This July, Anant Ambani, the youngest son of India’s richest man Mukesh Ambani, will be getting married to Radhika Merchant in a lavish ceremony. As expected, the couple’s wedding invitations have created a buzz in the community, revealing the Ambani family’s penchant for luxury and customs. The invitation itself is impressive. Another orange box features an intricate painting of Lord Vishnu holding Goddess Lakshmi on his chest, housed inside a large golden box. The idol of Vishnu is surrounded by a circle around the painting. Wish you had a free gold coin for every name of God?
The orange box that opens up is embroidered with a picture of Vaikuntha, the heavenly abode of Lord Vishnu. The soothing sounds of Vedic mantras play in the background, creating an atmosphere of spiritual significance. If only prasad had been enough. Opening the invitation must have given one the feeling of entering a temple. Will we get laddoos in digital form? The main invitation card, with its detachable frame depicting various Hindu deities, is a work of art in itself. The elaborate event is made more intimate by a handwritten note from Nita Ambani, matriarch of the Ambani family. The image on the card is mesmerizing to look at as the landscape is peppered with tiny lights. Humorously, one Reddit user noted:
“This cupboard is for storing wedding cards,” one person commented, while another added: “These cards are my entire budget.”
But the surprises don’t end there – the invitation box also contains a mobile mandir with golden idols and silver-plated figures, and a gorgeous pashmina shawl made by an artisan from Kashmir.
The seamless blend of spirituality, art and culture throughout the invitation reflects the Ambani family’s abiding respect for their cultural heritage. A verse from the Rig Veda is printed on the back of the invitation, ‘I am like you, you are like me, our hearts are the same, our words are the same, our minds are the same’. We wish we were Ambanis, because that’s what they are. A dream, right? We wish we could all include shawls and mobile temples in our invitations.
The wedding festivities are scheduled to span three days, beginning with Shubh Vivah on July 12, Shubh Aashirwad on July 13 and concluding with Mangal Utsav on July 14. The couple’s engagement was celebrated with great pomp earlier this year and their pre-wedding celebrations have already been equally grand, with international stars like Katy Perry, Diljit Dosanjh and Rihanna performing at their first event in Jamnagar. Will she be celebrating ‘La Ducky’ again?
Let’s see what happens this time.
The excitement is building as the wedding day draws closer. The wedding is just one example of the lavish parties that the Ambani and Merchant families are known for. The invitations have set a high bar for a truly magnificent event that will be memorable for its beauty and the sincere bond between two families with strong traditions and values. It begs the question whether the Ambanis will go beyond their limits with the wedding. All things considered, as they say, “When the Ambanis do it, they do it big,” reads the Rs 30 lakh invitation itself.
