Trending: Phulkari

I generally avoid posts on what’s the latest style in wedding outfits because frankly, I’ve never been able to keep up with it and I’m usually pretty clueless about these things. The most I will do is post a few lines on my Facebook page about a new trend in wedding outfits I’ve seen lately, but that’s about it. But there’s always a first time, isn’t there?

I saw this image on the blog The Diary of a Mad Bride, and I *knew* I had to put it up here. It’s a jacket lehenga, where the jacket is full of phulkari work – from the latest collection by Manish Malhotra. In my opinion, when Manish Malhotra does something, suddenly *everyone* is doing it! So here goes, my two cents on what could potentially become a major trend in wedding outfits this year – phulkari!

At my own wedding, I saw phulkari used in outfits the guests wore:

Brides have been incorporating phulkari into their wedding outfits for smaller functions. Mehak of Peaches & Blush turned a phulkari dupatta into a corset to wear on her Mehendi.

While Prarthna, another bride, turned it into a red and yellow dress for her Mehendi (see left most image)!

Sim, another US-based bride, first sat under a phulkari chaddar during her Haldi ceremony, and once it was done she covered her head with it as a dupatta!

People also use phulkari dupattas as the “chaadar” under which a bride makes her entry on wedding day.

I had also considered doing that, as we had a beautiful dupatta at home that had been gifted to us by the mother of a Punjabi bride. But as you can see in the picture, the other side of the cloth is devoid of embroidery and color, so I chose not to use that as the chaadar.

I was introduced to phulkari work only last year, and have fallen in love with it since. It is beautiful, colourful and fits in perfectly with today’s need – people are more inclined towards bright colors, multiple colours on the same outfit, and emboridered work instead of blingy stone work. I suggest you definitely check out Manish Malhotra’s latest collection “Threads of Emotion”, and get some major wedding inspiration!

Would you consider wearing a phulkari work jacket lehenga on one of your wedding functions?