Use two fonts, three at most: a decorative one for the names and a clear one for everything else. For English, an elegant serif or a script for the names with a simple serif or sans for the details works best. For Hindi, Marathi and Gujarati, choose a Unicode font made for the script, so that conjuncts like श्री and ત્ર display correctly on every phone. And size everything for a phone screen, not a printed card.
The two-font rule
Most invitations that look cluttered have one problem: too many fonts. Each font carries a mood, and three or four moods on one page fight each other. A good invitation uses one display font for the names, and perhaps the heading, and one text font for dates, venues and everything else. A third, used sparingly for a single line such as the invocation, is the limit.
English: good pairings
All of these are free Google Fonts, widely available in design tools. The ShubhLink editor includes several of them.
| Names (display) | Details (text) | The feel |
|---|---|---|
| Cormorant Garamond | Lora | Classic and literary, suits traditional weddings |
| Playfair Display | Montserrat | High contrast and modern, good for receptions |
| Cinzel (capitals) | Lora | Formal and regal, good for royal or palace themes |
| Great Vibes or Pinyon Script | Cormorant Garamond | Romantic; keep the script to the names only |
| Parisienne | Plus Jakarta Sans | Light and contemporary, suits engagements and showers |
Scripts for names only
Script fonts are for names, never for times and addresses. A guest squinting at a curly “7” at night, on a phone, won't know if it says 7 or 1.
Hindi and Marathi: Devanagari fonts
| Font | Style | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Tiro Devanagari Hindi | Traditional, calligraphic serif | Names and invocations on wedding cards |
| Noto Serif Devanagari | Clean serif with many weights | Body text and long details |
| Rozha One | Heavy, high-contrast display | Large headings such as शुभ विवाह |
| Yatra One | Rounded, festive display | Haldi, mehndi and festival cards |
| Martel or Eczar | Readable serifs | Details, venues and family names |
| Kalam | Handwritten | Informal invitations and children's lines |
These are all Unicode fonts on Google Fonts, and they also cover Marathi, which uses the same Devanagari script.
The Kruti Dev trap
Avoid old non-Unicode fonts such as Kruti Dev for anything you'll share digitally. Text typed in them looks right only on a computer with that exact font installed; anywhere else, including your guests' phones, it turns into a jumble of English letters.
Gujarati fonts
| Font | Style | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Noto Serif Gujarati | Clean serif | Kankotri details and family names |
| Rasa | Elegant serif | Body text with a bookish feel |
| Shrikhand | Bold, festive display | Headings such as શુભ લગ્ન |
| Farsan | Playful display | Garba, haldi and informal cards |
| Hind Vadodara or Mukta Vaani | Clear sans-serif | Small text, contacts and venues |
| Baloo Bhai 2 | Rounded and friendly | Birthdays and children's lines |
Test the hard letters
Before you settle on an Indic font, type a few hard words in it: श्री, क्ष, द्ध in Devanagari, or શ્રી, ક્ષ, ત્ર in Gujarati. If any of them breaks into pieces or shows a dotted circle, choose another font.
Sizes that work on a phone
A digital invitation is read on a screen about 360 pixels wide. Text that looks generous on a laptop can be tiny on a phone.
- Names: large and unmistakable, roughly a tenth of the screen width in height for display fonts.
- Dates and times: at least the size of ordinary phone text, around 15 to 16 pixels on a 360-pixel-wide page.
- Addresses and contacts: no smaller than 13 to 14 pixels.
- Indic scripts need a little more size than English at the same setting, because of the marks above and below the letters.
Bilingual invitations
When English and Hindi or Gujarati share a page, choose fonts that look like they belong together: a Devanagari serif such as Tiro Devanagari Hindi beside an English serif such as Cormorant, or a Gujarati sans beside an English sans. Keep the sizes optically similar, so neither language looks like an afterthought. Many families find it cleaner to give each language its own page.
The colour combinations guide covers the other half of a readable design, and these design tips cover layout. If you're describing a design to ShubhLink AI, you can name the feel you want, “traditional calligraphic Hindi”, and adjust fonts afterwards in the editor; the description tips show how. More design guides are under design and style.
Questions people ask
How many fonts should an invitation use?
Two is ideal: one display font for the names and one clear font for the details. A third, used for a single line, is as many as most designs can carry.
Which Hindi font is best for a wedding card?
Tiro Devanagari Hindi suits names and invocations, with Noto Serif Devanagari or Martel for the details. All are free Unicode fonts that display correctly on phones.
Why does my Hindi text turn into strange letters when I share it?
It was probably typed in an old non-Unicode font such as Kruti Dev. Retype it with a Unicode keyboard or font, and it will display correctly everywhere.
What size should text be on a digital invitation?
Names large and clear, dates and times around 15 to 16 pixels on a phone-width page, and nothing smaller than 13 pixels for addresses and contacts.
Filed under Design & style
Written by ShubhLink Editorial Team
The team behind ShubhLink's invitation templates and ShubhLink AI. We write down what families ask us most, and check each guide before it goes live.