Sangeet & Mehendi · Janavasam · Nichayathartham · Reception
A Tamil wedding is usually two days and starts before dawn: the janavasam and nichayathartham the evening before — often with the reception the same night — then a morning of kashi yatra, maalai maatral, the oonjal, and the getti melam as the thali is tied.
We’re set up for a Tamil wedding — this is what we’d walk through with you, function by function.
Sangeet & Mehendi · Janavasam · Nichayathartham · Reception
Choose your family’s tradition and how you want to celebrate. Every function, in the order your family will expect — and what we actually bring to each one.
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How you want it
Three to five days. The complete run, done properly — every function, elders front and centre, family abroad watching live.
2 days before
01 / 07
Also: Panda Kaal Muhurtham, Pandhakal Muhurtham, Pandakkal, Muhurtha Kaal
In the days before, at home
Two quiet rites at home: the pole planted for the family deity, and the married women’s prayer.
Nothing from us — these belong to the family.
2 days before
02 / 07
Also: Sangeet, Sangeeth, Mehendi, Mehndi
A night or two before
Not part of the traditional Tamil wedding — and part of a lot of Tamil-American ones, with Tamil film songs next to the Bollywood.
A performance night run like a show. Intro videos cued per family group, a double-sided LED wall for playback, a confidence monitor so the dancers can see their own counts, moving heads for every number — and a line array that handles a live dhol and a DJ in the same room without either one turning to mush.
1 day before
03 / 07
Also: Jaanavasam, Januvasam, Mappillai Azhaippu, Mappillai Alaippu
The evening before the wedding
The arriving side is brought in procession to the hall behind live nadaswaram and thavil.
A roaming camera, light along the route if it’s outdoors, and the nadaswaram left to be as loud as it’s meant to be — miked only for the stream.
1 day before
04 / 07
Also: Nischayathartham, Nichayadhartham, Vangnishchayam, Engagement
The evening before, right after the janavasam — or a separate engagement earlier
The lagna patrika read aloud, gifts exchanged, the first change of sari.
A priest mic and an MC mic that the whole hall can follow, stage light for the exchange, cameras on the reading.
1 day before
05 / 07
Often the same evening as the nichayathartham, before the wedding — or the evening after
The couple on stage greeting a long line of guests — with a Carnatic concert, a light-music band or a DJ behind them.
A stage built for a three-hour receiving line: flattering light that stays flattering, an LED backdrop, a concert or band miked properly, and a livestream for everyone in Chennai. Then, if the family wants it, a dance floor.
The day
06 / 07
Leads the weekend
Also: Thirumanam, Vivaham, Muhurtham, Thali Kattu
The wedding morning — often starting before dawn
Kashi yatra, garlands traded on uncles’ shoulders, the oonjal songs, and the getti melam as the thali is tied.
Our crew call is often 4 or 5am. The getti melam — the nadaswaram and thavil at full force as the thali is tied — is meant to drown everything else out, so we don’t over-amplify it; we mic it for the stream and lock the cameras on the knot. The oonjal songs get a handheld, the priest gets a lav, and the koorai change gets music under it.
Inside, typically
The day
07 / 07
Also: Nalungu
The afternoon after the wedding
Games between the couple — the ring hunted for in a pot — and songs, with everyone a little giddy after the early start.
A small speaker, a mic for the songs and the teasing, and a camera close in.
01 / 07 · Panda Kaal Muhurtham & Sumangali Prarthanai
Where it applies
Not every family wants every rule, and culture isn’t the same as religion. We ask first — then we follow what applies, exactly.
Sangeet · Reception · Walima · After-party
Even the most traditional weekend usually has one loud night. Here’s what that night can look like.
Club-grade low end, and a DJ booth a touring DJ won’t complain about.
Subs sized for the room and the guest count, not the catalogue. A proper booth: two monitors, a clean power run, a mic that cuts through, a flat surface that doesn’t wobble when the floor jumps.
Beams you can actually see.
Moving lights only read as beams through haze. We run a fine water-based hazer, set low, so the room glows without anyone coughing through the speeches.
The venue realityMany hotels, temples and some estates prohibit haze, or will trip their fire system on it. We get the venue’s policy before we promise you beams — and design a show that still looks great if the answer is no.
The grand entrance, the first-dance finish, the drop at midnight.
Cold-spark fountains for the entrance and the first dance, CO2 jets on the drop, confetti for the last song. Cued from the booth, not guessed at.
The venue realityVenues decide what’s allowed, and some need sign-off from the local fire authority. Cold sparks have no flame, but they’re still an effect — we confirm every one in writing before it goes on the run-of-show.
Turn the room itself into the show.
A light-up dance floor, a 360 video booth for the reel everyone will post, and projection on walls or ceiling — your monogram, a skyline, a slow sky of lanterns.
The curfew hits at ten. The party doesn’t have to.
Wireless headphones with two or three channels — the DJ on one, Bollywood on another, something slower on a third. When the venue or the city says the speakers go off, the dance floor keeps going.
The venue realityThis is the answer to an outdoor noise ordinance or a hard venue curfew, and almost nobody pitches it. Ask about it at the first call if your venue has a cut-off.
When the elders head home, the room changes over.
We plan the moment: house lights down, haze up, the uplighting goes from warm to saturated, the subs come in and the DJ changes gear. Ten minutes from dinner room to club, with no one moving a table.
A system that still sounds good at 1am.
Open-bar timing, a late set that’s scheduled rather than improvised, and an operator who is still at the desk — not packing up — when the last song plays.
The venue realityYour venue’s licence and the city’s ordinance set the real end time. We find out what it is, then build up to it.
Tamil · Panda Kaal Muhurtham · Pandhakal Muhurtham · Pandakkal · Muhurtha Kaal · Sumangali Prarthanai · Sumangali Prarthana · Sangeet & Mehendi · Sangeet · Sangeeth · Mehendi · Mehndi · Janavasam · Jaanavasam · Januvasam · Mappillai Azhaippu · Mappillai Alaippu · Nichayathartham · Nischayathartham · Nichayadhartham · Vangnishchayam · Engagement · Reception · Kalyanam · Thirumanam · Vivaham · Muhurtham · Thali Kattu · Mangalya Dharanam · Kashi Yatrai · Maalai Maatral · Oonjal · Kashi Yatra · Kanyadanam · Mangalya Dharanam (thali) · Paanigrahanam · Saptapadi · Nalangu · Nalungu
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