Digital or printed: an honest comparison

We sell digital invitations, so read this with that in mind. But we also come from families that keep the printed card from every wedding in a drawer, so here is a fair account of both.

Where printed still wins

• The elders. A card delivered by hand, with a box of mithai, is a gesture a link cannot replace for the people who matter most.
• The keepsake. Nobody frames a URL.
• The formality. For a very traditional family, the printed card is the invitation and everything else is a reminder.

Where it does not

• Corrections. Once it is printed, a wrong venue is wrong forever.
• Directions. Guests photograph the card and then type the address into a map anyway.
• Per-guest cost. The two-hundredth card costs as much as the first, and the printer needs the final list before the first one exists.
• Speed. A digital card can be live in an hour; a print run takes a week and a proof.

What most families do

Print a short run for the elders and the closest family, and send everybody a link. The link carries the details that change and the map, the card carries the sentiment. It is also cheaper than printing for everyone, because the digital side is one price however many people you invite.

If you only do one

Do the one your guests will actually open on the day. In our experience that is the one on their phone, with the venue a tap away and the timing that was corrected last night.