BRIDAL COUTURE: Yellow and Pearl Inspiration by Samreen Vance and Dhaani Official

This is a campaign I came across recently, which caught my eye because of the unusual colour combination - but it was one I really liked! Pakistani model and actress Sara Loren modelled for Samreen Vance jewelry company, and Dhaani Official (who outfitted her) and I love the results. There was a heavy presence of yellow to compliment the jewels, which I think looks stunning - yellow and grey, as well as yellow and orange, which make perfect mehndi bridal inspiration!

The jewels are mainly kundan (gemstone) and pearl, with a vintage look to some of the pieces. I'm not a fan of overly embellished naaths (nose-rings) as I'm a fan of the delicate, thin ones, but I love these pieces - each one looks elegant without being overly blingy (although I think this is helped by the makeup being balance well with the jewellery).

I'm also a fan of the outfits themselves - the colour combinations look beautiful together, particularly the grey and yellow (although my sister did once say the combo reminds her of boiled eggs!). Each outfit is quite vibrant but also has a slightly 60s look to it, with mirror work, beading and gota work (the strips of material sewn on in patterns) that reminds me of an older era.

What do you think of these colours - would you wear them? A campaign I really like - where the jewels are equally as gorgeous as the outfits!

KAPRAY SHAPRAY: Khaadi Blue and Yellow Summer Vibes

I love the colourful print trend that's in right now, it's easy to wear, makes a statement and looks amazing for summer. I saw this outfit a few days ago in Khaadi Westfield, which I think is an example of how the company has got the trend right - their outfits are fashionable, comfortable and look gorgeous.

I don't usually go for bright colours (normally because matching a head-scarf can be a headache!) but I loved this summery piece below because it looks perfect for so many occasions - I can imagine it being worn for a special event like Eid, or just for a more casual look at a barbecue.

I'll be keeping an eye out for more designs like this for Eid - I've already seen a few things I like but haven't made up my mind what to buy yet! What do you think of this - would you wear it?

THE WEDDING POST: Mehndi Memories!

Can you believe that it's been a year since my wedding?! I really can't, it seems like only a few weeks ago that I got married and moved away from my parents, and yet I'm so settled and comfortable in my married life that weirdly enough, it feels like I've always been married!

So this time last year, on this day, I had my mehndi night. which was surprisingly an emotional day but a lovely one, surrounded by friends and family. There's a lot of things which I stressed about at the time but on that day, walking in under a curtain of flowers and looking at all of my friends, a lot of that stress and anxiety melted away (to the music of Ali Zafar's Jhoom, if anyone wanted to know!)

I thought I'd do a series of memories posts this week - what I remember from my events, including my mehndi day, the good, the bad and the funny, especially as it's amazing what sticks out in your mind afterwards!

So here's a few random things I remember from my mehndi night, in no particular order, although I'll try not to complain too much! I do remember wanting to do a hundred and one things and stressing about it, and I'm only mentioning them now because a year later looking back, I really don't know why I worried as much as I did.

Getting ready
I'm lucky enough to know a lot of make-up artists and henna artists, so naturally I got my sister-in-law to spend do my makeup, which I loved. We even managed to spend a little free time in the the day where she took me out for brunch before we got ready, which helped relax me a lot. She got the look even better than I thought, I wanted simple and glowy and she managed both without making my face look too heavy or busy, and I loved the result.

It made me happy that I was able to save so much money by booking a makeup artist for my main wedding day, as it can really add up with the more functions you have. I was also glad that it looked the way I wanted without having to compromise - I've met so many women who have opted to do their own makeup or ask a friend to do it, for one or more of their wedding functions and they've looked great, so I'd definitely encourage that options for brides who are thinking about it.

My hair and the mess at the end of the day!

My jasmine flowers (which were such a headache to buy, because I wanted fresh ones!) came loose half-way through the mehndi and basically looked a mess by the end of the day - you can see them unravelling in pictures below, and the before/after of the flowers! This isn't to criticise the hair-stylist at all - I got my hair and dupatta setting done by Shamalah Hairstylist and LOVED what she did, the flowers themselves just wilted and were bound to fall down after a lot of dancing and moving around! The hair looks not so bad in the second picture, but by the time I got home the flowers had dried and my hair was all over the place!

Also, if any Londoners wants to know where I got the flowers, Vallis in East Ham, East London do them at an amazing price of £1 per string meter and they smell beautiful! A tip for any brides using flowers though, keeping them in the fridge really helped me in keeping them fresh overnight.

Even worse, when I got home, it took me ages to undo my hair and get my hair sorted out. It was actually more painful than my wedding hair was because there was a lot more extensions and back-combing involved, and worse for me because I didn't realise it would be this difficult! 

Non-attendees

A few of my friends didn’t turn up to the mehndi, which I was a little upset about at the time, although I did get over it 15 minutes into the mehndi, once the dancing started! I only mentioned this because it's inevitable that someone can't make it, or something can happen which can be really annoying - try not to let it get to you too much. A friend of mine who got married around the same time I did told me that she was pretty upset that a some of her friends and family didn't make it to her mehndi, enough that when she went home she was upset and even cried a little. You're bound to be emotional but don't let these be the last and defining moments of your Big Days, the last thing you would want to remember about your events is being upset for the wrong reasons.

It's also easy to get annoyed at the little things like these, when it's so much better to appreciate people who DID turn up and make the effort, which can really make a difference on the night! It's fair to say all of the right people turned up and it was really warming to see that they made the effort, not to mention all of the hard work from my mum, sisters and sister-in-law!

Asian Timings

I got to my mehndi venue really early, and was a bit annoyed that I turned up before the guests, particularly as it meant my brother, who was my chauffeur for the night, and I had to wait because I didn't want to talk into an empty hall. Thankfully, my photographer was already at the venue, and used this time for a quiet photo-shoot which I loved – some of my favourite pictures are from this shoot. I was also glad to be punctual because it meant I had some quiet time to myself beforehand.

Sweets and Favours

I barely saw the beautiful sweet table my sisters made and set up. I sure as heck didn’t get to eat anything from it. At least I had lots of photos of it afterwards! Similarly I had spent a lot of time with my sisters making up favour bags, sweet cones and decor boxes in a peacock print theme, which kind of got lost in the hall decor, but admittedly on the day, it didn't matter as much to me anyway.

Ghagray

We’d bought lots of jasmine strings to make into bracelets (ghagray) for some of the guests, and some of them got forgotten. Two of my friends ended up putting dolly-mixture sweet bracelets on my wrists to make up for it because we forgot to get my best friends to put the flowers on my wrist! I don't know why I look so serious in the photo below because I remember laughing about it all!

Food!
Our food got served late, which was very frustrating, as the caterers had been calling me all afternoon while I was getting ready to ask me about venue access and set-up. I actually got up from my stage at one point during a break when the guests managed to eat, to go into the kitchens and tell off the caterers. They learned their lesson and served the food on time on the wedding day though, so at least I told them off effectively!

Dancing the night away!
We managed to get some of the older ladies, the mums and aunties, up for a Beyonce dance which was fun, and it was even better when my sisters and friends joined in too. One of my friends is an amazing (and enthusiastic!) dancer so she stole the show with her moves and got me to join in as well, although I'll admit I was a lot more embarassed!

My niece and I doing twirls!

It feels pretty strange to look through some of these now and see myself all dressed up, especially because I looked pretty calm in a lot of photos and I know I was quite nervous!
A friend of mine got married a few days ago and told me she felt the same - I think it was that point after months of stressing that she walked in and decided to just enjoy herself rather than look for things that had gone wrong.

I know there were a lot of things which were missing, didn't look the way I thought or just general things I thought were needed - looking back I now know that as much as we brides love the little details. the beautiful decor, the amazing dances, it's more important to enjoy the night and being with your close ones. Above all, just sit back, relax and focus on looking good!

THE WEDDING POSTS: My Mehndi Outfit - The Breakdown

A lot of people have contacted me to ask about my mehndi and wedding outfits, so I thought I'd write a more detailed post about each one, including my design ideas and the ordering process. I spent a lot of time trying to design my outfits, but truthfully, once I had an idea of colours and design, it all came together very quickly.

I had spent a couple of months at the beginning of this year contacting various Pakistani designers and online vendors for ideas of prices and designs, and spent a lot of time confused about what to go for. I  narrowed down my choices to Karma, whose bridal dresses were more affordable for me, or spending the same amount for a non-designer and get more work added onto the dress. I didn't really feel the need to go to Pakistan and do my shopping there (although it may have helped me a lot more to see the designs up close) as I didn't want to spend too much money on flight tickets and didn't have the time to take off from work, and I was also fairly confident that I would be able to order online as I had done so many orders through vendors before.

In the end I decided not to go for a 'designer' outfit, it would have cost too much and I kept feeling that I would have to compromise and go for a lighter version of the outfit I wanted in order to fit my budget. I ended up getting my bridal and my mehndi outfit from someone who I have used several times before, and 
I got my outfit from Ayesha from Kapray Shapray, who was a huge help with designing and finalising my outfit, and ideas for my bridal jewellery.

Here is my mehndi outfit again, you can also see more pictures from my mehndi here. I was very keen on a yellow bridal, wanting the traditional Pakistani look, but didn't want it to be too blocky in colour so added some coral pink, light orange and lime green accents to make it look more funky and break up the design a little. I chose light gold metal work all over, and lots of silk jamawar material in the skirt to finish it off.

The colours
One of my biggest problems when designing my outfit was narrowing down colours, especially ones which would compliment yellow without overpowering it, and which would be flattering on my skin tone. I spent a lot of time looking at colour wheels, looking at existing mehndi outfits and putting together colours on art and drawing programmes to see for myself what worked.

Below are a few ideas for colour combinations, I really liked the first one but found it difficult to incorporate off white with yellow and lime in a way that I liked. I also thought about not using yellow at all and looking at blues, greens and purples, but it didn't appeal to me as much as a yellow bridal did. In the end, I decided to go with a yellow outfit with coral pink, light orange and lime green (which reminded me a little of Starbursts!) which I was quite happy with.

The designs
A few of my friends and I joke about having folders of bridal pictures and ideas for our weddings, and in truth, having a folder of things I liked meant I didn't have to keep finding it online and it gave me a good pattern of things I liked. Having said that, I also felt a little overwhelmed because I liked TOO many things, there were so many designs which couldn't be merged together and meant I had to be brutal and pick a style I liked.

Here are a few ideas I looked at for inspiration, I'm sure you can see that there are a lot of long shirts and maxi dresses, lots of yellows, olives and pinks, and lots of sparky with dramatic duppattas. I didn't picky any one design out of these but rather took the styles of these - a mix of a few of my favourite designers like Bunto Kazmi, Nomi Ansari, Faiza Samee and Karma, all who make amazing mehndi outfits.

I decided to go for a knee-length kameez rather than an ankle length maxi or dress, as I found this easier to walk around in, and I also picked heavier work on the kameez and dupatta rather than the skirt. Ayesha (the designer who made my outfits) was a big help with her suggestions in colours and design, and sent me several examples of existing bridals she had made so I had an idea what to expect.

I also spent a short time looking around my local shops, so that I could see myself what worked welled and what colours looked good together. I'm lucky enough to have a whole street of boutiques and Asian wear shops around the area, so I was able to look at a whole range of designs.

One style which had really appealed to me was the angrakha or wrap style dress, which I didn't go for in the end because it wouldn't go with the work I wanted in the neckline - although I made up for this with one of my dholki outfits!

In the end I kept it simple. I wanted a kameez with a winding, flowery design across it and lots of small motifs, which was replicated on my scarf. The style was similar to a couple of Bunto Kazmi bridals I had seen and loved, and I added a panel of colours at the hem to make it more colourful and break up the design a little.

The process of ordering - swatches, samples, pictures and materials
Throughout my order, Ayesha kept me updated with pictures of the outfit as it progressed, sending me a colour swatch book and material swatches to make sure I knew the exact colours and types of silks I wanted. I had to fill out a very detailed measurements form which measured every aspect of the outfit requirements, and made sure there was a lot less room for mistakes. We got to a point where we emailed, whatsapped and texted nearly every day so that each aspect of the outfit was looked at thoroughly, and with each decision made, Ayesha would double check decisions and send pictures to confirm what I wanted.

I also emailed Ayesha detailed description of each part of the outfit, which was broken down by colours, types of work and designs I wanted. Below is an example of what I wanted on the skirt, for example (although this was adjusted around as the outfit was finally being made).

The outfit took me over two months to design, and I was constantly on my computer finalising my mehndi and wedding outfit to a design that I was happy with. Once I finalised and checked everything, I paid a 50% deposit and left Ayesha to make the outfit. She made sure she sent me pictures as it was being stitched, and continued to confirm colours and designs before they were implemented, making sure I felt very involved in the process.

Final result
Eventually the outfits were made, the process of making took about 3 and half months, and Ayesha sent pictures of the whole outfit before it was posted. Admittedly, the design and ordering process took me longer than I thought, it was a little frustrating constantly looking at bridal designs (I remember feeling that I was going crazy!) and it was a relief to finally pay the deposit and stop looking at my designs!

The outfit was fast-tracked and couriered to me, and reached me about 3 days after posting, which was a huge relief because I didn't have to wait long. At the time, I was feeling stressed out about a lot of the wedding detail and the rest of the mehndi look like the hair, make-up and jewellery, so it felt good to get my outfit and use it to match everything else to. The best thing was that the outfit fit perfectly, and the design looked better in person than it had in pictures, it was really, really sparkly and felt amazing when I tried it on.

I've tried to include as much detail of my order as I can, and I'm sure I've missed a lot out; there is a lot to consider when dress-designing a bridal outfit and it can feel a little overwhelming - but try not to worry! If you have any questions please do leave a comment and I will reply as best as I can.

Overall I was really happy with my mehndi outfit and received a lot of compliments for it (a comments which made me smile were my married friends and sisters saying that they wanted to get married again just to wear the same outfit!) and the best part of the outfit was how bridal and yet very comfortable it felt, ). I'm aiming to get some coral coloured silk trousers made so I can wear the kameez again in future (hopefully it will still fit!), but in the meantime the outfit is wrapped up and has been put away!

BRIDE COUTURE: Dia Mirza's Beautiful Wedding

I've been wanting to post about this for a while, so I'm a little late to the party but I couldn't resist posting about this Bollywood beauty, who is also one of my favourite actresses. Dia Mirza married her long-time partner and business partner Sahil Sangha in October this year, and the beauty queen did not disappoint with her wedding outfits! I've always been a fan of Dia Mirza and it's rare that she ever looks bad, so naturally her wedding was a colourful extravaganza!

Kicking off with her mehndi was this beautiful Ritu Kumar anarkali, which was a beautiful buttery yellow with colourful accents. The picture on the right is actually from a photoshoot she has done in the past, and it's an amazing outfit, Dia pretty much had the same look and added a long necklace and some pretty jasmine flowers, which made her look really fresh and pretty.

Next after this was her sangeet, which was a bit more dressy for Diya, as she wore a beautifully heavy purple/blue lengha by Anita Dongre, which she accessorized with chunky jewellery and wavy hair. I love her makeup on this event as well, very soft and glowy (although this is pretty much her signature look!)

There were a lot of speculations as to who Dia would go with for her wedding outfit - and she went for a mughal-era inspired sharara by Ritu Kumar, wearing a champagne gold outfit with beautiful green and blue accents. I LOVE everything about this outfit, it's not too heavy so the greens and blue are striking, the jewellery is done beautifully, and the kiran (tinsly) fringe on the dupatta just completes the look beautifully.

I also really liked the fact that she had a fresh, dewy look for her wedding, rather than heavy, smokey eyes or heavy lips, and it really shows off her beauty well. Everything about this outfit shouts traditional, classical and regal, and it really makes for a lovely wedding outfit.

In contrast to this was her final, reception outfit, which was more of a modern lengha by Shantanu and Nikhi, in peach and bronze, with a sari-style net drap around the bodice.While the make-up (namely the eyes) are a bit heavier, her updo and beautiful emerald jewellery make a beautiful contrast for a very glamorous look.

Image source

I loved all of Dia's outfits and looks for each of her wedding functions, my favourites being her mehndi outfit (I love a good anarkali!) and her beautiful wedding outfit. I'm sure all of you have seen a few pictures of her wedding already, but which look did you like most?

My Mehndi Night!

I finally got (some!) of the professional pictures from my mehndi and wedding day, so I thought I'd kick off this Monday with a post about my mehndi (finally!). I've been sifting though hundreds of photos and trying to pick out the best ones (even as I was typing away I kept finding more to add in!)

Just a quick note to ask anyone who does share these images, please do credit me back to my blog.

First off (and most exciting for me), here's what I look like. I debated for quite some time about showing my face, especially as I never really do in my blog. I've decided not to because I don't want this to be about how I look, so much as what I wore. I did want to show my face to show the amazing make-up I had done by my sister-in-law, which I was really, really  happy with, but in the long run I think I'll stick to my decision (although you can have a quick peek of my eyes!)

So here's me doing twirlies in the town square as directed by my photographer! This is my mehndi outfit, which I designed myself over a course of a few months and got made from Pakistan. I will be doing a fuller post about my outfit soon, so don't worry, more details coming! Overall I kept my mehndi look simple because the outfit was so heavy - I wore a simple teeka and a ring, and some bangles, plus some jasmine flowers in my hair. Even now when I look at my mehndi outfit, I want to wear it again because I enjoyed wearing it so much, and because it came out so beautifully!

 

My decor was mainly done by the caterers we had booked, although all of the small touches were done by my sisters and sister-in-law. The mehndi itself took place in a local Town Hall which was perfect because it was intimate and pretty sound-proof for our function, and also ideal since the event was ladies-only and the venue protected our privacy.

Here's some of the decor from the caterers and also some that we did - initially I had wanted to go for a peacock theme which we mainly kept to. We did also end up adding a lot of marigolds and gold touches with fresh flowers which didn't go with the peacock theme, but overall it was a beautiful, colourful look and it worked. Here's some just of the images below, again there were so many, I didn't know which ones to post!

My favourite part of all the decor was the candy bar, the fruit table and the smaller touches which were all done by my sisters and sister-in-law. The henna biscuits, the cupcakes, the sweet trees and the candy bar were ALL made by hand by my sisters and sister-in-law - looking back I'm still amazed at how much they managed to put together and make it all look so amazing.

Here's me being walked in by all the girls and women in the family, while my mum stood next to me underneath. I was meant to walk under a deep red dupatta we had, but my sister-in-law thoughtfully got me this beautiful curtain of flowers to walk under instead. It was a really pretty effect (although it really made my sisters and sis-in-law's arms tired because of the heavy poles!) - it was also really nice to walk in and see all my family, friends and neighbours smiling at me while I peeked through the flowers.

Once I walked in, we did all the rasms (cultural traditions) which usually take place at our mehndis - putting dabs of mehndi on my hand, being fed fruit and mithai, while some of the guests sat in the cushioned area and sang folk songs with the dholki, and some put mehndi on their hands.

After this was dinner, which my photographer and I took as an opportunity to take some silly photographs, before we cleared everything away. We ended the night with a LOT of dancing and some games - we tried to get the older women up to join the fun as well but some were more stubborn than others!

I won't post pictures of the dancing because a lot of them are pictures of friends and family who want to remain private, but I will post this picture of me dancing and twirling with my friends which we couldn't stop laughing at!

I'll be posting more pictures about some things from my mehndi soon, and also about my outfit, so watch this space!

- Curly Fries x