Guide

Mangni invitation wording

A mangni card announces that a date has been fixed. Three wordings, from the parents or the couple.

What a mangni card says

The mangni is the engagement: the two families meet, gifts and sometimes a ring are exchanged, and the match is announced. Some families give a ring and some prefer not to, and a gold ring is not given to the man, since gold is not permitted for Muslim men. The card is lighter than a nikah card because nothing is being solemnised, but it still opens with the Bismillah and still names the parents, because the point of the evening is the two families. The mangni is hosted by either side, depending on region and family: in some traditions the groom's family visits the bride's home, in others the reverse. The card comes from whoever hosts; joint cards are common too.

The engagement goes by different names: Mangni or Nisbat in the north and among Urdu speakers, Sagai in some communities, and simply Engagement in many city families; southern families may use a word of their own. Use the word your family uses.

Because the wedding date is often not fixed yet, a mangni card does not promise one. It invites you to the engagement, and leaves the rest for later.

Mangni card and nikah card

Families sometimes ask whether one card can do both. It should not. The mangni card is sent to the close circle weeks or months ahead, and its job is to introduce the match; the nikah card goes to everyone, later, with the dates that matter. Sending the two together muddles both. What a mangni card can do is carry the date of the nikah at the foot when it is fixed, so relatives can hold it; the full card still follows. The other functions, the manjha or haldi, the mehndi, the sanchaq, get their own cards or their own lines, not a place on this one.

Wording you can copy

Small things that matter

• Name the hosts. At a mangni the guests are mostly relatives, and relatives want to know whose house they are coming to.
• It is fine for the card to be small: one evening, one venue, one time.
• If the nikah date is already fixed, a single line at the foot, "Nikah, Inshallah, in March", is welcome. If it is not, say nothing.
• A mangni card rarely carries a photograph; there is no need for one.

The card that fits

Mangni was made for exactly this: an envelope with a wax seal, and a ring that turns as you scroll. No photographs needed.

Make it with Mangni See it first

More guides: Nikah invitation wording, Walima invitation wording, Hindu wedding invitation wording in English, South Indian wedding invitation wording, Engagement invitation wording, A digital wedding invitation in India: how it works.