Dholki Night #4: Henna Hands and Friends!

This was the last dholki night we held, and probably the most fun, with henna, hot food and lots of silly dancing, Most brides I know apply their mehndi on two days before the big day to allow the colour to go fully dark, which is why our last dholki night was 2 days before the wedding, so that we could all get together and put on mehndi.
This was also the most busiest night, as most of our friends, family and neighbours turned up together on this day which made it even more enjoyable. And of course, they brought plenty of foody goodies with them, my favourite being the doughnuts!

This is the bride getting her henna done, she decided to have beautiful pattens from her hand all the way up to her upper arms, which looked beautiful when all of the mehndi was complete. She also got a little mehndi design on her feet, and then was free for the rest of the night to watch everyone dancing!

And of course, a lot of the girls managed to get our mehndi done too, with some beautiful results. We hired mehndi artists for two ours and managed to get as many hands covered as possible! 

And this is the outfit I chose to wear, a teal-y turquoise long kameez with churidar bottoms, (from the store Dhanak) and a simple pair of khusay and earrings. I thought the colour of this outfit delicious, rich and deep, and the shape of dress itself was very flattering. Because I was going to be wearing mehndi, I didn't want to get hampered down with too much jewellery or bangles, so kept my accessories simple and stuck to a light pair of earrings. The outfit was very comfortable and the shoes were great for running around in!

The dholki nights ended on a great note, we were tired but very pleased with how much the guests enjoyed themselves, the beautiful mehndi patterns, the amazing food and the questionable dancing. It was a great way for us all to spend time together before the big day, and also let us channel our creative bugs - the only things we paid for the marquee hire (and carpet!) itself, the food was provided by ourselves and our guests, the decorations was done by myself and my sisters, and the music, dancing and games completed the nights!

Dholki Night #3: Pinks and Yellows

Day Three of the dholki nights was a bit busier, and of course, had plenty of Punjabi folk songs, Bollywood-style dancing and of course lots of pretty clothes. We managed to banish the boys for this one too, although it didn't stop my nephews sneaking peeks under the marquee entrance through the zip! The bride (my sister) wore a beautiful yellow, banarsi-print salwar kameez, and everyone else chose bright colours which looked really pretty together.
Unfortunately I didn't get as many pictures on this day, but take a peek at the ones I did take below!

And this is the outfit I wore (in pale yellow and hot pink of course), an A-line dress in pale yellow with yellow and pink beading and embroidery, with hot pink trousers, bought by my mum from Pakistan. I kept this look pretty simple with a side plait and some gold and pink earrings, which was really comfortable. I love this look because it's so flattering and classic, I've had this outfit for a couple of years and it still looks contemporary and feminine. And of course, I wore cream khusay to run around in!

It was great to see a lot of friends and family on this night, and the girls (as usual) got up to no good behind zipped doors. I did manage to learn some dholki songs after singing so many though!

Dholki Night #2: Dancing Tweens, Cupcakes & Giggly boys

On day two of the dholki nights, the dancing really hotted up - we had the younger girls warming up the floor for us (with my two young nephews running around in response and pretending to be brides!) before we managed to get some of the women up dancing and clapping - and of course there was plenty of food, dahi bhalay, cupcakes and lots of buffet style foods like samosas, which we scoffed down. There was even a dance rendition to Kajra Re!

And this is what I wore, a long, simple anarkali dress in teal-y green, with embellishment on the neckline and a purple border. I love this dress, it's simple, classic and very, very comfortable. I also think the colour is very flattering, and the silver and purple diamante work was very easy to match shoes and a pair of earrings to. Again, I kept this simple to accommodate for being able to run around, and because the shape of the dress and style of it didn't need too much dressing up.

I loved wearing this outfit, it's very flowy and looked quite sparkly when on, and is a great colour for a dholki night or a party. I've seen this outit in different colours in the high street, but I'm quite happy with this colour combination (plus the outfit is a little more special as it was a birthday present from my mum!)

Roll on Day 3!

Dholki Night #1: Let the Dholki Games begin!

We set up a marquee in my back garden for the week for some dholki nights, for the days leading up to my sister's wedding day, so we could have our own shenanigans and basically dance the night away. We used fabric to decorate the marquee ourselves and make it colourful, and also set up seating area, candles and baskets of goodies for the guests.

Here's a picture of what the marquee looks like (before the mess that was left at the end of the night!), and the colourful look we were aiming for:

I decided to wear a very simple, silk salwar kameez outfit stitched by my mum from a couple of years ago, which has a beautiful, rich blue, teal and purple ombre-style dupatta to jazz it up, and also some colourful beaded khussay shoes and colourful earrings to match (the last two both picked up for a bargain from Green Street!)

We started the week of dholkis off pretty well, there was a lot of (mis-matched) singing and dancing, and it was great to be in a relaxed atmosphere in comfy clothes and pretty tea lights everywhere!

The Lollipop Bouquet

One of the things we LOVED was a lollipop tree-slash-bouquet given to my sister on her mehndi night, by her in-laws when they came to the mehndi night, which complimented her outfit perfectly (the greens and yellows) and also delighted a lot of children! Here's a picture of the bouquet, apologies for the first one being blurry but it's the only one I managed to take on the night:

I think this was such a nice touch, and really memorable too - it's different from the usual flower bouquets, and was such a beautiful display piece too. I really liked how simple this was, and my sister loved it - I can imagine that this is easy to make and doesn't cost too much, and it really did make a nice addition to my sister's look!

The Mehndi Outfits

We (the sisters of the bride) decided to wear simple outfits made of banarsi material, in bright colours for the mehndi night, to keep things simple and also give a pretty, traditional look. I'm a fan of banarsi material and jamawar prints, so I was quite happy to go with this. My mum bought fabrics from her trip in Pakistan and got them stitched for us, in these colours below:

My outfit was the coral pink one, which was basically stitched in a simple kameez with loose trousers. I wasn't a fan of the lace trim on the neckline, but the colour was a really flattering one, and it did come together well. I kept the look simple rather than overloading with jewellery, as the outfit is a bit shimmery, so just accessorised with a pretty silver tikka and some matching bangles brought from Pakistan.

And this is me wearing the outfit, which was surprisingly comfortable and very easy to run around in on the night. My sisters and I got a lot of compliments on the night about the outfits, especially as the colours did look beautiful together with the jewel themes of the mehndi night and the rich colours of the fabrics. Initially we weren't sure about the outfits we got, as we weren't sure that they'd work together, but on the night we were really pleased with how they looked; simple, pretty and eye-catching.

I'm not sure whether this outfit fits into the trends of the catwalk today, but it's definitely a classic style because of the fabric print, and the fact that it's so simple. I really enjoyed the night too and found that the outfit accommodated for the activities (running around, dancing and singing!), and that it really went well alongside the bride's outfit too!