First look at Anirudh Ravichander and Kavya Maran's exquisite blue and white wedding reception invite: A timeless keepsake with intricate 3D carvings

Ranjani Iyengar of Pink Whistle Man designed the one-of-a-kind architectural invite for Anirudh Ravichander-Kavya Maran's grand wedding reception in Chennai.

When a chart-topping music composer and a media heiress are about to marry, you think the invite is going to be extra. But Anirudh Ravichander and Kavya Maran just flipped the script. Forget flashy designs and gold foil overload. Their wedding reception invitation is an elegant architectural keepsake.

Not just invite, but sculpted antique art

Designed and handcrafted by Ranjani Iyengar, founder of design atelier Pink Whistle Man, this is not your standard envelope invitation. We're talking a heavy, three-dimensional box in a dreamy palette of powder blue, ivory, and silver. The outer structure is covered in floral and scrollwork carvings, secured with silver-toned hinges and a silver-finished oval crest. It looks less like a wedding invite and more like a sculpted antique relic you're meant to keep forever – and that was exactly the point.

The brief was classic, not cluttered

According to Ranjani, the brief came straight from both families and the couple, with Kavya being super hands-on throughout. "The brief was to create something very classic, elegant and timeless, but at the same time, something that had keepsake value, almost like a relic that people would want to hold on to," Ranjani told HT Lifestyle. "Kavya was very involved in the process, and we worked quite closely together because she's great with attention to detail," she added.

Anirudh and Kavya specifically did not want something overly personal or colourful that told their love story in graphics. They wanted something soothing, restrained, and structurally stunning. "The idea was to keep the invitation classic without making it too personal or explicitly telling their story through the design. They wanted soothing colours, so we worked with a palette of powder blue, ivory and silver. The intention was to create something that felt elegant and distinctive without being overly colourful or cluttered," Ranjani said.

This was not just design; it was engineering

The box opens via multiple doors to reveal layered stationery inside, but holding that much carved weight while keeping the design intact? Major challenge. "The box itself is extremely intricate and unique in its construction. Figuring out the structure was quite complex because it had to support the lids' weight while maintaining the intended design. This involved working through the construction details and procuring specific, exclusive parts to bring the box together," Ranjani explained. It took an entire village of craftspeople, print specialists, and her printer's team to pull it off.

Each piece was handcrafted and hand-painted to preserve the integrity of the 3D reliefs. Inside, the stationery is just as luxe — fine foil stamping, detailed relief embossing, vellum overwraps sealed with custom wax emblems. Maximalist in craft, minimalist in colour.

"The colour palette was another important aspect. Everything follows the same tone, with powder blue and ivory forming the primary colours, complemented by silver details. While the design has a maximalist element to it, we wanted to exercise restraint and ensure that it remained easy on the eyes," Ranjani said.

When is the wedding?

The invites have reached big names across politics, business, and cinema — from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, and Telangana chief minister A Revanth Reddy to top film and business personalities are on the guests' list.

Anirudh and Kavya will reportedly marry in Greece an intimate ceremony in November with only close family and friends. The grand wedding reception is set for November 21 in Chennai.