I went back to Instagram after a 2 month break this January. Here’s a round up of the highlights from the first month of 2015 you can enjoy while I go stand in line to vote. Delhi peeps, you’re voting - right? Continue reading
Archive | general update RSS feed for this section
My Best Friend’s Wedding: 18 Days To Go & I Still Don’t Know What I’m Wearing
12 NovIf you haven’t yet, read the first two posts from this series - Prologue & Chapter 1 - before you get started with this post.
Panic is slowly, but surely, making it’s way into my mind. I have bits and pieces figured out, but not a single look is a 100% done. This is what I’ve figured out till now -
On Mehendi
DECIDED! :) All the way from the outfit, the earrings and the exact bangles I’m going to have on.
Footwear is the only part of the look that’s still a big fat questions mark. I need to buy pretty jootis. Continue reading
My Best Friend’s Wedding: My Personal Checklist as Maid Of Honour
11 NovRead the Prologue before you get started with Chapter 1.
I’m a self-appointed maid-of-honour at Karishma’s wedding. And what ends up happening to the maid-of-honour? The wedding is one month away, and I haven’t even decided what I’m going to wear!
Ok, before a panic attack sets in, let’s make a list. Because lists always calm us OCD (mild, mild case) type of people. Continue reading
My Best Friend’s Wedding: Prologue | Karishma
10 Nov
Haha. My best friend. I sound more 16 than 26, don’t I? :)
Everyone starts off their childhood with one best friend. That first best friend. If you’ve changed schools, or cities - you’ll know it means: enter best friend #2. Then college brings you a new best friend, and maybe you were lucky enough to find another one at your new work place, or your second college.
As life goes on, you add best friends to your list. Though once you hit your twenties, the phrase slowly makes its way out of your vocabulary, and you’re introducing him or her as “one of my closest friends”. But in your head, you’re still saying “my best friend”. It never gets old, does it?
So. My best friend is getting married. Continue reading
3 days to the wedding - Wedding Planning Update
25 OctI’ve just been doing update posts lately, but I haven’t really had the time to sit down and write helpful ones - because they always need a little bit of research, and a lot of thinking!
3 days to the wedding, and I can literally feel how close it is now. I had my Mata Ki Chowki a few days back - it was the first time I ever attended a Mata Ki Chowki (was also a first for my whole family), and whadya know - the night passed by in a blink! It made me wonder if I’ll feel the same way about my mehendi, sangeet, wedding, reception and honeymoon! I don’t want those to pass by in a blink. I want to cherish every second of it. But I know, when you’re having fun - time seems to pass by quicker.
Anyway, preparation for the wedding is more or less done. My parents are still busy getting gifts packed (a million brownie points to my sister for doing ALL of it!), making last minute accommodation arrangements (why do people always RSVP so late?) and ensuring that all the little knick knacks that will be required over the next few days are in place.
People have been asking me what I’m feeling, and…I don’t know what to say! It’s a mixed bowl of emotions - sometimes there are so many to be felt, that I go numb! And about the jitters - I woke up this afternoon feeling jittery, and I realised they are wedding jitters, not marriage jitters. It’s just the idea of being the centre of attention for 3 days in a row that’s unnerving. I usually like to be left alone to do my own thing. And to think that I have to be at my best behaviour, stand up straight, smile perfectly, and remember people’s names! Eeks, now you know why it’s giving me the jitters.
In other news, we did our pre-wedding photo shoot with Tarun Chawla this morning. Full details in a dedicated post some other day, but to summarize - it was a lot of fun but tiring. And yes, we did do some cheesy things :) Some of my college friends and family members have already landed in Delhi for the wedding celebrations. There have also been a lot of last-minute dropouts, but I’m focusing on the people who are already here. AND, wedding gifts have also started coming in! Ok, I know this might sound a bit childish - but I LOVE getting gifts! I mean, sure…who doesn’t? But I get so excited that I want to open them there and then! And yes, my excitement levels might be a bit more than that of an average human being.
So today is the last day before wedding celebrations start (tomorrow is the puja and mehendi). How am I spending time the remainder of the day? I think I’ll cuddle up with mother dear for a while (not really for emotional “oh I won’t be living here anymore” reasons, but more because we’ve not had the time to relax together since she’s been on her feet literally all the time). Maybe catch an episode of Grey’s Anatomy on Sidereel. And the day will end with a final dance practice, which is going to be really noisy and chaotic, so I’ll just enjoy the peace & quiet for as long as I have it.
This is probably my last post before the wedding - I’ll try to give mini-updates on the Facebook page or on Twitter over the next few days. Then, I’m off to Australia!!! And once I am back, you can expect a barrage of posts for a long, long time to come :) Ah, last few days as thedelhibride - might as well enjoy it! :)
As my sister-in-law would say “LET THE FESTIVITIES, BEGIN!”
A Month To My Wedding – Updates Part 2
30 SepAs promised in yesterday’s post, here’s Part 2 of Wedding Updates!
- Haldi outfit – my mother bought me this. It’s just a plain yellow “taat” ki sari, and no I don’t know what that even means! Getting a plain yellow blouse made with it. Bleh.
- Makeup Artist – DONE! Booked b:blunt for both Sangeet & Wedding, because I didn’t want to take the stress of where I’ll get my hair done, and whether the draping will be done properly or not. But I love my roka MUA too much, so I’ll keep her for Reception day.
- Photographer/Videographer – Tarun Chawla is booked! Yipee! And I have an SLR camera that is being used to extensively cover wedding prep in the form of photographs (my father is pretty trigger happy when we are out shopping) and videos (by yours truly, specially Sangeet night dance practices). I plan on putting everything together post the wedding – it will start from our dating days, to pre-wedding prep and finally the actual wedding.
- Sangeet Dance Practices – have begun! It’s going pretty well, but we have a lot of dance items to cover so we need to increase the frequency of these practice nights. And let me tell you, the fiancé has never been into dance as much as me or my side of the family, but he’s being a great sport about it! He’s trying out all kinds of steps, no complaints, no hesitation! I think it’s lovely and also adorable. He is truly cute when he dances :) All my sisters and girlfriends will testify to this!
- Rings – DONE. Mine’s already with him, and his will be done in a few weeks as well. I LOVE both!
- Invitation cards – ah, these were a biggie. Everything got delayed by 15 days, so we’re still a little behind schedule but we’ve managed to catch up to quite an extent. Delivery, personal and through courier, began last weekend. Things are in full swing now. And remember the ecard I told you about? The one my sister made? They’ve been sent out to all my friends, and my sister’s friends – and everyone’s loving them!
- Gifts for everyone – a lot has already been done, thanks to my superwoman mother! But I believe this might take till the day of the wedding to be completely wrapped up – pun intended :)
- Trousseau – a lot of my clothes are done. The last few are being stitched, or last few blouses are getting wrapped up.
- What’s left to shop for – accessories (earrings, bangles, sandals) for everyday and party wear, random things for the honeymoon (one more swimsuit/bikini, beach bag, cheap sunglasses that I don’t care going into the water with), MAKEUP!
- Décor / Caterer / Accomodations / Logistics – menu is planned (no, I had no hand in it) and décor will be decided within the next week. The rest is for my family to decide. I’m in chill mode now :)
Does it seem like we’ve made substantial progress?
There’s still a to-do list, but it seems fairly doable. Wish us luck!
A Month To My Wedding - Updates + thedelhibride Asks…Part 1
28 SepIt’s that time of the month again – wedding update time! Bear with me though, I have a LOT of questions for brides to be because I need a LOT of help to wrap things up! I’ve split the post into two. Here’s part 1:
With a month to go, this is what I’ve been upto (a few might be repeats from past updates) –
Updates with thedelhibride Asks…
1. Sangeet outfit – DONE! Jewellery, still pending. I’m wear a kamar dhani for sure – any idea where I can pick up a pretty one – fake, not real?
2. Wedding outfit – ummm…still trying to figure out if I want to use one or two dupattas. Ladies, help please? Jewellery is done. And no, I’m not wearing a nath.
3. Mehendi outfit – partly done. Have bought a crushed skirt that’s mainly turquoise blue with a dash of grey and white print, but I still haven’t picked out a top to go with it. People are recommending a corset – maybe made of white brocade, but where do I get a reasonably priced one? Or do I want one made of a phulkari dupatta? I don’t want to spend much. For jewellery I’m just going to wear a pair of earrings that are special to me :) - they’re the first gift I ever got from the fiancé, and since they’re fairly ethnic looking they will match the skirt I’m going to wear. Edit: this is also done now, thanks to Swati who reminded me of Goldy’s Nest in GK1 - bought my whole mehendi outfit from there!
4. Heels for main functions – ok, I have no idea what footwear I will be sporting on ANY of these days! For wedding day, I care a lot about what my heels will look like. For Sangeet, the comfort matters way more than what they look like. Any shop recommendations based on comfort of shoes? I know that a lot of shops keep pretty shoes, but they need to have good cushioning as well!
5. Pre-bridal package – there is one at Affinity salon that includes pedi/mani, facial, wax, bleach, oil massage – the works. It costs INR 6500 and will apparently take 1 FULL day to do, or I can spread it over 2-3 days. Should I go for this? Btw, I had my first ever facial 2 weeks back – Casmara, on the recommendation of Mehak (from Peaches & Blush). Yes, I did love it! This will get included in the pre-bridal package.
Part two coming up shortly…
I’m getting married NEXT month! Wedding Planning Updates for August
3 Sep
Miss me much?
Work kept me working far too many hours, on far too many days. Any-hoo, let’s keep the work talk aside and get back to business - wedding planning updates! This is how far things have progressed:
Invites
- Paper cards: Will place final order today - finally! I know, I’m late. How? Apparently, it takes a lot longer than I expected! But we’ll get to that story some other day
- e-cards: done! My super talented sister sat down for half a day and made a card we loved so much that we considered chucking the current design of the paper cards and just get this one printed instead! But, we didn’t. So I now have two completely different cards - paper and e-vite, and I love them both equally! Lucky, haina? :)
- The Love Quote - a big thank you to everyone who pitched in and suggested love quotes for me to use on my wedding card. I finally picked two - one for the paper card, and a different (more mushy) one for the e-card. That’s all I will say for now :)
Trousseau
- Main functions: You already know that the wedding lehenga and reception sari are done and that the sangeet lehenga is arriving mid-September. I bought a crushed turquoise blue skirt for the mehendi - need to alter it to 3/4th length and find something to go with it. Any suggestions? Plain top? Dupatta? What to do?
- Other trousseau items: have started getting everything stitched - suits and blouses for saris. Now I understand what people mean by “the list of things to do before a wedding is endless”. You don’t go and dump 10 blouses and 10 suits with your tailor. You give him 2-3 in one go so that there are lesser chances of him screwing up and he doesn’t take you as a customer for granted. Just in case there is that teeny tiny chance that he does not do such a great job on one suit, you can always correct him and ensure that the remaining suits don’t have the same problem. Another lesson this trousseau stitching thing has taught me is this - buy more readymade clothes! It’s a pain getting too many stitched, unless you have the time and inclination to put in that much effort.
Engagement rings
- Done! Went to a shop this weekend with the fiancé and both sets of parents. Choice was limited in that shop, which was getting me angst-y. I usually look around a lot of options before buying anything major in life, so that I don’t regret it later when I see something in another shop that I hadn’t checked out before. I know, I’m painful like that. Anyway, the limited choice of rings, lack of time and the seeming willingness of everyone to just decide there and then turned out to be a good thing - I picked what I liked fairly quickly (not without giving it atleast an hour of thought! haha) and everyone went back home happy. All I’ll tell you about my ring is that it’s all sparkly! Ok, who am I kidding. That’s pretty much all I know about it anyway :)
- During our roka, we’d already exchanged gold bands. Now we’re getting a set of separate engagement rings that we might be replacing on our left hands. But what do people normally do? Wear both sets of rings, just the bands because they’re easier to manage or just the engagement ring?
Makeup Artist
- I’ve decided to go for my roka MUA. Once again, thanks to everyone who shared their thoughts on the post about which MUA I should go for. This one has suggested someone for hair, and I’m tyring to get both of them to have a trial with me soon.
- I’m also considering the option of getting everything except makeup done from b:blunt. I need to find out whether they will do it, and if yes then what their charges are and how feasible it is as an option.
Honeymoon
- Although this is not supposed to be my area, I do know that things have been progressing rather well. I’ve submitted all my documents to the fiancé, which means that we’ll be applying for the visa very soon. Yipee!
- Shopping has been on in a sporadic manner. Need to finish up here quickly as well.
That’s all for now. Pending things include – start dance practices for the sangeet (which I’m MOST excited about!), buy jewellery for wedding outfits, figure out if I’m having a bachelorette party or a youngster’s games day…a few from the never ending list. Am I missing anything?
How is your wedding planning progressing?
The GREAT news!
19 AugI started off this post a few days back, ready to take you through my 2nd visit to Aumbre. I went there just to pick up my made-to-order blue top, but ended up with something completely unexpected!
And before I could finish writing that post, there was additional big news to share.
What I should do right now is give you all the details on both the pieces of news. But I don’t have the damn patience to write down even an additional paragraph. I want to tell you, like, NOW!
So here goes -
I found my sangeet lehenga, and my wedding lehenga finally arrived!
Details in an upcoming post. I know, I know…too many “upcoming post promises” spoil the broth, but what to do…HAD to share! :)
Edit: Finally wrote the post on how I found my sangeet lehenga - read it here. And for full details on my wedding lehenga story, go here.
July Wedding Updates - Less than 100 days left to the wedding!
22 JulI realised I haven’t given you an update on my wedding in quite some time! I’ve been trying hard to gather information relevant to fellow brides and myself, but this blog started off as a place to write about how my wedding planning was progressing - so today’s post is going to be all about that! (those of you who follow me on twitter might already know parts of this, or as much as I could summarise in 140 characters!)
#1 Meeting with photographer that involved sitting on a road divider
The fiancé and I met a photographer recently who we both loved. Phew! He’s a candid photographer, is based out of Delhi and we have the option of asking him to bring along a candid videographer who is, although still out of budget, atleast somewhere in the vicinity of our original budget. I promise to give more details, but only once he has been booked for sure. And the story about the road divider goes something like this - once the meeting was over, the photographer asked us if he could click a few pictures of us outdoors. We obliged, and what followed was a 5 minute photo session of the fiancé and I posing against a thin bark of tree, holding hands…followed by us sitting on a road divider, holding hands. Can’t wait to see those photos! :)
#2 Wedding Lehenga - Order Placed & Fingers Crossed
The order for my wedding lehenga was placed quite a few weeks back. I have not said much about it because it’s in the process of being made, and I’ll tell you how much I love it only once it’s in front of my eyes looking as pretty in flesh and blood (ok, more like…in silk and thread) as I have imagined. It comes to me by 10th August so till then, hold your horses!
#3 Remember how I wanted a maximum of 8 saris in my trousseau?
I started off on 30 June with the purchase of my first sari for the trousseau. 18 days later, my trousseau shopping for saris is more or less complete! I am now the proud owner of 14 saris - some bought, some gifted, some stolen from mother’s cupboard! I don’t even know what I will do with so many! Married readers, please tell me I will be using them extensively over the course of my married life! Just 1 is pending (you can see it here on my pinterest page). Other than that, saris for small functions at home (such as haldi, etc) are pending. I went out today with the fiancé’s family and mine to pick out the Reception sari. And guess what? I actually found it in under 3 hours! Now, while that may not sound like an achievement to all, those who know me will surely appreciate the enormity of it. I take days, sometimes weeks, to find the right outfit for any relatively big occassion. My reception is a massive occassion! The best thing about the sari is that everyone loved it - both sets of parents, sisters and of course - Mr. Husband to be. One more big function outfit - DONE!
#4 Slowly but Surely Filling up My Trousseau
Other trousseau items that have been purchased include lots of suits ka kapda (that need to get stitched, soon!), a pair of jeans (Levis), some footwear (Accessorize & Shoppers Stop), a golden clutch for parties (Accessorise), and other such knick knacks.
#5 MNBB (My Nose But Better) Update
I’ve visited my dermatologist for my blackheads, and he’s given me an ointment to apply for the next month or so. Will keep you posted on whether it worked or not.
#6 My Experiments with…Makeup
Started buying a few makeup items, and experimenting with some (stolen) products from my mother and sister’s dressing tables :) Have discovered an alternative sunscreen and foundation that also works for me. Have a new favorite lip balm. Ok, I could go on. But this needs a whole other post (and trust me, a whole post I shall do)!
#7 Why isn’t The Wedding Workout Tracker page updated?
It’s NOT because I’m slacking off. I’ve joined yoga classes and have been extremely regular with them (not an option really, since the instructor comes knocking on my door 3 times a week!). Body is feeling great, touch wood! But I’m still waiting for the washboard abs to grace me with their presence. I need to start adding NTC workouts on my days off from yoga. Oh, and I know how to do surya namaskars, and they truly are harder than they look!
Now, for what’s pending -booking a mehendi artist, engagement rings, Sangeet lehenga, invitation cards, honeymoon bookings, visas, getting all the suit ka kapdas stitched and getting falls put on saris, getting blouses stitched, blah blah blah. You got it, quite a bit is pending! But I can also look at the glass half full - that half of the wedding prep is done. With less than a 100 days to go, I am SO excited, I can hardly wait!
Follow TDB
Recent Comments