South Indian Temple wedding invitation video

What does the South Indian Temple design look like?

Think of the pallu of a wedding Kanjeevaram. The background runs diagonally from deep wine to a rich magenta-maroon, with faint bands of sheen across it, like light moving over silk. A pale gopuram silhouette stands behind the text. Wide gold zari bands run along the top and bottom, each with a row of maroon temple-border triangles, the same motif you see on a silk saree border. Narrow gold strips with maroon diamonds run down both sides.

In the first two seconds a double gold arch draws itself in the middle, with small gold petals crowning it and a kolam at its base. Strings of jasmine hang from the top band on both sides, the longer ones dotted with orange marigolds, and they sway gently. At the bottom corners stand two brass kuthuvilakku lamps, each with three flames that flicker on their own. Jasmine flowers fall and turn through the frame while gold sparks rise.

Names are in a flowing gold script. Function names are set in tall classical capitals that look a little like a temple inscription, so "MUHURTHAM" or "NICHAYATHARTHAM" reads with some weight. If you skip the photo, a kolam glows faintly behind the couple names. The default music is Veena at dawn, a public-domain veena recording that suits an early-morning muhurtham.

Which South Indian weddings does it suit?

• Tamil weddings at a kalyana mandapam, with Nichayathartham, Janavasam, Muhurtham and Reception.
• Telugu weddings, including those with a late-night muhurtham fixed by the lagnam.
• Kannada weddings with a morning dhare muhurtha.
• Malayali Hindu weddings, which are often short and in the morning, at a temple or an auditorium, followed by a sadya.
• North–South weddings, where one family wants the jasmine and lamps and the other needs the invite in Hindi.

The text can be in English or Hindi, or both. Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam scripts are not available yet, so names and functions are typed in English letters. Many South Indian families already send English invites to mixed guest lists. Our South Indian wedding invitation video page covers the ceremonies and wording in more detail.

How do you add Nichayathartham, Janavasam and Muhurtham?

The built-in function names are mostly North Indian, so for South Indian functions you either rename a built-in one or add your own with "Something else". Each function gets its own scene with date, time, venue and address.

When you rename a built-in function, its tagline stays. The Wedding's tagline is "As we take our pheras", which is North Indian wording. If you would rather not have it on the Muhurtham, add the Muhurtham with "Something else" instead; custom functions show just the name, date, time and venue.

Why does the muhurtham time need extra care?

Because it is the one time nobody can be late for. The muhurtham is fixed by the family priest or astrologer, and it is often early: 6:00 to 7:30 AM is common for Tamil weddings, and Telugu muhurthams can fall close to midnight. Some practical rules:

1. Put the start of the muhurtham as the function time. The video shows one time per function. Put the full window, say 7:30 to 9:00 AM, in the WhatsApp message.
2. For a muhurtham after midnight, pick the next calendar date (a 1:15 AM muhurtham on the night of the 14th is on the 15th) and say "night of the 14th" in the message so nobody turns up a day late.
3. Tell outstation guests to arrive the evening before. Janavasam or the reception is the natural reason to.
4. Use the closing line for breakfast. "Breakfast and filter coffee after the muhurtham" is a real incentive at 6 AM.

With the ₹999 invite website, guests can add each function to Google Calendar or their phone calendar, which matters a lot for a 6 AM start, and open the mandapam in Google Maps.

Wording ideas for a South Indian invite

Closing lines for this design:

• Your presence and blessings are our happiness
• Breakfast and filter coffee after the muhurtham
• Do come with family

What can you change, and what stays fixed?

You can change the names, family lines, opening blessing (Shri Ganesh by default, or none), language (English, Hindi or both), up to eight functions, up to three photos, the music, the hashtag, the closing line and up to three RSVP contacts. If your engagement is months before the wedding, make a separate engagement invitation video for it.

The silk colours, zari bands, lamps, jasmine and fonts are fixed, and so is the language limit above. For the reception alone you might also look at Modern Minimal. Making and previewing is free, and the HD video is ₹499. Relatives abroad? Our NRI wedding invitation video page covers time zones and international cards.

Questions people ask