OUTFIT OF THE DAY: Hen Night Jumpsuit Madness

I had my hen night a few days ago (not too much depravity involved, I promise!) which was very fun, as it's been a while since I've managed to get together with all of my friends for a night out! Normally I tend to wear dresses when I go out with friends, but I wanted to go for something a little more adventurous this time, and decided to wear a jumpsuit which I blinged up by stacking some necklaces, and some new heels I bought for the day!

This is what I put together, it was very last minute because I didn't get time to go through my wardrobe properly, and I was being all girly and finding nothing to wear. I did fall in love with these beautiful neon-yellow and grey heels (they sound hideous don't they?), which were perfect, dressy and simple, and which I love as as they are not the usual type I go for - you can see what I wore below.

Here's how I wore it, because it was in the evening and it had been raining all day, I wanted to stay warm so ended up throwing a navy cardigan on top. I dressed up the jumpsuit with my jewellery (more about these in another post!) and accessorised with a plain royal blue clutch. I also was lucky enough to have a new scarf waiting to be worn which went perfectly with the outfit and brightened it up, which was an Eid gift from my eldest sister!

Jumpsuit - Zara

Necklaces - The Jewellery Box UK

Heels - River Island

Clutch bag - New Look

Scarf - Warehouse

I had a great evening with my friends on my hen night, we had some yummy Turkish food, played some silly games, looked at silly underwear and had some beautiful chocolatey dessert. My friends also bought me this sash to wear which said 'Bride to be' (I don't know why I look like a huge toddler in this picture, it looked much better in real life!):

I also wore a bright hot pink lipstick which was a matte lipstick in shade 'Pink Pong' from the Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet Lipstick collection, which was a pretty pink with a slight hint of purple that felt easy to wear and lasted the whole night (and also went really well with my hijab!)

I had a fun evening with friends on my hen night, there was plenty of silly jokes, silly knickers and lots of chocolates, and it was nice to relax and dress up! The wedding's only a week and a bit away now, and the festivities are starting up, so I'll be posting more details where I can!

BRIDE COUTURE: Ayeza Khan's and Danish Taimoor's Beautiful Big Pakistani Wedding

As usual, I won't make my excuses about being busy (although I swear I really am!), I can't wait for the wedding times so it's time to enjoy and less of the prepping/stressing!

To start us off this week, I thought I'd do a quick post about Pakistani model and actress Ayeza Khan who got married to fellow model/actor Danish Taimoor only a few days ago. I'll admit, I don't know a huge amount about her, I only really recognised her from one of the (many) Pakistani dramas my mum watches.

While the events were very Pakistani in style, colours and flamboyance, I thought it was nice to see even a Pakistani celebrity enjoy a good long-winded wedding (I assume the valima/reception is yet to happen though!) and thought this made nice eye candy - something to prepare you before I get to post my own pictures!

Nikah -  Ayeza wore a pretty, white outfit with a dupatta that had kiran (that tinsley stuff our mums had in the 80s). Kiran is coming back in and I love that it adds a nice touch to a simple outfit.

Mayun (a pre-wedding, similar to mehndi function, where you put bangles/flowers on the bride and other stuff) - again, the bride wore a really sweet, simple outfit - a printed dupatta with white dots (Apparently they are called chunri, which is what I've always heard them be called)!in a vibrant hot pink, lime, yellow and orange.

Mehndi - the official mehndi was a bit more a grand affair, Ayeza wore a beautiful lengha choli in vibrant colours, although my favourite bit was the border on her dupatta. I'm not a fan of rainbow-style clothes, but on this dupatta it works because its a small border.

Wedding - Ayeza got her make up done by the wonderful Natasha Salon in Pakistan, I've tried to search for who the dress designer was but can't find it, but it was fairly traditional in colour and looked pretty on. I've also seen a lot of brides wear the sheer red veils for their bridal entrances or their nikah, which I think is a sweet touch.

 

As I'm sure you can see Ayeza and Danish had a beautiful wedding, there's probably hundreds more photographs out there but it looks like they had a nice experience, and it's nice to see a beautiful couple!

My Vintage, Floral, Polka-Dot and Pearls Bridal Shower

I've been absent for a few days, I know, I've had a crazy last few weeks with last-minute wedding preps and house hunting, which I'm hoping will calm down now that mostly everything is done! I can't make any promises so watch out for my sporadic blogging, I'll post whenever I can.

My eldest sister Happy Muslimah kindly threw me a bridal shower yesterday which was really fun, especially as it was full of lots of my friends, family and sisters which turned out to be really enjoyable. We decided to have a garden tea party, with the theme and dress code being anything vintage, floral, polka dot and pearly, and I loved how much effort everyone put in.

The decor was provided by my talented sister, who made banners and table decor, as well as made some yummy food for the table. My other sister put together the pretty draping in the garden to make a canopy, and also put together a lot of the decor and food, not to mention taking some amazing photographs of the day (I'm usually the one with the camera but didn't get a chance to take many this time!) - so most of these photos are credited to her. It's hard to tell from the photographs because I didn't include a lot due to people being in them, but I loved all the details - the banners, the pegs, the butterflies and the colour themes.

The food was absolutely beautiful, most of my guests brought a dessert or dish, and they were all gobbled down. My sister made chocolate-covered strawberries which I didn't even get to try because they disappeared so quickly, my best friend made some amazing double-chocolate chewy cookies, and yet another friend made pasties and pakoray. There was also an amazing chocolate trifle made by my sister in law which was very popular, and which felt very light and moussy.

Everyone tried to make an effort with the costumes, and I love that they all had a different take on it. I'll admit, I didn't get a lot of time to sort my own out, but I loved the floral dress I wore and my eldest sister lent me a string of pearls which matched wonderfull. Below you can see some of the floral prints and polka dots people wore, my sisters also wore floral prints and one of them even went for an excellent 50s' style outfit.

I think the babies stole the show though, they toddled around in their dresses (my newest niece was being a relaxed kitten) and enjoyed the limelight, I'm pretty sure most of my friends were in love with them by the end of the day.

All in all we had a really nice afternoon - we played silly games (one involved asked me questions about the fiancé which they had asked him the answers for previously, if I got the questions wrong I had to chew some gum. I got all but 2 questions wrong!) and we had a good catch up with old friends, took photos and ate some yummy food. It was a really nice start to the wedding celebrations, I still have some weeks to go but it was nice to see everyone make an effort and also weird to be the cause of it. We'll be having a few more parties before it's all over, I'm sure, but this one was pretty amazing to start with :)

GLAMOROUS ACCESSORIES: Chand Bali Earrings by NK Collections

I've seen a trend of pearl earrings and chand bali earrings (round earrings like half moons) lately, which I love because they come in so many colours, styles and variations, and I think they make beautiful signature pieces. I love beautiful jewellery, particularly well-made ones, and it's not always easy to find good quality piece in the hundreds of shops that sell cheaper jewellery.

These style of earrings really caught my fancy, and I've been hankering after a pair to wear to all the upcoming mehndi nights and dholkis that I'll be attending (well, the all-girls ones where I won't wear my hijab!), although I hadn't seen any ones that aren't too heavy.

I saw these beautiful chand bali earrings by NK Collections around Eid time, which is a company which carries beautiful kundan,  precious stone and pearl jewellery, which really appealed to me because of their classic Pakistani and Indian styles. Their bridal sets and party wear are beautiful, and I spent a while drooling over their beautiful pieces, although some of them were a little heavy for me. There were several things I wanted to buy from them (not least some beautiful giant rings, one which had a mother of pearl inlay in the middle which was beautiful), but I think I will go back and buy them another day.

These earrings came in antique gold and silver, and cost me only £18.00 after the 10% discount for Eid, which I thought was pretty reasonable. I also briefly spoke to Nusayba Khan, who owns the company and found her really helpful and friendly, and am thinking of going back to look at bridal jewellery once my bridal outfits arrive, especially as this is one of the few places in London where I have been quite impressed with the beautiful jewellery.

I'll be sure to post about any jewellery I do end up buying, especially as the designs there are slightly cheaper than similar outlets selling this type of jewellery, but in the meantime you can also check out their Facebook page and their Instagram account. The jewellery is also available to see in store at Ruby's House of Design in Ilford (otherwise you can always contact her online to order pieces!)