Manifest Spotlight: RVR Pro and RVR Eventz & Design

Badminton sensation PV Sindhu and Hyderabad-based businessman Venkata Datta tied the knot late last year in December, amidst the regal allure of Raffles Udaipur. Everything from the bride’s stunning gold-hued Manish Malhotra lehenga to the location and wonderful wedding rituals that we got a glimpse of online, the wedding quickly joined the celebrity weddings that occupy a permanent spot on our inspiration boards. Priya Maganti, the mastermind behind the beautiful wedding, says it was as magical as it looked in the photos. “We were all so sentimental and shed tears with her (PV Sindhu) as she walked down the aisle for her varmala,” says the founder of RVR Pro and RVR Eventz & Design, “It was so heartwarming to see her as a bride, she’s been an athlete all her life and it was touching to see her embrace her softness as she enjoyed getting married to her soulmate.” 

The founder of the wedding photography and event planning company talks to Manifest about her journey, working with couples to bring their dream weddings to life and more... 

In Conversation With Priya Maganti Of RVR Pro and RVR Eventz & Design. 

Manifest: Tell us a little about how the journey started. What inspired you to establish RVR Eventz & Design and RVR Pro?

Priya Maganti: So, I've been working since I was 18. My father used to have a channel here. And I was hired as a program director back then. I’d actually introduced some of the finest anchors and directors of our current industry. Then I moved to the US, I did my master's and lived there for a solid eight years. When I came back I wanted to pursue something I was already interested in or had a knack for. Since my family is well-versed in media, I wanted to pursue something in that arena. Creating content for weddings, or covering them visually is an elaborate and fairly detail-oriented process. It’s not as rushed as other forms of media, such as television.  

But when we started RVR Pro, we wanted this to be a production house that covered multiple things. Then as time went by, I realised that covering weddings gave me a kind of fulfilment that is beyond money. You receive a kind of instant appreciation, there is an adrenaline rush in photographing a wedding which I think I wanted, unknowingly. I also was inclined towards understanding aesthetics – colours, interiors etc. When I started RVR Pro, I felt that there was a general lack of awareness around the role that decor and lighting play in how wedding photography.  

Cut to the present day, and I’ve planned and photographed close to 2000 weddings, and I’ve enjoyed using my creative skills to do so very much. I find joy in being creative and going above and beyond for my clients. And most of all, I enjoy being a planner a great deal! 

M: RVR Eventz & Design and PRO is known to plan spectacular destination weddings, what have been the biggest challenges and upsides that come with doing that?  

PM: I think when you’re planning a destination wedding, you’re called to be more organised, but at the same time, it’s risky working with vendors outside of India, especially those who do not understand Indian wedding essentials such as what a mandap is and how to build it correctly. 

So, although travelling the world and covering weddings in different locations is exciting, it also comes with a lot of ambiguity and doubt. But my moto at RVR is to keep the client happy, we want them to be reminded of their wedding and how beautiful it was at every one of their anniversaries. 

M: Which destinations do you see becoming trendier for weddings in 2025? 

 PM: Europe is becoming quite popular. But a lot of traditional and orthodox South Indian families like to stick to safe and secure destinations. Many are open to experimentation, but they’ve to see it to believe they can plan a wedding in certain location. 

But Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant’s wedding really opened a door for Indians to plan weddings abroad. So many countries have recognised just how expensive, grand and luxurious Indian weddings can be and are now more than happy to accommodate Indian weddings and organise the visas for them. A recent wedding I planned in Bahrain went so well, the accommodation was more than happy to let the guests bring duty free alcohol in for the after party.  

In fact, I’ve been in conversation with a small-scale Italian boutique stay that wants to host an Indian wedding! It’s a great year for Indian weddings. 

M: You’ve planned PV Sindhu and Venkata Datta Sai’s wedding, what was that experience like? Do you have any memorable stories or memories from the occasion? 

PM: I really miss them as a couple, we spent six months planning their wedding and so we spent a lot of time together. I would end the day talking to them. I would know when each of her matches were, we would discuss the ones she would win. And in the beginning stages of getting to know her and work with her, we didn’t quite know how to approach her on the days she lost a match. I recall speaking to her and empathising by saying she played well, and I how sorry I felt that she lost. To this, she brazenly and very honestly replied and said, no I know I did not play well, and it’s okay, some days are bad.  

This inspired me in more ways than one. There is a lot one can learn from her. She has an advanced mindset, and she is PV Sindhu for a reason. And she’s definitely more than the athlete that we all know and adore.  

As for her wedding, I always treated her as a bride, first and foremost, not as a sports icon. And that always creates room for better communication between the client and the planner. For that reason, I believe she was so much more comfortable being particular about the details of her wedding. While choosing the varmala, we decided on a red one. So, her lehenga was red, her varmala was red and we also had planned on having a red carpet. Even though this is usually unheard of, because many brides want a contrast in their weddings, I encouraged her to go with as bold a choice as her personality is.  

Sindhu’s husband Datta is a very family-oriented person. He would ask about my son, about my Instagram post. Whereas Sindhu would be as focused as me and would discuss every important thing in a single meeting. So, it was great fun working with them.  

M:  What are some wedding decor and designing trends you can see becoming popular this year? 

PM: I think weddings are now all about personalisation. Every wedding is going to look unique now.  

M: What is the biggest wedding you have planned till today, and what was that experience like? 

PM: There are two kinds of big weddings. One kind is big because of the number of guests and the other is big because it’s a celebrity wedding. For me, personally, a celebrity wedding feels like a bigger project, because there is a lot of pressure to get things right as your client is someone in the public eye. And even though after doing a celebrity wedding, I always tell myself I am done taking up such grand scale weddings, I find myself taking them on again. I think I love the beautiful adrenaline rush that comes with taking them on!  

M: Can you recall a funny or absurd situation where you had to come up with a last-minute solution to a problem while you were planning a wedding?  

PM: There was a wedding where I had to build a mandap from scratch, with my team, because the vendors got the measurements wrong. But except for that, I can’t think of anything else! I think I plan things with so much precision, I try to leave very little room for anything to go truly wrong. I can proudly say that in the 12 years of my work in this industry, I’ve made sure to run my checklists with my team multiple times. 

 M: What do you enjoy most about capturing people’s weddings, and which do you prefer: wedding filmmaking or photography? 

PM:  I honestly can’t choose between the two. Both are special and have a function. I am incredibly particular about our wedding films. It does not matter which part of the world I am in, I will always look at it before sharing it with the couple. As for photographs, we’ve come so far, modern-day cameras can capture the smallest details and invoke such great emotion. And at the end of the day it’s all about the client’s satisfaction.  

M: Do you see any photography trends rising to popularity this year? 

PM: Art representation in wedding photography is trending right now. I think wedding photography is only going to get more experimental. For instance, purposely blurring images for wedding photography is something that many photographers are experimenting with right now. So, it’s only going to get weirder, and that’s great! 

Manifest Cheat Sheet 

M: Who do you think should come to RVR Eventz & Design or RVR PRO to get their wedding planned?  

PM: Anyone who wants to try something new, anyone who does not want to play it safe and throws challenges at us! 

M: How would you define your style of work? 

PM: I think my style of work is incredibly focused on personalisation.  

 M: How far in advance should clients reach out to you? 

PM: Six months. 

M: Can you give us an insight into the pricing details of your services? 

PM: It depends on the nature of the project.