Mehendi invitation, with a headcount

What a mehendi invitation needs to say

The mehendi is the long, slow function of the wedding: the bride sits for hours while the artists work, and everyone else eats, sings and waits their turn. A good invite tells guests how to plan for that.

• When it starts, and how long the henna runs. Guests who want henna should come early. "From 4 pm; the artists stay till 8" saves a lot of disappointed aunts.
• Who it's for. Some mehendis are ladies only, some are the whole family, some turn into a small party with the groom's side. Say which.
• Where. The full address, and which floor or lawn if the building has more than one.
• What to wear. Something bright, with sleeves that roll up.
• Food and music. One line is enough: "Chaat and dholak from 5".
• Who it's from, so guests know which side is hosting.

Mehendi, mehndi or menhdi?

All three are the same function, spelled the way different families write it in English. Kehdoo's list of functions calls it "Mehndi". Name yours whatever your family calls it, up to 40 characters: "Mehendi", "Mehndi raat", "Ladies' sangeet and mehendi". The name you type is what guests see on the card, the page, the WhatsApp preview and the countdown.

When to hold the mehendi

The mehendi is usually a day or two before the wedding, in the afternoon or the evening, because the henna needs hours to darken before the photos. In Kehdoo's starter sets:

1. North Indian
   Mehndi, 4 pm on the first day

   The same day as the haldi, which is that morning. Sangeet the next evening.

2. Nikah
   Mehndi, 6 pm the day before

   Often called the mehndi raat, ahead of the nikah and the walima.

3. Sikh
   Mehndi, 5 pm the day before

   Ahead of the Anand Karaj the next morning and the reception.

The Marathi, South Indian and Bengali sets don't start with a mehendi. If your family holds one, add it as a function, choose "Mehndi" as what it is, and give it a date and a time. You can move every function's date and time, so the sets are a starting point, not a rule.

What to wear to a mehendi

Green is the colour most families pick, after the henna leaves, with pink, orange and other bright colours close behind. Practical beats formal: short or rolled sleeves so the henna isn't smudged, nothing that drags on the floor while you sit, and no heavy rings or bangles until the paste comes off. Put it in the dress code field, up to 80 characters: "Greens and pinks", "Bright colours, short sleeves", "Anything comfortable for sitting on the floor". It shows on the mehendi's card and under its details.

Mehendi invitation wording in English and Hindi

Lines to send with the mehendi's link. Change the names and the time; the venue, map and dress code travel with the link.

The WhatsApp messages Kehdoo writes for your invites and reminders come in English and Hindi on kehdoo.in, and in your invite's second script if it has one. You can change them before each send.

How to make a mehendi invitation, step by step

1. Start the inviteAt /e/new, add both names and the first day. The North Indian, Nikah and Sikh sets already include the mehndi; on another set, add it as a function.
2. Name it your wayChange "Mehndi" to "Mehendi", "Mehndi raat" or whatever your family says. The kind stays the same, so it keeps its 🌿 on the card.
3. Set the time and the placeThe date, the start time, and under "More for the Mehendi" an end time, the address, a Google Maps link, the dress code and a note about the henna artists.
4. Ask for repliesKeep RSVP on for the mehendi. Each reply says how many people are coming, so you can tell the artists and the caterer a real number.
5. Share itOn your hosts' page, the Share tab gives the mehendi its own link, preview and WhatsApp button, with the words written in.

A ladies-only mehendi, done with the guest list

Paste your guest list one name per line, the way it sits in your phone's notes. Add a tag as you paste, like "Meena aunty #ladies", and filter by it later. Then choose the functions each guest is asked to. A guest asked to the mehendi sees it on their personal link and answers for it; a guest who isn't asked never sees it there.

Two things to know. First, mark a private function "Only for invited guests" and the open link never shows it. Second, "Remind next" can walk only the guests who haven't replied to the mehendi, one WhatsApp chat at a time, from your own number. The guest list holds 25 names, and a household like "Kapoor family (5)" counts as one, with one link that answers for five.

Counting hands for the henna artists

Your hosts' page counts the replies for each function separately: how many people are coming to the mehendi, how many replies, how many can't come, and which side they're from. That's the number to send the artists, who need to know how many people to plan for. If you set a reply-by date for the invite, guests can change their answers until then, and the count updates as they do.

Every reply downloads as a spreadsheet. Meal choices and the names of everyone coming are coming soon.

Around the mehendi

The mehendi often sits next to the haldi the same day, and the sangeet usually follows. Each is its own function on the same invite, with its own link. Guests can add a wish and a photo of their henna to your invite's wish wall, which later plays on the screen at the reception: see the digital guestbook. For the whole wedding, start from wedding invitations.