The date is set to about a year away and you have been on a
pinning things on
Pinterest faster than even us ! (Or if you have our app downloaded, you have already begun saving your favourite looks) . So, when exactly do you turn all these pins into reality aka - when should you start hunting for your dream outfit? We got you the low down
Photo: Wedding Salad
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Know your facts: Which designers take longer ?
Sabyasachi for example needs a minimum of 2-3 months to make an outfit. Anything less than that and you will have a very small sample size of maybe 5 off the rack outfits to choose from . Shantanu & Nikhil take about 5 weeks at the minimum, and Manish Malhotra would take around 2 months as well. So call up the stores, and do your research. If you are looking at non designer options, then local stores need a minimum of 5 weeks to get your lehenga ready, and we recommend you start early and give them more time.
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More than 6 months to go = Post purchase Dissonance
If you buy your outfit wayyy early, chances are while shopping for your trousseau you will come across some more options down the line and you will start thinking.
Wow, this is so much prettier Or ..
Wow why didn't I see this before. Avoid that hassle and don't buy your lehenga if your date is more than 6 months away, its great to look and shortlist and if you are someone who can put blinders on , you may want to buy it but in general, most girls who buy their outfits way early , flip flop over their decision in the months to come.
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Start looking 6 months prior
It's always helpful to do a recce of the market and see whats available. Bridal styles don't change much over six months and getting an idea will give you a headstart, Infact if you love something you can go ahead and buy it at this time as well. If you have some serious fitness plans, you may want to wait before writing that cheque though.
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You might want to buy your jewellery BEFORE your lehenga.
You might think you want to match your jewellery to your lehenga, but hun its actually the other way around. Your jewellery is going to cost more than your lehenga, and its going to be a piece that is timeless and treasured. You want to make sure you spend all that money on something you will love forever, versus compromising on it to match an outfit that you will probably wear only once or twice in life. A neat hack is to tell the jeweller not to attach the little beads at the end of the necklace. You can attach those in the color of your choice once you buy your lehenga.
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Once you have seen 3 places- You should have already found it
There is a tendency to always want to see "more options". Here is the thing about bridal shopping. Unless you are going to a designer, in which case each designer has a different style, the stores in Delhi or Mumbai all have similar stock more or less. So once you have gone to 3 big, popular stores, trust us you have seen everything Delhi has to offer and going to more will just make you see more of the same stuff.
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Getting married in the peak season : That matters
If your wedding is between Nov- Jan, chances are most shops will be chock-a-block with bridal orders and your trial dates are going to get even more delayed. You need to get a headstart and go do some serious shopping 4 months prior to the D day, as opposed to someone getting married in May-July.
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Some styles take longer than others
If the lehenga you love has very intricate work all over the lehenga skirt, it can take upto double as much time to make as compared a lehenga with say brocade fabric and heavy borders. Embellished blouses can be ready pretty quickly. but heavily embellished lehengas, specially with intricate hand woven zari or threadwork can be quite a task.
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3 months to go: Your outfit should have been ordered
With 3 months to go, you are probably at the kind of body you want for the wedding day so there wont be too many surprises, and with most stores taking 2 months to make, that gives you a month for alterations and trials. You can then also have a month to look for the knick knacks and accessories
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Take a swatch of the fabric when you order your lehenga
There will be a ton of things you may want to match to your lehenga. A waist belt maybe? Your fiance's sherwani? Some bridal accessory like your choora or fancy kaleere. Your swatch will ensure you don't lose time waiting for your lehenga to come and then buy all of this.
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If there is a fantastic sale, all rules are out
Sales happen around August- September , and getting a fabulous discount on a piece you love might be the perfect excuse to just order it no matter what the time. Having said that, bridals generally go on a maximum of 10% off and you can get that much knocked off with a little bit of bargaining anyway. If you do get a sizeable discount however, go for it.
