Walima invitation wording in English: 8 samples

The Walima is the one function whose invitation comes from a single, definite host: the groom's family. The Nikah may be hosted jointly, the Baraat is the bride's side's dinner, but the Walima is the groom's parents' thanks to everyone who has shared their joy, and the wording should sound like that. For families in the UK, Canada and the US it also has to explain, lightly, what a Walima is to the guests who will ask, and to say honestly when dinner will actually be served.

Eight versions follow. The Urdu and Roman Urdu originals that most of them are drawn from are on the Walima card page, and the longer discussion of what goes on the card is in Walima card wording. Brackets are yours.

1. The formal card

Mr and Mrs Nadeem Qureshi request the pleasure of your company at the Walima reception of their son Bilal and his wife Hira, daughter of Mr and Mrs Asif Malik, on Sunday 7 June at 6:30 pm at [banqueting suite], [address]. Dinner will be served at 8 pm. Traditional or formal dress. Kindly reply by 20 May.

2. With the opening the elders expect

Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Rahim. By the grace of Allah, the marriage of our son Bilal to Hira, daughter of Mr and Mrs Asif Malik, has been solemnised. Mr and Mrs Nadeem Qureshi would be honoured by your presence at the Walima on Sunday 7 June at 6:30 pm at [venue]. Your prayers for the couple are requested. This is the English of the classic Urdu Dawat-e-Walima; the word-for-word version is in Dawat-e-Walima in English.

3. From the couple

We did it. Bilal and Hira, now married, invite you to our Walima on Sunday 7 June at 6:30 pm at [venue], hosted with love by Bilal's parents, Mr and Mrs Qureshi. Come hungry: dinner is at 8. Every detail and a map are on this card.

4. Walima the day after the Nikah

Mr and Mrs Nadeem Qureshi invite you to the Nikah of their son Bilal to Hira at 1 pm on Saturday 6 June at [Masjid name], followed by lunch, and to the Walima reception the following evening, Sunday 7 June, from 6:30 pm at [venue]. On a digital card these are two functions; guests invited to the Walima alone see only the Sunday.

5. A lunch Walima

Please join Mr and Mrs Nadeem Qureshi for a Walima lunch in honour of their son Bilal and his wife Hira on Sunday 7 June at 1 pm at [restaurant or hall], [address]. Lunch will be served at 1:30 pm. Families and children are warmly welcome.

6. The Walima in Pakistan after a UK Nikah

Following the Nikah of Bilal and Hira in Manchester on 6 June, Mr and Mrs Nadeem Qureshi request the pleasure of your company at the Walima in Karachi on Saturday 19 December at 8 pm (Pakistan time) at [marquee], [address]. Guests travelling from the UK will find hotel and travel notes on the card. How to carry two countries on one card is in inviting guests across the UK and Pakistan.

7. For guests who have not been to a Walima

We would love you to join us for Bilal and Hira's Walima, the wedding dinner hosted by the groom's family to celebrate the marriage, on Sunday 7 June from 6:30 pm at [venue]. Expect a warm welcome, a lot of food (halal, alcohol-free), some speeches and a great deal of photography. Traditional or formal dress; a suit or a smart dress is perfect. No gifts are expected; your company is the gift.

8. The WhatsApp line

Assalamu alaikum! Bilal and Hira's Walima is on Sunday 7 June, 6:30 pm, [venue]. The invitation with the map and a reply button is here: [link]. We would be honoured to have you with us. The Qureshi family. More short messages for the Walima, in Roman Urdu and English, are in Walima invitation message.

Who the Walima card goes to

The Walima list is usually the widest of the week: the groom's whole biradari, his parents' colleagues and neighbours, the couple's friends, and everyone the bride's side could not fit at the Baraat. It is also the list that changes most, because the groom's family keeps adding people until the week before. On a printed card that means a second print run; on a link it means adding households to the list and ticking the Walima for them, so their private page shows the Walima alone and never the Mehndi they were not asked to. Because the Walima is the groom's family's function, send it from the groom's parents' numbers or from the groom himself, not from the bride's side, and let the English and Urdu versions carry the same names in the same order.

Small choices that matter

• Walima, Valima or Waleema: all three appear on British cards. Pakistani families mostly write Walima. Pick one.
• Say 'his wife Hira', not 'the bride'. The Walima is after the Nikah; she is married now, and the elders notice.
• Give the dinner time as well as the start time. Nobody is offended by honesty; everybody is offended by hunger.
• If the Baraat and the Walima are on one card, head the Walima clearly so guests do not confuse the two dinners. The Urdu heading Dawat-e-Walima does this job in one word.
• A reply-by date two weeks before gives the caterer a number you can trust.

The wider set of English samples for the whole wedding week is in Asian wedding invitation wording in English. Families in the UK pay for the card in pounds on the UK page; families in Canada and the US have their own pages, and the card itself is the same everywhere.