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Wedding Exhibition #1 - Bride & Groom

8 Jul

I visited a wedding exhibition for the first time today. It’s called Bride & Groom, and is running at Hotel Ashoka in New Delhi (7-9 July, 2012). Heading into an exhibition can feel a little chaotic at first - so many stalls, so little time. We reached at 11.30 am and already the place was getting a little crowded. It wasn’t so much because of the number of visitors, but more because of the limited space each stall has. It feels slightly cramped up, but if you arrive early enough it should be quite manageable.

Since there was so much to look at, we were slightly lost at first. There’s everything under 1 roof - trousseau designers, invitation card designers, jewellery designers, photographers, caterers, wedding planners, even mehendi-walas! They come in from all parts of the country, and from all over Delhi-NCR region. From Jaipur to Kolkatta, Ludhiana to Mumbai. From Rohini to Noida, from Lajpat Nagar to Rajouri Garden. This is one of the biggest advantage of an exhibition. Most of your wedding planning needs under one roof. Extremely useful. If you’re wondering if they’re worth a visit, they most definitely are. Here’s a list of trousseau desginers I liked at this exhibition:

  • Zaina (Designer Sarees & Suits) from Rohini, New Delhi - I bought one pretty white saree from here. They most definitely had some really pretty sarees.
  • Ashneet from Pitam Pura, New Delhi
  • Preevin from Karol Bagh, New Delhi
  • Soltee from Noida
  • Azuli from Mumbai

In case you want their contact details, let me know and I’ll put it up. The exhibition is on till tomorrow (9th July 2012). Timings are 11 am to 7.30 pm.

For a complete list of all the exhibitors, go to this page.

A funny thing happened btw - We asked a mehendi wala here for a quote, and he said they charge 7,000 to 15,000 for just the bride’s mehendi, and it can take upto 8 hours to put on. I made a run for it after hearing that! I found it ridiculous, but then again he did have pictures of his team applying mehendi on Mandira Bedi type celebrities. Maybe that justifies his charges.

From now on, you will find a running list of all Upcoming Wedding Exhibitions in India on the right hand column of this blog. Hope this serves fellow brides well!

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Wedding Planning updates - first weekend of June.

4 Jun

Firstly, I’d like to apologise for not putting up the honeymoon and wedding checlist as I’d promised. The weekend was jam packed with wedding stuff, and I just could not find the time to do this.

Anyway, here’s what I covered this weekend -

Shopping Saturday

Went to a shop called Utsav at Krishi Vihar (near Chirag Dilli) and bought one suit ka kapda. Also bought a dupatta that I will get made into a kurti. Gave the suit ka kapda to a tailor who sits right next to the shop in Krishi Vihar. If he does a good job, I’ll probably give him all my suits to stitch because his pricing was really reasonable. Then headed off to Frontier Raas in South Extension to look for Sangeet lehenga. Didn’t find anything light enough to wear on sangeet, plus it was too expensive for a simple sangeet lehenga that I was looking for  so probably going to get it stitched by a designer I know. I’m meeting her next Sunday so let’s see how it goes.

Guest List Sunday

Finally counted a realistic number of people expected at the wedding. The number is extremely large, but thankfully the farmhouse is large enough to accomodate everyone, in case everyone shows up. Also made my parents count number of people invited to Sangeet and number was exceeding capacity of our venue! Considering doing the sangeet at same venue as wedding now. The farmhouse was anyway booked for both days, just to be on the safe side. Phew! So we have a choice now, and I think we’re probably going for the farmhouse.

I’m considering adding another Page to the blog, will put it up as soon as it’s done. And Wedding Workout is going well - have been putting in some workout time every alternate day - so far, so good!

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Looking for my wedding lehenga at South Extension

21 May

I needed to make a trip to South Extension market on Saturday morning, before heading off to Chandni Chowk. So I went to Ushnaq Mal first, since my parents thought they had good wedding lehengas. Most of it was too much chamki (in-your-face-shiny) that not only looks fugly but also photographs terribly. But, there was ONE lehenga, a beautiful light pink with a lot of embroidery, but the toned done kind. It was a sophisticated lehenga, and I had even decided to get it made with a coral pink base matching with a mint green blouse (don’t ask me why but I’m totally obsessing over this coral-mint green combo)! However, I didn’t put down an advance for the order and told the guy that I would confirm by the next day. The reason was that, although the lehenga itself was beautiful, other than the embroidery there was nothing else that we “designed” for it. I mean, anyone can get a pretty base for a lehenga was subtle embroidery, put a straight line border of a contrasting color at the bottom, a matching blouse and 2 dupattas that also match. Ummm…it didn’t involve any real designing, it wouldn’t be as unique as I’d wanted and honestly, since I took elements from three different lehengas to put mine together, I just couldn’t visualise it. The guy said he’d have it ready by early September, but…I wondered how stressed I would feel for the next 3 and a half months not sure of how the lehenga would turn out. It’s a matter of trusting someone’s sense of design. Take Mansi Gupta for example (shes a designer who sits at Le Meridian in Delhi and designed my roka ceremony anarkali suit) - even then the whole concept and color combo was in our heads, we designed it together, and I was barely able to visualise it. But the outcome was amazing! I loved what she did and now I am sure that she understands my sense of style, I trust her blindly to give me something I’d love. I get her now, and she gets me. I obviously didn’t have that level of comfort with that uncle (who btw is a pervert, so word of caution to all the girls - avoid Ushnaq Mal, and if you can’t then do insist on the girl taking your measurements, definitely not that old uncle).

So I left Ushnaq Mal thinking, the lehenga is so pretty, but I’m just not sure about it.

I’ll continue this story in tomorrow’s post…off to sleep now, need to wake up early to workout (YES, I’ve started doing some basic stretches and crunches at home for the last few days. Another post on working out some other time, I promise!) Good night fellow Bride to Be’s!

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Wedding Lehenga Shopping Begins!

16 May

I have been pinning the lehenga looks I’m loving onto my pinterest boards. There are very few bridal lehengas, because I’m picky like that. I’m narrowing down what I like, will be going to Chandni Chowk this weekend to check out some out. Till date, I have seen lehengas at -

  1. Kapil & Mmonika, Lajpat Nagar - Some modern stuff, but most of it is really heavy and really expensive - in my opinion, not worth it. One of the sales women is really annoying, over-bearing types - she keeps giving her opinion even when it’s evident you don’t care about it! The other sales woman is really sweet - she gives you your space to decide (you will need that since they’re so expensive), but provides help willingly when you need it.
  2. Heritage, South Ex - It has some really, really classy Indian wear, for both men and women. Their sherwanis look really great, and they have an absolutely amazing collection of suits and sarees. I haven’t really looked for lehengas over here, but there was ONE that I saw that I fell in love it (but it was for 2 lakh!). The only downside? It’s an expensive shop.
  3. Frontier Raas, South Ex - has a good variety of lehengas, and caters to many budget sizes. Although most of their stuff is something almost every bride will wear (uniqueness factor is low for most lehengas), they still have some pretty solid designs that will flatter and please most brides. Must-visit. (I already saw a pink lehenga here I absolutely adored and would’ve bought it but the only problem was - I found it in Feb! Was too early to buy my lehenga, plus it was one of the first shops I’d stepped into)
  4. UM MoolChand, South Ex - I don’t remember the name of this shop, but they showed me a few pretty lehengas. Their range starts from about 60,000 to 70,000. Again, not very unique pieces but would appeal to most brides.
  5. CTC, Great India Place, Noida - They also had a fairly decent lehenga collection - large variety. Found a dark blue one that looked good on me, but, the color didn’t seem very bridal. Had gone there during sale season and decent bridal lehengas were available for 20,000 to 30,000!
  6. Anita Dongre, Phoenix Mills, Mumbai - Some really wearable lehengas, not super heavy and obviously, very stylish. But the damn price tag! Definitely a good choice for people who can afford it!

Still to see -

  • In South Ex: Ushnaq Mal, Greenways (not sure if they have lehengas?), Perfection House, Ritika Bhasin
  • In Karol Bagh - Frontier Bazaar, Anarkali (recommended by a lot of people)
  • In Modi Nagar - CTC Mall (recommended by a friend, but it’s REALLY far off from where I live. Let’s see if I manage to get there)
  • In M-block market, GK2 - Art Karat Creations (one of my relative’s got a gorgeous wedding lehenga from here)
  • M-block market, GK1 (clueless about which shops sell lehengas here)

In case you’re looking for an extensive list of shops to buy bridal lehengas from, check out this post on Peaches & Blush (P&B). In case this is the first time you’re hearing about P&B, YOU’RE WELCOME! :)

I’ll keep adding updates to this post over the next month and a half. I need to place the order for my wedding lehenga by end of June. God help me!

PS. Another great post on Wedding Shopping in Delhi can be found on Marigold Events here.

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DIY Sari Draping, and Overdoing Trousseau Suits!

24 Mar
Bought 3 new suits!!! 2 suit ka kapda (just cloth, need to get it stiched), and one cute kurti from W. The suit kapda are from Kalpana and Heritage in South Extension market, New Delhi. They’re all so pretty and cute! :)
Ok now I think I’ve over-done the suits, need to start looking at other trousseau items now.

Btw, BIG NEWS. I learnt how to wear a sari! Mom taught me this week, so I tried wearing 5-6 different saris at home. I’m a pro now :) and have learnt how to wear it in a way that looks good on me :) I am relaxed now because it means when I need to get ready for my reception at my in-laws’ house, I will not need to go to a parlour to get my sari draped. Phew! I also know how to wear a heavy net sari in a proper way.

About the guest list - I have been able to finally get my parents to sit down and start editing that monster of a list. Hopefully we will be done soon!

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