HelloStampedFaith and ritual
Varalakshmi Vratam invitations
4 designs
Free with an account: your invitation as a link, a QR code and a short video for WhatsApp.
Kolam
Dot-grid geometry from Tamil and Telugu doorsteps, drawn at dawn.
About this design
White dot-grid geometry on a warm ground, the way a Tamil or Telugu doorstep is drawn at dawn. Named kolam and not rangoli on purpose: alpana in Bengal and aripan in Bihar are cousins with their own names, and this family draws only the South Indian one.
Kasavu
Cream and one gold border: the Kerala sari's whole idea.
About this design
Cream and one gold border, nothing else — the Kerala sari, whose whole aesthetic is that restraint. Adding ornament to it would be the mistake; the family refuses motifs beyond the border and the pookalam.
Kalamkari
Pen-work from Andhra: uneven vegetal borders in madder, iron black and indigo.
About this design
Andhra pen-work: flowing vegetal borders in madder red, iron black and indigo. The research records two sub-styles — Srikalahasti's freehand pen and Machilipatnam's block print — and this family draws the freehand one, which is why its line is uneven and its borders never tile exactly. Deities are the tradition's most famous subject and are deliberately not drawn: a template that puts a deity on a party invitation makes a religious claim the host did not.
Marigold
A garland and toran at the head of the page, drawn as geometry.
About this design
A garland across the top and a toran hung at the head of the page, drawn as botanical geometry rather than as photographs of flowers. Warm by construction: the marigold is what a doorway wears on the morning of almost every occasion in this taxonomy, which is also why the family suits so many groups and leads none of them.
Marked by Hindu families. Usually at home and a temple, for the women of the family and family. The Friday before the full moon, July to August. Free invitation designs with RSVP and calendar, and no account for your guests.
Each one is a different visual tradition rather than a recolour of the same card. Tap a colour underneath to change the palette; every design carries your own wording, date and place.
About Varalakshmi Vratam
- When it falls
- The Friday before the full moon, July to August
- Who is usually asked
- the women of the family and family
- Where it usually happens
- at home and a temple
- How the invitation speaks
- Formal — full names, and the invitation does the asking
- Customary opening line
- “Join us for Varalakshmi Vratam”
- Colours it is associated with
- Yellow and kumkum red
- Marked by
- Hindu
Wording that works
Varalakshmi Vratam
Puja at 10, tambulam after. Please come before we begin.
Questions people ask
- Do my guests need an account?
- No, and they never will. A guest opens the link, types their name and taps Going, Maybe or Can't go. No password, no phone number, no app. If a page ever asks your guests for a password, it is not us.
- Can I text my guests?
- Only the ones who asked to be texted. A guest gives a number on their own — on our page, never yours — and confirms it with a six-digit code before we will send anything. You never see the number. Texts are limited to three per event so an invitation cannot become a mailing list, and cancelling or moving an event is never counted against that.
- Does it work in WhatsApp?
- That is what it is built for. Pasting the link shows a picture of the invitation with the date and who is hosting, before anybody taps — and the page opens in whatever browser your guest has, on any phone, including the ones that are not iPhones.
- Can guests add it to Google Calendar?
- Google, Apple, Outlook and anything else that reads a calendar file. There is a button on the invitation itself, and it works before anybody answers. If you change the time or the place afterwards, their existing entry updates — it does not add a second one — and cancelling removes it.