Hey lovelies!
This post was long due! A lot of you who had been following my bridal series, not only wanted to see more pictures of my bridal lehenga but also wanted to know my bridal lehenga shopping experience at Sabyasachi.

The first time I started thinking of getting married, I dreamt of being a Sabyasachi bride. I think he is one designer who has taken Indian traditional wear to another level by giving it a modern take with his distinct style. And ever since I saw his designs at the ramp during my initial years of fashion blogging, I absolutely fell in love with his design aesthetics and I always envisioned wearing one of his designs.

So, last December when I decided to take the plunge, the first thoughts I had in my mind were about the wedding lehenga. Having only two months in hand till the wedding date, I was kind of in a dilemma that would I even get a lehenga on time or not as usually designers take a minimum of two months to deliver a custom lehenga.

My First Visit for Bridal Lehenga Shopping :
So in the second week of January, I decided to pay a visit to the heaven of bridal couture - Mehrauli - where all the leading designers have their stores; with my mom and my bestie.

When I called to take up an appointment at the Sabyasachi, Anita Dongre and other designer boutique s in the vicinity - I was told an appointment is not needed, and you can visit anytime of the day to check out the collection. (PS : Sabyasachi store is closed on Sundays and they don't do Billings post 6pm)

Sabyasachi store in Mehrauli

I visited a couple of multi-brand boutiques like Kayra and Carma but I didn't find any bridal lehengas to my liking - as they had designs more suitable for a mehendi or engagement function.

So, we finally decided to visit Sabyasachi before checking out other designers in the area. Now, I had been to the flagship store before (for the launch event) but I didn't know then that I will be visiting the place again to finalise my wedding lehenga.

The Sabyasachi Mehrauli space is no less than royalty - the opulent space has two wings - one for bridal couture and jewellery, while the other wing has ready-to-wear saris, kurtas, menswear and other collections by the designer.

While the ground floor of the bridal wing has lighter lehengas and stunning range of sarees, the bridal heaven is on the first floor with all the designs that you have seen on the ramp or on his social media accounts available there.

The lehenga I tried during my first visit

Price Range : 

Now, here's one bummer, if you have always wondered what is the price of a Sabyasachi bridal lehenga - you should keep in mind before visiting the store that the lehengas apt for your D-day are priced above Rs 3,00,000.  So, in case you have a budget lesser than this, you should ideally check out Aza Fashions or Carma - both the multi-designer boutiques keep the lower-priced lehengas from Sabyasachi (priced between 1.5-3 lakh rupees).

Even the bridal lehengas in Mehrauli store are in two price ranges : the raw silk lehengas with intricate zardozi work are priced between Rs 3,00,000 to Rs 7,00,000. But if you are looking to buy his famous velvet lehengas, the prices start at Rs 7,00,000 and go up to Rs 20,00,000 or more for his exclusive couture pieces.

Designs :

Gown : Dolly J Makeup & Hair : Misha Vig Makeup Studio Watch : Guess Bracelet : Swarovski Photography : Photoroosters Studio

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Hey lovelies!
I am glad that you are enjoying my bridal diary and as many of you wanted to know more details about my mehendi function, in this post I will be covering the same.

As my family and friends had traveled from Ludhiana for the wedding celebrations in Gurgaon, we had booked a guest house for everyone and decided to have a cozy Mehendi function there itself.
I wanted the function to be casual so that all my friends and family who have traveled from so far could have a gala time without any formalities.


Decor : Considering the space constraints we had at the guest house, I wanted to keep the decor minimal, however with a traditional vibe, therefore - I got a bridal stage done which also served as a Photo Booth for pictures with my friends.


Mehendi : I decided to have two mehendi vendors - one for my bridal mehendi and another one for my guests - so that they don't have to wait while I get my mehendi applied for 3-4 hours straight. This also helped in a way as all the guests got done with their Mehendi when I did, and we could enjoy the rest of the function with ease.

For the mehendi design, I wanted a traditional yet modern design which was beautifully done by Raju Mehendi Artist from GK. After month long of checking out various mehendi artists online, I ended up visiting him in GK and after checking out the real designs done by them - I finalised them in one go and thankfully, they did a beautiful job in delivering the design that I wanted.


For my feet, I didn't want a lot of mehendi as honestly I think its a waste as you don't even see mehendi on the feet once you are in your bridal lehenga. Therefore, I went for this circular motif and an anklet design which looked beautiful in my bridal pictures.


Makeup & Outfit :
As I shared in the previous post, I didn't want to wear a lehenga for the function as walking around in a lehenga with mehendi applied would have been really difficult. Therefore, I decided to go for an embroidered jacket blouse paired with a draped dhoti skirt that had a Punjabi touch to it as well.



The gota-patti jewellery with roses was picked by my mother-in-law for me and I especially loved the maang-tikka that complimented my hair-do.


 Mehendi Favours :


For the mehendi favours for my friends and family, I picked traditional potli bags and beaded bracelets that they could pair with their outfits.

Mehendi : Raju Mehendi GK Photography : The Photoroosters Makeup & Hair : Looks Salon, Gurgaon

Hope you all enjoyed reading this post, the next post would be on the beauty routine I followed through my bridal journey! Stay tuned 😄
Love
Nitika

Hey everyone!
I am really glad that you all enjoyed reading my last post from my bridal diary, and thanks for motivating me to write more in the series.
When I had to decide upon an outfit for my Mehendi function, all I could find online and in stores was a variety of lehengas that I really didn't want to pick as I had already decided upon my wedding lehenga and just didn't want another lehenga that I would keep lying in my closet and I would hardly ever wear again.

That's when I explored a few more options and decided to get an outfit customised that would not only suit the occasion but I would also be able to wear later.


And if you are also wondering about what would be an ideal outfit for a mehendi function which is not a lehenga, here are a few ideas that you can explore :

Hi-low hem dress by Anushree Agarwal

Off-shoulder top and Dhoti Pants - Prathyusha Garimella

This is one of my favourite outfits I spotted online this summer, an off-shoulder top with intricate embroidery and dhoti pants is a perfect pair for the modern bride who wants to keep it casual yet classy for the mehendi function.
While this is an all-black option, you can choose bright colours especially in contrast and skip the off-shoulder top for a more ethnic style like this stunning asymmetric kurta by Anju Modi.

Kurta and Dhoti Pants by Anju Modi

Shilpa Shetty in Masaba Gupta

Shilpa Shetty and Kishwer Merchant sure gave a lot of brides outfit-inspiration for their Mehendi functions when they were spotted wearing this cool dhoti skirt and off-shoulder top. The difference in the skirt is the way the drapes are done, and you can also choose a drape that suits your body type best.
I personally liked Masaba's design better as the skirt is way more structured and fits Shilpa Shetty really nicely. Your beautiful floral/gota patti jewellery would also go best with this outfit as it has an Indo-western appeal.

Kishwer Merchant in Kalki Fashion

Another outfit option that you can pick for your mehendi function instead of a lehenga is a short skirt paired with either a classy shirt or a blouse; just like this Manish Arora skirt worn by Sonam Kapoor.

Sonam Kapoor by Manish Arora

How about getting a pre-stitched drape saree and wear it without the in-skirt for a contemporary look? Flaunt it with a contrasting blouse, a messy bun and ethnic jewellery to be the star of your mehendi function.