Actor Allu Arjun’s brother, Allu Sirish, married his girlfriend of two years, Nayanika Reddy, in a traditional Telugu wedding in Hyderabad on March 6. Devanshi Patel, founder of Shreem Events, who has planned the weddings of Hardik Pandya-Nataša Stanković, Viraj Gehlani-Palak Khimavat, and was part of the artist management team for Anant Ambani-Radhika Merchant’s wedding, talks to Hindustan Times about it. She reveals details about everything from the traditional ceremonies to the challenges of a high-profile wedding like Sirish’s.
Warm and inclusive wedding for Allu Sirish-Nayanika Reddy
Devanshi has planned over 650 events since she launched her firm in 2013. She has had requests about everything from 20 hours of non-stop celebrations with no breaks in lieu of a pre-wedding to 12-13 days of festivities with 300 artists. However, Sirish and Nayanika, who met her three months before the wedding, had one directive. To ensure the wedding felt warm, welcoming and deeply personal.
“Both Sirish and Nayanika are known to be calm, grounded, and deeply caring individuals, and they wanted the celebrations to reflect that. Rather than creating something extravagant purely for visual appeal or trends, the focus was on crafting a wedding that felt authentic, meaningful, and spiritually connected to their roots. While many of the functions brought together close family, friends, and well-wishers in person, the festivities were also shared with a wider audience through telecast,” she says.
Sirish’s wedding had guests ranging from politicians and celebrities to VIPs. The pre-wedding reception held on March 2 was where things really kicked off after a bash in Dubai. “Ensuring smooth entry and exit for guests at the reception, while maintaining privacy and security, was a major focus,” explains Devanshi, adding, “Special QR-based invitations were implemented to streamline access and help manage the flow of guests throughout the evening, which was envisioned by Allu Aravind and Allu Sneha Reddy.”
Not just Sneha and Aravind, all family members chimed in to ensure Sirish and Nayanika had the wedding they dreamt of. “Every member, from Sirish and Nayanika to Sneha, Allu Arjun, Niharika’s husband Abhinav, and Pravallika, contributed to creating a celebration that felt heartfelt and welcoming. A key part of shaping the overall celebrations was the involvement of the families,” says Devanshi.
Gajra stations to banti bhojanalu at the wedding
Sirish’s wedding featured everything that most Telugu folks associate with traditional weddings. “Guests were welcomed with traditional gajra (jasmine garland) stations and other regional touches that celebrated Telugu heritage. The celebrations also included a banti bhojanam meal, where guests were seated together and served an Andhra-style wedding feast,” says Devanshi.
Sirish was specific about not skipping any wedding rituals at a time when weddings tend to crunch it all into a few minutes. Devanshi says that his wedding to Nayanika followed all the rituals of Ganesh puja, jeelakarra bellam (cumin jaggery), talambralu (rice with turmeric), panigraham (accepting hand in marriage), mettu (toe rings), saptapadi (seven steps), the playful ungrala binde (ring in the pot) and more, which could take up to several hours.
And to celebrate his love for Nayanika, Sirish decided on a special mehendi. “A particularly touching personal detail was Sirish imprinting mehendi on his hand along with the traditional namam, a sacred Tirupati Lord Balaji symbol, reflecting his cultural roots. He also had Nayanika’s name written in the mehendi, making it a deeply personal gesture that beautifully reflected the couple’s bond,” says the planner.
And behind the scenes of the banti bhojanalu and gajra stations were Devanshi and her team, who were well aware of the security requirements of this wedding. “The family has an immense fan following, and the level of public enthusiasm around the celebrations was extraordinary,” she says.
“Measures were put in place to manage controlled entry points, prevent gatecrashing, and ensure smooth movement of guests in and out of the venue. Dedicated security teams and bouncers were stationed at key access points, while road movement and arrival logistics were carefully planned to avoid congestion. Separate teams handled hospitality, security coordination, and operations, ensuring everything functioned smoothly behind the scenes,” she rounds off.
