The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Setting the tone

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Dec 09, 2007
ePaper

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Setting the tone

Wedding invitations are the first glimpse your guests will get of your wedding. They are the perfect opportunity to set the style and tone for the big event. Everything needs to be just perfect for the dream occasion.

Earlier, wedding cards used to be more traditional in colour and appearance. But nowadays people prefer to give a modern look to the cards.

"The traditional pink and yellow cards are out of fashion now. Only two per cent of the people, especially Brahmins, still prefer to have this type of cards" says Mr George Soundararajan, proprietor, Nila Cards, Puducherry.

Today, wedding invitations come in a vast array of exciting colours, styles, sizes and themes. Even the ’muhurtham’ cards are modern unlike the old folded types of cards. This doesn’t mean that tradition is out of date, but today the options are truly unlimited.

"People have not gone out of tradition. Even if they choose more modern cards, they want to maintain the sentiments by having the picture of various Gods on the cover page" says Mr Appaji Rao, proprietor, Kasturi Cards, dealer for Menaka cards, Cuddalore.

There are also some people who prefer to have their photos printed on the invitations but this genre of people is different from others. "Only people belonging to any actor’s fan club prefer this type of cards where in they print their photos along with that of the actor" says Mr S Elango, proprietor, Sree Gee cards, dealers of Menaka cards, Puducherry.

These people either belong to a fan club or political organisations. "Only ten per cent of people prefer photo cards and most of them belong to some political party. They seek to print photos of their political mentors along with their photos. Public figures need much needed publicity and wedding cards become a medium" says Mr George.

The handmade cards and cards made of recycled paper are yet to gain popularity among all sections of people. These cards are simple yet give a rich and subtle look, it reflects the status of the people.

"Only the highly educated segment of people prefers hand made cards as they give a neat rich look. Others don’t prefer these cards as these are slightly costlier than the regular cards," says Mr Appaji Rao.

While there are many varieties in the formal wedding cards, informal friends’ cards are gaining popularity now. Many people who wish to invite their friends for their wedding prefer small and cute friends’ cards than the regular invitation.

These cards usually contain a small poem and directly invited by the bride and the groom unlike the formal cards where the inviter is usually an elderly person of the family.

"Many people go in for friends cards that are very small in size and of a unique design. The palm leaf-like design is the most preferred among people now" says Mr George.

Nanthini Dominique