The 12-point checklist before you share your wedding invitation

The invitation is built, the family has seen it, and someone's thumb is hovering over Send. This is the moment to slow down for five minutes. Every wedding season we see the same small mistakes travel to 300 phones at once — a wrong year, a map pin on the wrong Sri Lakshmi Mahal, a reception time that was changed on the card but not in the message. Here is the list.

Names and families

1. Both names spelled exactly as the family writes them. Ask each side. Ananya vs Anannya is a fight you do not want on the wedding morning. If the names are in Tamil, check the script with a grandparent.
2. Parents' names and honorifics. Mr. & Mrs. Raman, or Thiru. & Thirumathi, or Chi./Sow. — pick one convention and keep it on every event.
3. Order of the couple. Bride first or groom first? Traditions differ by family; the Show the bride's name first switch flips it everywhere.

Dates and times

4. The year. It is the most common typo and the hardest to notice. Read the date aloud.
5. The muhurtham window, not just a start time. "6:30 – 7:30 AM" tells elders when to arrive. Put it in the Auspicious time field so it shows as a pill under the date.
6. Reception timing and dinner note. Guests plan their evening around "dinner will be served". If it is a lunch reception, say so.
7. Add-to-calendar works. Tap the calendar button on your own phone; the event should land at the right time in your time zone. This also confirms the date is right.

Places

8. The map pin opens the right venue. Halls share names across a city. Open Directions from the invitation and check the pin sits on the actual building, then paste the Google Maps share link — not a search link.
9. Parking or landmark note. "Parking at the rear entrance", "opposite the Anna Nagar tower" — one line saves fifty phone calls.

Media and extras

10. Photos are the final ones. Sample photos are removed automatically before publishing, but check that your couple photo is the one you want at the top. Portrait orientation looks best.
11. Live stream link is on the right event. If relatives abroad will watch, the YouTube link belongs on the muhurtham, with the IST start time in the note. If you do not have the link yet, publish without it and add it later — the same invitation updates.
12. Music plays and the volume is sane. Tap the music pill on the preview; the track should start on the second tap at most (phones block autoplay) and not drown out the room.

The test most families skip

Send the link to one uncle's phone — an older Android, not the couple's iPhone — and watch him open it from WhatsApp without help. If he finds the date, the map and the timing without asking, you are ready. If he asks "where is it?", fix the invitation, not the uncle.

After sending

• Keep the edit link email. It is your only key to the invitation — no accounts, no passwords.
• Changes go live on the same link. Do not resend a new file; send a short message: "Timing updated on the invitation — same link."
• Watch the blessing wall. The first few wishes usually arrive within an hour, and they are lovely to read together.

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