Punjabi and Sikh wedding invitation wording, from the Anand Karaj to the pheras

A Sikh card begins with the Guru's word rather than a deity, and many quote Guru Amar Das on Ang 788 of the Guru Granth Sahib, who says that a husband and wife are not those who merely sit together, but those who have one light in two bodies.

A Punjabi Hindu card follows the North Indian pattern: Ganesha at the top, the hosting family, the couple and their parents, then the pheras, usually at night after the baraat and the jaimala. Its programme shares the Punjabi functions with a Sikh card, from the choora to the doli.

Punjabi weddings begin with the roka or the chunni chadai, and the week before brings the mehndi, the sangeet, the maiyan or vatna and the jaggo. On the wedding morning the bride's maternal uncle gives her the choora, red and ivory bangles to which friends tie kalire, while the groom's family holds the sehra bandi and the ghodi chadna before the baraat or the milni. Print each with its own time, since relatives often choose which days to join.

The first sample is a Sikh card from the bride's parents; the second is a Punjabi Hindu card from the groom's. Swap the hosts and the son or daughter to suit the side that prints it.

The jaggo, the night before the wedding when relatives carry a pot of lit lamps through the neighbourhood singing, and the maiyan, the Punjabi haldi, are hosted at home and need short messages of their own.

Guests at a gurdwara cover their heads, take off their shoes and leave tobacco and alcohol outside, so say so in the invitation's notes; many families keep a basket of scarves at the door for those who forget.

The Anand Karaj is a morning ceremony, so print the milni time and ask guests to arrive before it. Close relatives still receive the card in person, with sweets or dry fruit, and the family's elders expect a visit.