How to make a wedding invitation video on your phone

What do you need before you start?

The typing takes ten minutes. Collecting the details is what takes an evening, mostly because three people in the family group have three different times for the sangeet. Sort these out first and the video almost makes itself.

• Both names, spelt exactly right. If the invite will be in Hindi or bilingual, get the Devanagari spelling too (is it शिवांगी or शिवाँगी?). Ask the person, not the cousin who thinks they know.
• The family line, if you want one: “Mrs Sunita & Mr Rajesh Sharma”, written the way the parents want it. Some families add Smt. and Shri, some add both sets of parents.
• Every function with date, time, venue and area. Mehendi, sangeet, haldi, the wedding, the reception. Up to eight fit in one invite.
• A Google Maps link for each venue. Open the venue in Google Maps, tap Share, copy the link. Check it points to the right gate, not the back entrance used by the caterers.
• One to three photos of the couple, if you want photos at all.
• One to three RSVP contacts with phone numbers. Usually a parent and a sibling or cousin who will actually pick up.
• A wedding hashtag, if you have one. Optional.

Put all of this in one WhatsApp message to yourself first. When you open the editor, you just copy and paste.

How do you make the video, step by step?

Open Nimantran in Chrome or Safari on your phone. There is no app to install and no account. The editor has six steps across the top, and a live preview that plays as you type.

1. Design & names. Pick one of the seven designs, for example Royal Maroon & Gold. Choose the language: English, हिन्दी, or Both. Type the two names. Usually the bride’s name comes first on the bride’s family’s invite and the groom’s on the groom’s, but that is your call.
2. Save your private edit link. When you press Next, a box pops up with your private edit link. Tap “Send it to myself on WhatsApp”. There is no password, so this link is how you get back to the invite later, from any phone.
3. Family & blessing. Choose the opening: Shri Ganesh, Bismillah, Ik Onkar, a Christian verse, or no blessing (it opens with your initials). Type the family lines, or leave them empty to skip that scene.
4. Functions. Add each function with its date, time, venue, address and the Google Maps link. Use the arrows to put them in order. Pick “Something else” for a tilak, roka or cocktail night and type your own name for it.
5. Photos & RSVP. Add up to three photos, the hashtag, up to three RSVP contacts and, if you like, your own closing line.
6. Music. Pick one of four built-in tracks (veena or strings), no music, or a song file from your own phone.
7. Download. Play the preview from start to end. It has a “PREVIEW” watermark. When everyone is happy, pay ₹499 for the video or ₹999 for the video plus an invite website, by UPI or card.
8. Make my video. Choose Full HD 1080p (or 720p on an older phone), tap “Make my video”, wait for it to finish, then tap “Share on WhatsApp” or “Download”. Grab the e-card image too.

You can switch designs any time. Your names, functions and photos stay as they are, so try two or three before you decide.

Which photos work best in a wedding invite video?

The video is tall, like a phone screen, so portrait photos fill it better than wide ones. The first photo appears with your names. If you add two or more, they also get their own scene.

• Portrait, not landscape. A photo taken with the phone held upright suits the vertical video.
• Faces big enough to see. A photo of just the two of you works better than the family group photo where everyone is a dot.
• Daylight or good indoor light. Dark restaurant selfies look muddy on a small screen.
• The original file, not a forwarded copy. Photos that have been through WhatsApp three times lose sharpness. Ask the photographer or the couple for the original.
• Pre-wedding shoot photos are fine, and so is one nice photo from the roka. You do not need a professional shoot to make this work.

Photos are optional. Plenty of families skip them, especially when the elders would rather the invite look like a traditional card.

How long should a wedding invitation video be?

Aim for under about 45 seconds. People watch invites on WhatsApp between other messages, and by the 50th second Fufaji has already replied “Congratulations” and moved on.

Nimantran sets the length from what you add: about 25 seconds for one function, growing to about 50 seconds for six or more. Each function gets its own scene, so the simplest way to keep it short is to include only the functions that this guest list is actually invited to.

If the haldi and mehendi are only for close family, consider two invites: one with every function for family, and one with just the wedding and reception for everyone else. Each invite is paid for separately (₹499 each), so decide whether the split is worth it.

What should you check before you pay?

Send a screen recording of the preview to Mummy, or just hand her the phone. She will spot the thing you missed. Then go through this list yourself:

• Every name, letter by letter. Bua’s name spelt wrong will be remembered longer than the food.
• Dates against the day of the week. If the pandit ji gave you “Shanivar”, make sure the date is actually a Saturday.
• AM and PM. A 7:00 wedding means very different things to the caterer and to the guests.
• Venue names and areas, the way locals say them.
• RSVP phone numbers. Call each one once. Yes, really.
• Each Google Maps link opens the right place.

You can still edit after paying and download again as often as you like, so a late change from the pandit ji is not a disaster. But catching mistakes before the video reaches 300 people saves a lot of “please ignore the earlier message”.

How do you send the video on WhatsApp?

On most Android phones, tap “Share on WhatsApp” on the download screen and pick a chat. On an iPhone, tap “Download”, then share it from Photos or Files. Older iPhones record the video in real time, so keep the screen on for the 30 to 50 seconds it plays.

• Send it to yourself first and watch it once on WhatsApp, with sound.
• For elders and close rishtedaar, send it one by one with a personal line, not as a forward. A call first is even better.
• Send the e-card image along with the video. Some phones do not autoplay videos, and the e-card shows every function on one page.
• Posting in the 400-member family group is fine for cousins and friends. Just do not let it be the only invite Nani gets.

For the message to go with it, see our WhatsApp invitation messages. For timing, read when to send wedding invitations. If you take the ₹999 plan, you also get an invite website link that guests can open for directions, calendar reminders and RSVP.

What are the other ways to make a wedding invite video?

A template tool is not the only option, and it is not right for everyone.

• General video editors (Canva or CapCut style). Free or cheap, and you get full control. You also do all the layout, fonts, timing and Hindi typing yourself. If you are handy with these apps and have a few evenings, they work well. The popular wedding templates do get used by a lot of families, though.
• A freelance designer. Typically ₹1,000 to ₹10,000 and two to five days with drafts going back and forth. Worth it for hand-drawn caricatures, your own video clips, a landscape version for a venue screen, or a script like Tamil or Telugu that we do not support yet.
• A DIY maker like Nimantran. ₹499, about ten minutes, made by you, and you can edit it any time. Seven designs, English and Hindi only.

Our wedding invitation video price guide compares the costs in more detail.

Questions people ask