Page 9 - Anantmaya Handbook 2020 - 2021

The history of wedding invitations
(A) HISTORY OF transformed the turn of the 18th century when

reading and writing was a sign of education.
INVITATIONS The 18th century marked the beginning of the

social etiquette of sending invitations but this
was limited to the elite class only as the access
It all started in the Year 1400s where the
to the formal education to read and write was
invitations were communicated orally by
limited only to them .The invite was often
getting into the roofs of the host’s houses
closed with a wax seal of the family crest
and communicating till the ear spot
which is another sign of the status of the invite
reached. In the middle ages, the process
families. Calligraphy was mainly used for
of an invitation was done as a town crier
invitation as it was considered a royal gesture.
who would simply announce the wedding
in the square and whoever was in earshot
was essentially invited to the celebra-
tions.

The era beginning with the 1600s saw
remarkable growth in the announcement
of weddings using paper. The invention of
the Metal plate, engraving in 1642 opened
up the world of specific wedding
invitations. The texts were reverse IMAGE COURTESY : LESLIEANDPAPER
engraved onto a metal plate, and
stamped on the paper to get the printed
impression.

ANANTMA Y A 9