Printed shadi cards vs e-invites: the real cost for 200 guests

A printed card looks cheap per piece. Then you add the envelope, the mithai box, the reprint after the venue changes and the petrol for delivering it across the city. Here is a simple way to work out the real number for your own wedding, and to compare it with a digital invitation.

Printed: the parts people forget

• The card itself, priced per piece. Premium boxes and inserts can cost several times more than a simple card.
• Envelopes and printing the names on each one.
• Design and proof charges, and a second proof after changes.
• A reprint if anything changes after printing: a venue, a date, a spelling.
• Delivery: petrol, a driver, or courier charges for out-of-city guests.
• Time: a week or more for printing, and several days of delivering.

A worked example

Take 200 households, and say a mid-range card with envelope comes to Rs 150 each once printing is included. That is Rs 30,000 before a single card is delivered. Add Rs 5,000 for design and proofs, and Rs 5,000 to 10,000 for delivery and courier. A reprint of even 50 cards after a change adds another Rs 7,500. You are near Rs 45,000 to 50,000, and it took two weeks.

These are example numbers. Put in the quote from your own printer; the shape of the sum is what matters. The per-card price is multiplied by every guest, and every change costs money again.

Digital: one price

• The card: Rs 4,999, one time, with three months of access and a general link anybody can open.
• Private links, if you want each family greeted by name with their own seat count: 30 for Rs 1,500 more, 120 for Rs 3,000 more, or unlimited for Rs 5,000 more.
• Setup service, if you want us to enter everything: Rs 1,500.
• Changes: free, as many times as you like.
• Delivery: free, on WhatsApp, the same day.

For 200 households with unlimited private links and the setup service, that comes to Rs 11,499, and the 201st guest costs nothing extra. Full breakdown in what a digital wedding invitation actually costs.

What most families actually do

Print 20 to 30 cards for the elders and the closest family, delivered by hand with mithai, and send everyone else a link. You keep the gesture where it matters and save most of the printing bill. More on this in digital or printed: an honest comparison.

Before you decide

Open a design on your phone and imagine it arriving on WhatsApp from your family. If it feels right, try it with your own names, free. If you want to see all the designs first, they are in the collection.