WhatsApp Invitations aren't that un-personal unless you choose to be upset...

This is about wedding invitations sent via WhatsApp and other lifetime moments that are communicated via a messenger that some people interpret as being rude or impersonal. I find this rather useful. When everything around us is getting digital, the sanctity of the wedding invitation, too, has to be transformed. WhatsApp invitations are just an extension of the way we function. It is a soft copy, contains easy-to-share data, and can be accessed from anywhere in the world. Calling WhatsApp wedding invitations cheap or impolite would be making a statement about our entire lifestyles.

While some people stick to WhatsApp invitations only when the entire event is a bit of a last-minute arrangement, or when they don't want to spend lavishly on wedding cards. However, wedding invitations were never that expensive. They get printed rather easily, and these days, the postal system or your logistics service provider can mail them instantly. The problem lies in the entire effort associated with it, more about the time you can devote to designing and creating the card's layout, rather than the spending or the slowness of the procedure. In comparison, WhatsApp wedding cards are easy to create. You have the leverage of laptops, phablets, tablets, smartphones, etc., all around with cables plugged into their energy source. You can get overtly creative here. There are no inhibitions as compared to the more intimate and lovable physical wedding invitation. This is why some couples have used different variations of their WhatsApp wedding card - a standard and a naughty version. These are shared or WhatsApp-ed depending upon the type of bonding with the guest in question. I guess the printed card does not provide this degree of flexibility.

But the romance of it all?

This aspect stands compromised. You cannot make me agree on a digital invitation as compared to the beauty of ink on paper, even if the ink was channeled through a digital system. The mechanical assembly of a printing press notwithstanding, a real, old-world wedding invitation has this charm. You can feel the texture, the choice of paper makes a difference, you carry it for some days or stack it in the drawer, you compare it with your own wedding card, or if it is from someone you hardly know, you use it as an investigation tool, trying to fathom what type of financial integrity you are dealing with! In comparison, even if someone creates an entire website dedicated to the pre- & post-nuptial phase, including the invitation web page, the impact cannot be the same. You might not have noticed, but the printed ink on wedding cards tends to age in a rather unique manner. This varies across all types of cards. Dark maroons can turn slightly purplish. The glitter on paper can turn bronze-like, somewhat vintage. Would you actually revisit a wedding invitation URL after a few weeks or months?...would it have anything different to show?