What is the correct format for a Bengali wedding invitation?

Open with the invocation — Prajapataye Namah or ওঁ for a Hindu card, the Bismillah for a Muslim one. Name the bride's family first as hosts, unlike North Indian cards where the groom's father usually leads. Print the lagna precisely, give both the Bengali and Gregorian dates, and list each ceremony separately, since different guests are invited to different ones.

Whose name comes first on a Bengali wedding card?

The bride's family. This is the clearest structural difference between a Bengali biyer card and a North Indian or Marathi invitation, where the groom's father typically leads. Where a grandparent heads the household their name traditionally appears above the bride's parents.

What is the difference between Gaye Holud and Bou Bhat?

Gaye Holud is the turmeric ceremony held before the wedding, where family apply turmeric paste to the bride and groom and guests are usually asked to wear yellow. Bou Bhat is the bride's first meal at her new home after the wedding, hosted by the groom's family — which means the Bou Bhat invitation is issued in their name, the single most common mistake on a Bengali reception card.

Why is the lagna printed to the exact minute?

The lagna is the auspicious window for the marriage, calculated from the couple's horoscopes, and the ceremony is timed to it rather than starting approximately around it. Printing 8:42 PM is correct; 8:30 onwards is not. Guests read the lagna as the time to be seated by, so add a separate arrival time if you want one.

Bengali Wedding Invitation Wording Format

Q: How do I write a wedding card in Bangla script correctly?

Set it in a typeface designed for Bangla — a Latin font stretched over the script breaks conjuncts and distorts ligatures. Print the date in Bengali numerals so the fourteenth of December reads ১৪ ডিসেম্বর rather than switching to Latin digits mid-sentence. And check every name against the spelling that person actually uses, since the card is kept for decades.

What goes on a Bengali wedding card

A Bengali biyer card is not a translated English invitation. It follows an order of its own, and getting that order wrong is the kind of thing relatives notice immediately.

The invocation: Hindu cards traditionally open with "Prajapataye Namah" or an "ওঁ"; Muslim cards open with the Bismillah.
The hosts: in Bengali tradition the bride's family is named first — unlike North Indian cards, where the groom's father usually leads.
The lagna: the auspicious time, printed precisely rather than rounded to the hour.
Both calendars: the Bengali date alongside the Gregorian one.
Each ceremony: Aashirbaad, Gaye Holud, Biye and Bou Bhat listed separately, because different guests are invited to different ones.

What is Gaye Holud?

Gaye Holud is the turmeric ceremony held before the wedding, where family members apply a turmeric paste to the bride and groom. Guests are usually asked to wear yellow, so the card is the right place to say so rather than leaving it to a separate message.

Who hosts the Bou Bhat?

The Bou Bhat is the bride's first meal at her new home, and the groom's family hosts it. The invitation is therefore issued in their name, not the bride's family's — which is the single most common mistake on a Bengali reception card.

Wording for each ceremony

Aashirbaad (blessing ceremony)

Prajapataye Namah
Sri and Srimati Basu request your presence at the Aashirbaad of their daughter...

Aiburo Bhat

The last meal eaten as an unmarried person, hosted by close family and usually invited by phone rather than card. If you do print one, keep it short and warm — it is the most informal event of the week.

Gaye Holud

Come in yellow, and bring your appetite for turmeric and drums.
Join us for the Gaye Holud of Ayesha and Tanvir...

Biye (the wedding)

Sri and Srimati Basu
request the honour of your presence at the Shubho Bibaho of their daughter
Lagna: 8:42 PM, Wednesday 14 December 2026...

Bou Bhat (reception)

Mr. and Mrs. Rahman
request the pleasure of your company at the Bou Bhat
in honour of their son and his bride...

Writing it in Bangla script

Two things matter more than the wording itself. Set the card in a typeface designed for Bangla — a Latin font stretched over the script breaks conjuncts and makes ligatures look wrong. And print the date in Bengali numerals, so the fourteenth of December reads ১৪ ডিসেম্বর rather than switching to Latin digits halfway through a Bangla sentence.

Our free Wedding Invitation Generator handles both: it sets Bangla in Hind Siliguri, formats the date and time in Bengali numerals automatically, and carries wording for the Gaye Holud, Biye, Bou Bhat and the rest. Export a print-ready PDF or a PNG for WhatsApp, with no watermark and no account.

Hindu and Muslim Bengali cards are not the same card

Both are Bengali biyer cards and both follow a broadly similar order, but the details differ in ways families notice immediately.

A Hindu Bengali card opens with an invocation — "Prajapataye Namah" or an ওঁ — and for Brahmin households frequently names the Gotra of both families. The lagna is central, because the ceremony is timed to it. The sequence is Aashirbaad, Gaye Holud, Biye and Bou Bhat.

A Muslim Bengali card opens with the Bismillah, carries no lagna and no Gotra, and runs Gaye Holud, Akht or Nikah, and Walima or Bou Bhat. Timing is given as a normal clock time rather than an astrologically determined moment.

Using the wrong opening line is the single most conspicuous error you can make on a Bengali card, and it is a surprisingly easy one to introduce by copying a template from the internet.

The lagna, and why it is printed to the minute

The lagna is the auspicious window for the marriage, calculated from the couple's horoscopes by the family priest. It is not a rounded start time and should never be printed as one. "Lagna: 8:42 PM" is correct; "8:30 PM onwards" is not.

Because the ceremony itself is timed to that moment, guests read the lagna as the time to be seated by, not the time to set off. If you also want a general arrival time on the card, print both and label them clearly.

Naming the hosts correctly

The bride's family is named first on a Bengali card. Beyond that, two conventions matter. Where a grandparent or senior relative is the head of the household, their name traditionally appears above the bride's parents. And where a parent has passed away, the convention is to name them with the customary honorific rather than to omit them.

Get the honorifics right — Sri, Srimati, Janab, Begum — and check the spelling of every name against how that person actually writes it. A card is kept for decades, and a misspelt name is remembered for just as long.

One card or several?

Traditionally one card lists every ceremony, with the events set out in order and the guest understanding which they are invited to. Increasingly, families send separate cards for the Gaye Holud and the Bou Bhat, because the guest lists genuinely differ.

Either approach is correct. What causes offence is a single card listing all four events sent to someone invited only to the reception, which reads as an invitation to everything and then is not.