While small intimate weddings is what has taken over the Indian wedding industry, but Indian brides have been seen going into full-blown maximalism. With less budget allotted towards guests and a large venue, more has been given to the bride’s outfit. Indian brides will be seen sporting some playful twists on long-time classics this year. Traditionally, Indian brides wear the sacred color of red, which is still my favorite color for a bride, however today’s modern bride is se

As if the wedding planning stress wasn't enough, now it has increased a 100 times more during these trying times. Brides who had their weddings in March and April 2020 got a rather rude surprise, but after that, we've seen weddings happen, but within the government guidelines. While a lot of couples opted for a simple online wedding during the lockdown, now that the restrictions are a little relaxed, wedding planners have devised new ways to make the grand affair intimate yet

After reading our romantic Indian wedding vows in the most awkward way, we were pronounced husband and wife. My inner voice asked me, “Was I really married to this man standing next to me?” This really is it ! We were asked to make our move down from the stage on the beach and head to the reception area. As Arnav and I got done with the rituals, we both realized that we did not have our shoes. The groom doesn’t have his shoes – YES! My girls did it. I don’t have my shoes – WT

Wedding planning can often leave the brides quite clueless, to an extent that you don’t know where to start your wedding planning from. If you are a bride, you might be finding yourself juggling between finalizing your makeup artist, your outfits while still searching for your venue. Here are my 5 prioritized points, which can help you plan your wedding smoothly and give you a starting point: 1) Wedding planner: The first thing you need to do as a bride is to finalize a weddi

Apart from few guests who will complain irrespective of your efforts, majority of the guests see your wedding celebrations going smoothly, following the Indian time guideline. Only the bride and groom know what’s really going on in their heads… getting back to our story, lets not break the continuation from the last post … The groom arrived in his spectacular aura and I started making my way down the elevator with my bridesmaids. As I started making the entry under the phool

I feel a sense of anxiety just about now - as I type this blog post. Revisiting the moments while I was seated in my bridal suite at the Centara Grand Mirage, Pattaya waiting for my groom to arrive ignites a fresh spark within me. The day of the wedding is not usually a smooth ride and I don’t know of any bride who hasn’t let out few expletives on their fiancé (mentally) for being late, so this is what most brides including me experience – an emotional turmoil! I was emotiona

The sangeet was the following night after the beach Turkish henna function. I got a small window to change, breathe and play gossip (quite essential at weddings) with my best friends before I sat down for my makeup for the most awaited night – Sangeet. Now i know it's a strange concept to my fellow South African Indian friends, but this function is literally what compiles weddings for each of us in India. I am a huge Bollywood buff so of course we had to have a function that

The arrival of the new year and a new decade brings the possibilities of new trends and a fresh take on celebrations. Over the last few years, modern Indian weddings have become less about big fat Bollywood-style extravaganzas and more about choosing your own escapade. So this year, I have curated a list of the wedding trends that you should watch out for in 2020. 1) Sustainability: Sustainability is top of the line for a lot of 2020 couples. It shouldn’t be considered a tren

The day of the wedding was marked with anxiety, happiness and nervousness all at once for me. I was woken up with a banging sound on my door, which made me jump up to grab some juice (yes, I’m the kind of girl who drinks juice in the morning instead of coffee). I also recall reaching for an Advil from the hangover kit that was provided in all the rooms before the festivities began. Even though I did not drink a sip of alcohol, I felt a thumping sound in my head, which pretty

Our wedding jewelry is something that we all treasure. Some pieces that have been passed down to us from our grandmothers and mothers are so timeless and unique, which makes them all the more special to us. Whether it is gold, kundan, polki, uncut diamonds or sparkly diamond carats – we love them all in all styles and all sizes. I couldn’t help but wonder can a girl ever have enough amount of jewelry? Vikas chain and jewellery (VCJ) are one of the biggest retailers of jewelry

Just as the title suggests, our cocktail was full of glitz and glamour. This marked the beginning of our wedding functions officially, and of course, as an Indian wedding, it had to include fun, dancing and lots of music. Our idea behind cocktail was to let our guests drop their hair and dance the night out to feel the vibe of the wedding. While décor spoke glitter in every direction, it truly was the last bling fling before the ring. While fiancé looked sharp in an all blue

An old world Indian charm remains evergreen in our wardrobe. We all love the new silhouettes and refreshing designs that Indian designers create at every Fashion Week, however, what still holds close to our heart are the traditional designs that speak close to Indian culture. This was the inspiration behind my recent collaboration with an Indian designer who is an epitome of luxury couture – Anju Modi. Over the years, her designs have pushed boundaries and excelled in luxury

Is the city of joy all about neat workmanship? Well, it is a lot many things like their street food, the warm nature of Kolkatains, the beautiful pandals during Durga Puja and of course, the yellow ambassadors that never seem to stop honking. But with reference to the design industry, I couldn’t help but wonder if this city has more to offer? I wanted to depict a new side of this city’s creativity with my Kolkata design segment. When you visit the streets of Kolkata, they may

5th July, 2016: Like any other wedding group, our day started with chaos. Amidst the chaos, there was a bigger problem that kept ringing in my head. This was the point when I did not care if my makeup artist had reached the hotel to get me ready for the welcome lunch, I also did not care if my Mami’s uncle's brother finally got his room allocated to the big suite he had been eyeing. All I cared about was - “Where is Arnav?” Yes! The groom was missing. My man couldn't have cho

Decisions, Decisions, And Decisions! Decision of getting married, decision on the guy, decision on the wedding dates, decision taken after the fight on the never-ending wedding preparations, decision on the wedding lehenga and yes also decision on the wedding jewelry! At some point, we have all wished that this lovely romantic courtship (as they call it) could sometimes just be fast-forwarded to the wedding date already. Yes, we have all thought of it, so girls live guilt-fre

It was the season to be a ‘Sabya’ bride. I mean every wedding that we attended, had a Sabyasachi bride. I wondered to myself if I would want to be just another Sabyasachi bride? The answer was of course NO! So being persistent on my thought, I went around looking at all the designers other than Sabyasachi for my bridal lehenga. Little did I know, that I would become THE Sabya bride. I had almost finalized a lehenga at another designer’s store in Qutub, Mehrauli. It had beauti

Amidst the hustle bustle of the Pullman Hotel, belonged my room with more chaos than ever before. My makeup and hair team led by Kavita Verma, was already in my room by 8am starting to lay the little studio that they carried around with them turning my room into a celebrity’s vanity van. I had checked into the Pullman Hotel, Aerocity New Delhi, a day before the engagement as the gorgeous ballroom of this Hotel is where we had planned our ceremony. Well, my main reason was to

Skin issues can be tricky. Firstly, not everything suits everyone and secondly, it’s not L’Oreal shampoo that gives one solution to five different problems, meaning there is not just one solution to the various skin issues. What suits your mother may have a completely different reaction on your skin. So understanding your skin needs and recognizing the problem is very important. It also does not mean that you layer your skin with 10,000 products each day and undergo all the s