cards these days are all about fancy and alluring designs. Even though digital invitation cards or E-Cards are slowly taking over traditionally printed cards, the traditional form of invitation still remains in the flow. While some invite their guests with personalised cards including a box of chocolates or dry fruits, others prefer biodegradable cards with gift packets.

However, have you ever wondered what wedding invitation cards looked like around a century back? Yes, it could be your grandparent’s era, and imagining the trend at the time is certainly difficult. 

Recently, a wedding invitation card has gone viral on social media which is 89-year-old. The invitation note is written in Urdu. 
The invitation card is shared on Twitter by Sonya Battla. She captioned her post, “My grandparents' wedding invitation circa #1933 #Delhi.”

The invitation request on the old coffee-brown shaded card is written in Urdu, in which the person is inviting to his son’s wedding that is scheduled on April 23, 1933. 

As the card reads, “I praise and pay gratitude to Prophet Muhammad. Respected Sir, Peace be upon You I am thankful to Almighty Allah for this blessed time. Wedding of my son, Hafiz Muhammad Yousaf is scheduled on 23 April 1933/27 Zil-Hajj 1351 on Sunday."

Further, the card reads: "I invite you to come to my house situated at Street Qasim Jaan, and then accompany us to the house of Bride situated in Kishan Ganj Locality, to become part of Nikkah (Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad) and eat a meal. Walima is on 24 April 1933 / 28 Zil-Hajj 1351.Come to my house at 10 am and become part of Walima and make me thankful to you."

Groom’s father has also made a request to the invitees to be punctual. “Barat will start its journey sharp at 11:30 am. Your Punctuality will make me comfortable. Writer of the Invitation: Muhammad Ibrahim Hafiz Shahaab-ud-Din Muhammad Ibrahim, Place: Delhi," the card read.

Meanwhile, another wedding card from 1927 has also surfaced on social media. The invitation note on the card is written in Gujarati language but it came as a reply to the post shared by Sonya Battla.

As Sonya clarifies to the inquiries, it is the wedding invitation card of her maternal grandparents and she found it in her mother’s cupboard. While the other card was of the user’s grandfather. TALHA YUNUS shared this invitation card and as per his claims, it was his grandfather’s wedding invitation dated 23/12/27. 

Netizens hailed Sonya for sharing the age-old invitation card on social media and also appreciated the grammar of Urdu and the humbleness of the ancestors.

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