Sending your wedding invitation on WhatsApp, done right

In Pakistan the invitation goes out on WhatsApp whether you planned it that way or not. A printed card gets photographed and forwarded within the hour. So it is worth sending something that was made to be sent on WhatsApp in the first place.

Send the link, not a picture of it

When you paste a Dawatnama link into a chat, WhatsApp shows a preview with the couple's names, and the guest opens the full invitation with one tap. A screenshot, by contrast, is a dead end: no map, no calendar, no way to know which version it is.

One guest, one message

Private guest links are meant to be sent one at a time. From your guest list, tap the WhatsApp button beside a name and a message opens with that person's link already in it. It takes a few seconds per guest and it is the difference between 'you are invited' and 'Chachu, you and the family have four seats at the Baraat'.

Groups are for the general link

The general link is the one to drop in the office group or the cousins' group. It shows everything, addresses nobody in particular, and it is perfectly fine to be forwarded.

A short note helps

Two lines above the link do more than a paragraph: who is getting married, and when the main day is. Something like 'Ahmed weds Fatima, 10 March. Your invitation:' followed by the link.

Do not resend, just edit

If a timing changes, change it on the card. Everybody who already has the link sees the new timing the next time they open it. You never have to send a correction message to a hundred people, which is the whole point.