Invitations, holiday greetings, old photos and tributes

The occasion sets the rules: an invitation must carry the names, the date and the place without a single wrong letter; a holiday greeting must be forwardable to a family group; old photos must still look like the people; a tribute must stay calm. Generation runs on varg: REST https://api.varg.ai/v2 (the varg-ai skill) or the MCP server https://mcp.varg.ai/mcp (generate_image, generate_video, generate_music, call_tool, get_job, estimate_cost). Quote the price before anything runs.

1. Which occasion

Occasion	What people want (searches, Oct 2026)	Format	Reference
Invitation / save-the-date	"ai wedding invitation video", "save the date video", "invitation video for whatsapp" (851 suggestions)	A card or envelope that opens onto the names, date and place; 15–30 s, 9:16	references/invitations.md
Holiday greeting	"ai christmas video", "christmas card video", "ai new year video", Diwali, Eid (386)	An animated card, a snow globe, a lamp-lit story, a family scene; 10–30 s	references/holidays.md
Old photos brought to life	"animate old photos", "bring old photos to life" (222)	Restore, then a gentle motion per photo, cut to music	references/old-photos.md
Anniversary / love story	"ai anniversary video", "ai wedding video" (339)	The couple across the eras, ending where they met	references/old-photos.md
Memorial / tribute	"memorial video ai", "celebration of life video", "retirement tribute video" (254)	Restored photos, slow motion, words from the family	references/old-photos.md

2. Ask, then go

• Exact words: names as they are written, the date, the time, the place, the RSVP line, the greeting. Read them back to the person before you generate anything that prints them.
• Photos: the couple or the family (with their agreement), old prints scanned flat, or none (an illustrated card needs no face).
• Style: pick one look (references/styles.md): pop-up card, envelope, illustrated card, snow globe, diya glow, 1990s film, cozy holiday still, retro home video.
• Where it goes: WhatsApp or iMessage (9:16, under 60 s, send as a document to keep quality), Instagram story (9:16), a screen at the venue or the service (16:9).
• Music: an original track (eleven_music_v2_5 for a song with words, mureka_9_5 for an instrumental) or a public-domain piece; never a commercial song on a public post.

3. Stills first, then motion

1. Print the words on a still with gpt_image_2_5: quote every word and spell it ("the words "ANNA & LEO" and below "12 JUNE 2027 · LISBON", spelled exactly like that"). Read the still at full size; if one letter is wrong, regenerate. For anything longer than a line or two, leave the space empty and add real type later (HyperFrames or an editor): generated paragraphs smudge.
2. Make the matching first frame as an edit of that still (generate_image with reference_image): the card closed, the envelope sealed, the photo still faded. Same table, light and angle.
3. Animate between them with seedance_2_5 first and last frames: files: [first, last] and provider_options: {piapi: {input: {mode: "first_last_frames"}}}. The model moves from the closed card to the open one, so the words land exactly as printed. For a single photo, image-to-video on kling_v4 or wan_3.
4. Music and export with scripts/assemble.sh (scales, joins, lays the track, -14 LUFS, H.264 + AAC).

curl -s -X POST https://api.varg.ai/v2/video -H "Authorization: Bearer $VARG_API_KEY" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"model":"seedance_2_5","duration":8,"aspect_ratio":"9:16","resolution":"720p","audio":true,
       "files":[{"url":"CLOSED_CARD_URL"},{"url":"OPEN_CARD_URL"}],
       "provider_options":{"piapi":{"input":{"mode":"first_last_frames"}}},
       "prompt":"<timed beats: the card opens, the paper scene rises, the names settle; paper sounds>"}'
bash scripts/assemble.sh -s 0 invite.mp4 music.mp3 clip.mp4

4. Check before you send

• Every name, date and place matches what the person gave you, letter by letter, in the last frame.
• Faces still look like the people (eyes, smile lines, glasses); old photos keep their grain and era.
• Nothing extra appears: no new guests, no rings or logos, no extra pages on a card.
• A festival greeting shows the festival respectfully: lamps, food, family, lights; no deities unless the family asks for them.

Tested

2026-10-30, a fictional couple "Anna & Leo": the open pop-up invitation on gpt_image_2_5, 9:16 (22 credits, the names and "12 JUNE 2027 · LISBON" spelled right on the first try), the closed card as an edit of it (23 credits), then seedance_2_5 first and last frames, 8 s, 720p, with sound (280 credits): the cover swings open, the paper arch rises layer by layer, and the names and date land sharp and unchanged in the last frame, with paper sounds and a music-box chime. https://s3.varg.ai/files/72c55813-c0fa-4cf2-9f64-ec4f7ed0e7ae/file_e1ac8b0f8d63.mp4

Old photo, a fictional 1962 seaside couple: nano_banana_2_1 restore and colorize as an edit (5 credits, both faces kept), then 5 s of gentle motion on kling_v4 (79 credits: she turns to him and laughs, he smiles down at her, a slow push-in, the faces and the 1960s color and grain kept). https://s3.varg.ai/files/72c55813-c0fa-4cf2-9f64-ec4f7ed0e7ae/file_34e07d214ef1.mp4

Rules

• Consent: animate a living person's face, or a family's old photos, only with their or the family's agreement. Never a celebrity, a public figure or a stranger.
• The dead: no party effects, no making them speak or sing unless the family asks; keep the film private unless they want it shared.
• Children: use the family's own photos only, deliver privately, never post a child's face publicly.
• Label realistic AI footage as AI when it is posted on social media.

Related skills

varg-birthday-video (birthdays, the song with the name), varg-consistent-characters (the same faces in every shot), hyperframes (real type, envelopes and title cards rendered from HTML), varg-video-editing (real wedding footage), varg-ai (models and prices).