Bengali Wedding Invitation: Card Wording and Functions

A Bengali wedding card is recognisable before you read a word: the butterfly of Prajapati at the top, red and gold, and the words শুভ বিবাহ (Shubho Bibaho). Inside, it follows an order that every Bengali elder knows. Keep that order, and add what today's guests need on their phones: a time for each function and a map for each venue.

The order of a Bengali wedding card

1. The invocation. "প্রজাপতয়ে নমঃ" (Prajapataye Namah) with the butterfly, because Prajapati is the god of marriage in Bengali custom.

2. শুভ বিবাহ (Shubho Bibaho), the heading.

3. The invitation from the host, traditionally the father of the bride or groom, often naming the grandparents.

4. The couple, with "শ্রীমান" (Shriman) before the groom's name and "শ্রীমতী" or "কল্যাণীয়া" (Kalyaniya) before the bride's, and their parents and home towns.

5. The date in both calendars. Many families print the Bengali date (for example ২২ মাঘ, ১৪৩৩) beside the English one. Ask your purohit for it.

6. The lagna time for the wedding, and the venue.

7. Bou Bhaat, the reception at the groom's home, often on its own card from the groom's family.

The invitation wording

The set phrase near the end of a Bengali card asks guests to come with their friends and bless the couple. In Roman letters it reads:

It means "Please come with your friends and family, bless the newly married couple, and make us grateful." Elders expect it, and it is worth having it written out in Bengali script by someone in the family.

For relatives who read Hindi:

The functions to list

• Paka Dekha and Aashirbad: the families confirm the match and bless the bride and groom, each at the other's home.
• Aiburo Bhaat: the last meal as an unmarried person, cooked by the family, with all the favourite dishes.
• Dodhi Mangal: before dawn on the wedding day, the bride and groom eat curd and flattened rice with married women of the family.
• Gaye Holud: turmeric, first touched to the groom and then sent with gifts and a fish to the bride's home.
• Bor Jatri: the groom's party arrives in the evening.
• Shubho Drishti: the bride, seated on a piri and lifted by her brothers, lowers the betel leaves from her face and looks at the groom.
• Mala Bodol, Sampradan and Saat Paak: the garlands, the giving away and the seven rounds.
• Sindoor Daan: the groom places sindoor in the bride's parting.
• Bashor Raat: the night of games and songs with cousins.
• Bou Bhaat: the bride serves the groom's family, followed by the reception. This often has its own invitation.

The lagna and the long night

Bengali weddings often take place late in the evening or past midnight, because the lagna follows the Bengali almanac. Write the exact lagna time and add a dinner time, so guests know when to arrive and when they will eat. A line such as "Dinner from 8 pm" is a kindness to guests who travel.

Two cards, two families

Traditionally the bride's family invites to the wedding and the groom's family invites to the Bou Bhaat. On a digital invite you can keep both: one link with the wedding in the bride's family's name and the Bou Bhaat as a separate function from the groom's family, each with its own venue and map.

Sending it on WhatsApp

Design that suits a Bengali wedding

Red and white, the alpana pattern, the topor and mukut, the shankha-pola bangles and the Prajapati butterfly all belong on a Bengali invitation. Keep the Bengali script large on a phone. You can type your wording into any of our wedding invitation designs, or begin with a free card with name editing. For Hindi card formats, see wedding card matter in Hindi.