The vow factor

A wedding is a huge event in one’s life (it is not called your big day without a reason) and everyone in the family puts in a lot of effort to ensure that even the minutest of details are taken care of. But in this mad frenzy of preparations, the wedding card comes a little below the venue, dress and food in the pecking order; even though it is the first step to the ceremony. No wonder, after all, how much excitement can staid invites with pre-set templates produce?

Enter illustrated wedding cards — personalised, custom-made invites to announce your date to the world in style. More and more couples are opting for this artistic and expressive way of reaching out to their guests. Says Taaneya of ‘Illustration Much’, “Illustrated wedding invites are no longer just fancy pieces of paper with the date, venue and other details. They are great artistic keepsakes for a couple to tell their love story — where they met, how they met, things they enjoy as a couple and their journey so far. It’s an intimate way of inviting those closest to you to your big day and, in a way, sets the tone of the wedding.”

Mekala Murali of ‘Pathrika’ agrees and says, “Brides and grooms nowadays want to make a personal statement at their weddings and try their best to steer clear of the usual wedding collateral. This ranges from what they wear to how they want their invitees to perceive them. An invitation is the very first glimpse an invitee gets into the wedding, much like a trailer! Tweaking them and adding fun illustrations sets the tone for the event and intrigues the invitee to expect bigger things at the wedding itself.” Since customised wedding cards are expensive, these are generally made only for a close circle of friends and relatives. Or they can be sent as e-invites, says Vimal Chandran, a well-known name in the circuit. “Sometimes people get it framed too; as a memory of their wedding.”

Vimal's journey started when a friend commissioned an illustration for a wedding invite. Since then, Vimal has captured the love stories of many a couple in his sketches. “I ask the couple to tell me their story, the places they have visited, about some incidents or events in their life and so on. I pick one which I find interesting and want to highlight. So it can be as adventurous as a trek up a mountain to something as innocent as a scooter ride on a rainy night.”

It is such small moments that creators aim to capture in their sketches. Says Taaneya, “Our most memorable project would probably be the very first wedding invite we designed as soon as we started our company — for Shubha and Sriram. The invite illustration consisted of all their favourite places in Bengaluru where they began dating and fell in love. I hold a special affection for the places we illustrated as they reminded me of home, where I am from and our start as a company.”

When asked about her favourite illustration, Mekala lists out quite a few, each sounding funny and crazy at the same time.  “There is this card I designed for Varun and Archita — the main illustration was pretty straight forward; a Tamil Brahmin bride and groom reading a newspaper because both of them work in the print industry. When you start looking into the details, all the fun elements start popping at you. I had highlighted all the typical things one would hear in a Tamil Brahmin wedding — the priest shouting out instructions that nobody can understand, a ‘maami’ boasting about her NRI husband, a granny pointing out that your turn is next... Then there was a super-cute card I did for Natramizh and Rajgowtham. It traced the timeline of the couple's relationship from the time they met to the wedding day. The highlight was the quirky finger art theme used to illustrate this timeline. The one I did for Meghana is one of the zaniest cards I have done till date. A wedding procession was illustrated for this card. If you take a closer look, you will find some really weird people and funny caricatures right from the bride's pet to an over-curious auto fellow,” she says. 

“I took up this sort of art because I was passionate about it and also because it gave me a chance to listen to people's stories and be a part of their experiences,” adds Vimal. “And some of these are really crazy. I remember a girl who recollected how she celebrated her boyfriend's birthday by putting up flex boards of him on an entire stretch of road and then writing his name on a beach with LED lights. It was surreal, much like the card I designed for them," he explains, smiling. It is said that every love story is special. And what better way to immortalise yours than put it down on paper for the world to see?