I watched “Connected” recently, a wedding video trailer by the very talented videographers – The Wedding Filmer. Their videos usually take me on a fantasy trip where every scene is filled with love & happiness. This time though, it wasn’t just the love that made me sit up & take notice. What caught my eye was the bride’s beautiful outfits! I only caught a glimpse of them in the video, and I knew I wanted more. So off I went and contacted Anuja, the bride, who was more than happy to share all the details (and photos!) about her wedding wardrobe with us, along with a very important lesson she learnt along the way – “Don’t go shopping with someone who loves you too much!” Wondering what that means? Read on, girls!

Anuja was one of the last people in her circle of friends to get married. She’d seen the last-minute madness that ensues right before a wedding, especially with the wedding outfits! Since she’d seen all her friends go through the same thing, she was determined to not let the same happen to her. In fact, she almost managed to not repeat the same mistake for her own wedding. Almost.

You see, Anuja was set to tie the knot in January 2013. And miracle of all miracles, she had all her wedding outfits in place and ready by August 2012, a good 4 months in advance! That’s one heck of an organised bride, don’t you think? 5 outfits for all 5 functions – Youngster’s Party, Mehendi, Sangeet, Wedding & Reception.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you see it), she ended up wearing something completely different for 4 out of those 5 functions! Yes, you heard that right. She bought 4 new outfits, after August 2012.

Why? How? What happened?

The Lesson

Anuja went shopping with her mother & cousin. Her family belongs to Maharashtra where there is usually only one function – the wedding. So for her mother, it wasn’t exactly easy to envision what she should be wearing on all the other functions. As for her cousin – she loves Anuja so much she finds her pretty in everything! So although they made for an efficient shopping team (they got all outfits sorted out in 1.5 months!!!), their opinions might have been biased because they seemed to like everything she picked out. For example, if Anuja tried on an outfit she liked 50%, once she heard her “shopping team” go ga-ga over it, she ended up liking it 70% and eventually wound up with it in her closet! Anuja says,

“One should invest time in figuring out who is the correct person to shop with”

because what a bride needs is someone to be honest with her and not biased. Or in other words, “Don’t go shopping with someone who loves you too much!” See, now you get it!

So who changed Anuja’s mind about her outfits?

Another cousin of hers, who had her exams going on while Anuja was on her shopping spree, got done with her exams in August. Once she stepped in, the wardrobe underwent a massive overhaul. She was honest with her, and they changed FOUR out of FIVE outfits! I still can’t wrap my mind around that! Although I haven’t seen what Anuja had originally picked out, she definitely made the right choices with the final 5 outfits. From bright colours to beautifully embroidered outfits that fit perfectly, this is every bride’s dream wedding wardrobe:

#1 Youngster’s Party

Designer: Gauri and Nainika (Bought from Fiza store, Mumbai)

Diamond earrings jewellery: Jaipur Gems, Mumbai

Make up: Nidhi

Initially, Anuja had planned to wear a pink gown. But her cousin intervened and rightly mentioned, “Won’t a gown look too formal for an outdoors brunch? Let’s find you something ummm…yellow, light & bright!” Which is exactly what they got her then 🙂

TDB says: This outfit has all the right Fs going for it – Fun, Flirty & Fabulous! I love it! The halter neck, the flowy dress – it looks just right.

#2 Mehendi

Designer: Anushree Reddy (Bought from Fiza store, Mumbai) {Fiza has shut down, see updated list of where to buy Anushree Reddy outfits here}

Rubilite ring and kadas jewellery: Neelam Jewels, Mumbai

Make up: Cory Walia

On a shopping trip to buy her youngster’s party dress, she ended up buying her mehendi outfit! When she entered the store, the sales lady informed her that they’d just received a new collection from Hyderabad and insisted that Anuja take a look as it was “her type” of clothes. She was SO right! This pink anarkali was bought FIVE DAYS before her youngster’s party!

TDB says: I had fallen in love with Anushree Reddy’s collection on the ramp last year, and this one’s from that same collection I’ve pinned crazily from! The floral design, the light shades of pink and white net, I’m loving ALL of it. So…princess-like, angelic. I want this anarkali so bad. Husband dear, are you listening? 😉

#3 Sangeet

Designer: Abu Jani – Sandeep Khosla

Rubilite, emerald and diamond jewellery: Neelam Jewels, Mumbai

Make up: Cory Walia

Anuja had bought an outfit for her best friend’s reception a year ago that she’d never gotten a chance to wear. So she decided to debut it on her own Sangeet! She had lost a lot of weight since then, so the outfit needed plenty of alteration. However, when she went to get it altered, they said it can’t be done because “whatever we do, it will be left gaping from the back.” So once again, she needed another outfit, stat! She went to Abu Jani & Sandeep’s store where Karishma & Fleka were not exactly pumped to see her. “Why have you come back, Anuja?! NO! It’s 20 days before your wedding. We do NOT take orders that need to get done in 20 days. Just go away, we don’t even want to talk to you!” It reads like they were being mean, but honestly, they just didn’t want to make false promises because the deadline would’ve been really tight, pushing it tight! So Anuja took a chance – she just wore her Sangeet outfit and showed it to them.

“I think they actually felt bad for me!”

says Anuja. So they made her Sangeet anarkali in 20 days. She told them that the jewellery was already done, so they stuck to the same colour palette. And they were extremely professional – when they gave her a date, they actually delivered on that date. Now that’s rare in the wedding industry, don’t you think? They also made her go through 3 muslin cloth fitting sessions, because they said once it’s made it can’t be altered. But she kept losing weight, so they gave her the final piece a week before the wedding and said “Don’t lose any more weight!”

TDB says: Although I would personally not want to get into something this heavily embroidered, you can’t deny how beautifully embroidered it is. How it suits Anuja so well. And how the embroidery, though plenty, is not overpowering. Love the dash of green that lifts up the off-white tone of the anarkali.

#4 Wedding

Designer: Sari – Touch of Class Paithani; Blouse – Arpita Mehta

Jadau Jewellery: Jaipur Gems, Mumbai

Make up: Kapil Bhalla

For her wedding, Anuja had originally picked up a Sabyasachi kanjeevaram sari. But when her other cousin saw her in it, she said the sari was overpowering on her petite frame and all one could see was the pallu – Anuja was getting lost somewhere in the middle of it all! So they tried getting her a paithani sari, which is the silk sari of Maharashtra. Anuja found a designer in Pune who does only online sales, but didn’t allow people to come to her house as she works out of it and all her designs are kept there. So Anuja did what every good bride does – pestered her for a month to let her come over and try out the sari! Anuja had to convince her that she would would definitely buy something from her, but she also wanted to try on the sari design she had seen online. Once the designer realised Anuja was genuine, she finally let her come over. And Anuja, true to her word, bought that paithani sari! The blouse was done by Arpita Mehta, who picked up motifs from the pallu and did a contrasting pink blouse with threadwork & sequins. The sari was changed TWENTY days before the wedding, just FYI.

TDB says: I loved the turmeric yellow hue on this sari. It’s so captivating! And so different from what you see generally on brides. This sari is visible all over the wedding video, and it was the first outfit I fell in love with.

I think more brides should go traditional – it’s such a breath of fresh air

amidst all the same old same photocopied outfits seen on every other bride. So yes, if the place where you belong has a tradition of a bride wearing a sari (or any other wedding dress), wear it with élan!

#5 Reception

Designer: Abu Jani & Sandeep Khosla

Diamond and emerald jewellery: Jaipur Gems, Mumbai

Make up: Kapil Bhalla

TDB says: I believe this was the only outfit that did not get changed right before the wedding 🙂 It’s pretty & girly lehenga – I like it!

Photography by Niklesh Malkani and Krunal Shah

—

My favourite is that Anushree Reddy anarkali! What’s yours?

You can see all other Wedding Wardrobe posts here. If you’re a newlywed who wants to share details of her wedding outfits on this blog, send in pictures of yourself in those outfits to thedelhibride@gmail.com with “Wedding Wardrobe” in the subject line.