After saying yes, comes the crucial part of saying yes to the dress. Our eight simple tips will help you lock in on that perfect outfit for your dream wedding.
1. Follow Instinct
While we do encourage you to scroll through the latest trends, we urge you to go by your instinct. Your comfort is just as important. Keep yourself open to new ideas as you browse through the myriad colours, textures and styles till you find the one that ticks the three boxes of comfort, style and grace.
2. Get Time On Your Side
We recommend you start shopping for your bridal ensemble at least 3 months in advance. A custom lehenga that meets your exact preferences will take time. The follow up trials and fittings can go on longer still. To save yourself from all the stress, start early.
3. Dress According To Season, Not Just According To Style
Take into account the location, climate and occasion before buying your wedding lehenga. You don’t want to find yourself baking in a heavy set during summers or freezing in a lighter set in winters. For a summer wedding, opt for light-weight fabrics, brighter colours, and fewer embellishments. On the other hand, winter weddings call for thicker fabrics, heavier embellishments and full-sleeved lehengas.
4. Different Function. Different Look.
Wedding ceremonies are a time to look your sartorial best. So, go ahead, follow that trusty instinct of yours to experiment and have fun.
Try for an Indo-western look for your mehendi and sangeet – a fun cropped blouse and a light lehenga with pockets, something you can comfortably move and dance in.
Go classic on your wedding day with a lehenga you can see yourself wearing beyond the big day.
You can go contemporary for your reception ceremony with a bright happy lehenga with a more western style blouse. If, incase you have to stand for quite a few hours, make sure you pick a weightless lehenga just so that you remain comfortable throughout the event.
5. Colour me good
While you may be tempted to reach out for the traditional reds, there are many other hues to choose from. Colours such as soft pinks, baby blue, and emerald green are becoming increasingly popular. Pick one that flatters your skin tone. Though you might have come in with a certain colour in mind, it’s always best to try on different shades of colours of pinks, reds, blues and so on and then decide.
Once you wear them and look at yourself in the trial room will you actually know what works best and what you want to get married in. A day wedding calls for lighter colours. For a wedding in the evening, go for darker colours – ones that shine in artificial lighting.
Zeena Lehenga with Balendra Sherwani
Eka Lehenga with Ahan Sherwani
6. Co-ordinate with your better half
If you want to coordinate with your partner, make sure you have a discussion and decide what both of you are comfortable with. You need not co-ordinate your look with that of your partner to the T, but you need to make sure that it remains in sync with what you’re wearing. This can easily be achieved by wearing complementary colours and styles or by having a few elements that remain consistent in both your looks. This also makes sure that you look great in the wedding and pre wedding pictures.
7. Compliment your decor
Another important aspect to remember whilst bridal shopping is to make sure you match your look with the wedding decor. If you have finalised the decor, then choose complimentary colours that work with it. Colours like red, oranges, pinks, peach are all from the same colour zone and would work well together. The same goes for blues, shades of purple, teal and greens.
If you still need to decide on the decor, then make sure that you show your wedding planner your final looks so that they keep the colours and look in mind whilst working on the design.
8. Accessorise with care
Your bridal accessories can make or break your wedding ensemble.Go for statement pieces that contrast the ensemble or one with hues that compliment your look.
It’s your wedding day, making it the ideal time to go all out. India has a vast variety of jewellery so why not mix and match and wear different styles to different events.
For the wedding deck up with a mathapatti, jhumkis, choker, haathphool and kadas. For the other fuctions, chandballis, nath, bangles, maangtikka, pasa, rings etc are all the styles that you can wear and choose from based on your overall look.
Crystal Pasa With Pearl Strings
If you have already bought your jewellery, or if you are wearing a vintage piece, make sure you carry it along when you go shopping for your lehenga so that you can see how the whole look comes together and visa versa.