Wedding Attire: Decisions...Decisions

by - 13:02:00


Hello all... I am sure all you ladies will agree that no discussion on wedding is complete until we talk about the BIG thing called wedding attire! Belonging to a nation with MYRIAD types of wedding dresses makes us spoilt for choice indeed. But the flip side of the coin is, we become crazy with confusion as to what to wear, which ones would suit us, what colors to combine etc etc. For the records, I have been dreaming about what to wear on my wedding day since this time J

Bengali Bridal Attire: A Dream From Toddler Days!

Moving on, two decades since that time, my plans have changed more than the whims of politicians in our country. There was a phase I wanted to look nothing like a Bengali bride, especially because of the sorry state of Bengali brides’ styling I had come across in childhood. Then came the “Kundan jewellery” phase where I wanted to wear kundan on my D-Day only because no one else knew about Kundan jewellery back in Assam then. But unfortunately, my plans couldn’t see the dawn of reality as I was just a Class 10 student then -_- Within two-three years, every-freaking-body was wearing that kind of jewellery coupled with various fabrics like net, satin, shimmer Georgette etc and suffice it to say, I took to my heels and ran away from that thought. I am the kind of person who would wear even a cotton saree on her special day if that makes her look “different” from every one else.

(Disclaimer: I have nothing against Kundan Jewellery. I love the classy ones and hate the cheap looking common ones. Period!)

Finally, as the wedding date was finalized, I knew I just HAD to decide now. To add to my woes, I am away from my home since am doing a job in Bangalore. So while that is paying my bills, it is ALSO “playing” its part well in spoiling my wedding preps :-/
Image Source: 123rf.com


But thankfully, I had finally decided what kind bride I wanted to be before I left my native for Bangalore. If you read my post on “Bengalis and Benaroshi: An Everlasting Love” (If you haven’t yet, I am pointing my guns at you), you will know that I wanted to look like my mother did on her day: Royal but rooted to Bengali traditional bridal look.

Bengali Bridal Attire and Style
Bengali Bridal Attire

Now, I am a Virgo, with an over-imaginative mind! I had zeroed in to a red Benarasi saree for various reasons:

·        Red makes me look brighter.
·        Nothing screams more Bengali than a red banarasi with gold jori (zari)
·        The very thought of a weaver “weaving” the dress of my dreams thread by thread gives me the thrills :D (I know that is true with lehengas and all too, but somehow nets and georgettes do not appeal to me)

Bengali Bridal Attire and Style
Google Images: Bengali Bridal Attire: Elegant Eves

So, after much “deliberation”, I decided on a red banarasi with gold jori, a blouse with frills at the sleeve ends like the vintage Bengali “bonedi bari” (Genteel class of yester-years) and chunky gold jewellery with ABSOLUTE back-dated designs.

Bengali Bridal Attire and Style
Google Images: Bengali Bridal Attire: Elegant Eves
The saree hunt: Although I knew exactly what I wanted, it was very difficult to “actualize” my intentions! Mainly because, the kind of ‘typical benarasi saree” I wanted is sadly not worn by brides in my hometown any more. People now prefer banarasi sarees with add-ons like sequins, zardosi work, tassles and what not. All I wanted was a plain blood-red saree with all over gold zari work and no rhinestones attached! Searched online in vain, as the ones which appealed to me were priced at sky high rates and I did NOT plan to spend heavily on something which I will wear probably just for one evening.
So as the “tale” goes, this much harried bride-to-be had gone for regular grocery shopping with her mum one day where she spotted one of the oldest saree shop in town (Bless small towns where the market places are concise!). I tugged and pulled my maa and took her inside the shop, inspite of knowing the fact that this is the very shop from where hundreds of brides buy their rhinestone studded sarees. With little hope, maa told the shop attendant to show us red banarasi saree with gold jori if they have any. She also mentioned that there is no need to bring out any other kind (read rhinestones studded ones) as we do not want to waste their time.
The much confused attendant went in, came out with three samples: Two red ones with gold zari and a maroon one with silver zari. I took a look at the red ones, maa draped one over me, saw myself in the mirror and finalized it!! Yes, my “wedding saree shopping” took me 5 minutes in total :D And the cost was disbelievingly within our budget too. Both mother and daughter stared at each other in disbelief that we have actually done an important shopping so easily! So pretty ladies, here is a glimpse of the saree J

Google Images: Bengali Bridal Attire: Elegant Eves
The Jewellery Jargon: Our jeweller looked at me with horror when I swept past all the glossy catalogue books with stunning modern designs and demanded that he bring down those black-n-white totally dusty design books of seventies and eighties which were lying “dead” in his cupboard!! Fishing through three or four dusty old books, me and maa decided on a “phool-lota-paata” design for the neckalce. Thick vines and flowers. No fine machine-made jewels for me. I wanted handmade old-fashioned ones ;) Here is a glimpse of the necklace (The entire jewellery will be shown only on D-Day). The other jewellery pieces like Tikli, noth, bala, choor etc. have also been made keeping this set in mind and all of them are resembling grandma-times pieces! I couldn’t have been happier.


Google Images: Bengali Bridal Attire and Jewellery: Elegant Eves

The Shoe Saga: Since my saree and jewellery will be heavy, I wanted a very simple sandal for the wedding. Something which I can wear later on too. And most importantly, something which will not make me want to loot banks ;) This is what I settled for: Got this from Jabong.com J A plain red sandal with a slightly shimmery band.

Bengali Bridal Attire and Style
Bengali Bridal Attire: Elegant Eves



The reception or Bou-Bhat look is yet to be finalized and that would be covered in another post.
For now enjoy these mad blabberings of mine and keep cursing me for not showing all the jewellery ;)
Until Next time!!!!

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