Editor’s note: This post has to begin with an Oh.My.God, what a resplendent, gorgeous, glowing, heavenly, ethereal [add similar adjectives here] bride Aathira made on her wedding day! From her saree, to her jewels, to her make up, to her uber fancy hair – every thing was spot on, and totally envy worthy. Here’s the post where she shares the details of the process of saree-hunting, jewellery-hunting and all the outfit planning craziness that takes over every bride’s life before her wedding. Lots of shopping pointers for all the Bangalore brides and Malayali brides out there!
Aathira lives in Bangalore (and the wedding was in Kochi).
The Look:
The Outfit & Accessories
- What did you have in mind when you were thinking about your look for this event?
As soon as I realised my wedding was scheduled for May-end in the Kerala heat, I knew I wanted a summer theme. Kanjeevaram was a no-brainer and since I had already worn pink for my engagement ceremony, my heart was set on a yellow kanjeevaram.
- Where is this outfit from?
Vijayalakshmi Silks, MG Road, Bangalore.
- Did you always think you’d find something here, or was it a chance find? Tell me more about your story of how you found this!
EVERYONE told me wearing yellow was a bad idea. Malayali brides tend to wear quite a bit of gold and that is intended to be the focus of the outfit, so yellow would have drowned out the gold. But I had made up my mind. Unfortunately, most brides wear red or pink on the wedding day and we ended up going to every major silk saree store in the city searching for the perfect yellow kanjeevaram saree. We had visited Vijayalakshmi silks right at the beginning but not found anything there. I had expected to pick my saree at Angadi Galleria, Seshadripuram, a lovely store from which I had picked my engagement saree. One day after my umpteenth failed visit to Angadi, my mum suggested we try Vijayalakshmi again, and we were lucky to find this saree 🙂
- Were there other droolworthy outfits similar to yours, or would you say this was a unique piece at the store?
The store is very very old and has some gorgeous sarees. Though this saree was unique because of the colour and the pattern.
- Can you name some other stores which you’d recommend to to-be-brides for finding similar stuff?
Angadi Galleria, Seshadripuram; Rukmini Hall, Chickpet; Deepam Silks, MG Road.
- Were you comfortable in it?
Yes, the saree was fairly heavy but easy to walk around in once draped.
- Tell me where the jewellery items you’re wearing are from!
I wanted traditional south indian (preferably Malayali) jewellery that did not clash with the outfits and wasn’t obscenely huge or yellow. So jewellery buying was a very long process spread over months. Most of my jewellery was picked up from Malabar Gold and Bhima Jewellers, from their Kochi and Bangalore branches. The main piece- uncut diamonds and emerald set in a traditional maanga maala pattern was a chance find at Malabar Gold. My waist-piece was a gold chain worn by my mother at her wedding 🙂
- Where did you get your shoes from?
Lifestyle, I think it’s Catwalk.
The Make Up
- Who did you hair and make up?
Shoba Kunjan’s daughter Shweta (fairly well known in Kerala). The boutique is called Live-in-style. Her assistants draped the saree as well.
- Did you decide this look yourself or was it mostly up to the MUA?
I knew I wanted a super- traditional look with a long braid and jasmine flowers along with natural make-up. Once I communicated this to the MUA, she came up with the look during our trial session.
- Tell me more about your experience!
I live in Bangalore and the wedding was in Kerala. So my trial session was 2 days before the wedding. I knew I was in good hands because she had been my cousin’s MUA as well and I had a great experience. She is super punctual and efficient and did a great job!
- Please rate the pricing from a range of 1-5 (with 5 being super expensive).
I would say 4, but worth it.
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