One invitation or one per function? Mehndi, Nikah, Baraat and Walima

A Pakistani wedding is not one event. It is a Dholki or two, a Mayun, one or two Mehndis, a Nikah, a Baraat and a Walima, spread over a week and hosted by two different families. Very few guests are invited to all of it, and the question every family faces is how to tell each guest exactly which functions are theirs without offending anyone.

Three ways families do it

The middle option is the one that causes trouble. Send a cousin's colleague a card listing the Mehndi and the Walima, and they will come to both, with good reason. If guests are invited to different functions, they need different invitations, whether paper or digital.

Who usually gets invited to what

There are no fixed rules, but most families follow a pattern like this:

The Nikah is often kept small, especially when it is held in a mosque. The Walima is usually the most widely attended function on the groom's side, and the Baraat on the bride's.

When the Nikah and Baraat fall on the same evening, many families treat them as one function on the invitation, with two times listed. When they are on different days, keep them separate: a Friday Nikah at the mosque after Asr and a Saturday Baraat at a hall are different guest lists, different venues and different headcounts.

Two families, two lists

Each family invites its own guests to the functions it hosts. Broadly:

• The bride's family hosts the Mayun, the bride's Mehndi, usually the Nikah, and the Baraat.
• The groom's family hosts the groom's Mehndi (if there is one) and the Walima.
• Both families' guests attend the Baraat and Walima, but each family invites its own people to the other's function as agreed between them.

Agree the numbers early. A common understanding is something like “the groom's family brings up to 150 people to the Baraat”, and the bride's family is invited to the Walima in return. Write it down, because these numbers drive everything else.

Building per-family function lists

The practical way to manage this is a guest list where each row is a family, with a column per function and the number of seats for each. A family might be invited to the Baraat with four seats and the Walima with two. Once that list exists, sending the right invitation to each family becomes mechanical. Our guest list guide walks through the columns.

How a tailored digital invitation works

On InviteGala you tick the functions you are holding (Dholki, Mayun, Mehndi, Nikah, Baraat, Walima, or your own) and each one gets its own date, venue, map, dress code, scene, video and card. Then you choose how to share:

• The main link shows every function, for people who are invited to everything. You can switch it off.
• A link per function, such as Walima only, for the office.
• Private links (with the Guest List package) for each family, showing only their functions and their seats, plus group links for circles like friends or colleagues.

Guests then reply yes or no per function, and you see confirmed seats against invited seats for each function separately. Read private guest links explained for a closer look, or see what each package includes on the pricing page.