Wedding Diaries: D-day

So Facebook just reminded me that it's been a year since I wrote my engagement post. Thanks for the amazing response, you guys! It has over a 1000 views and even got featured on ezwed.in 😊
I pretty much outlined all the basic stuff on how to choose your dress, jewelry, makeup artist and photographer in the previous post, so I'm just going to get down to telling my experience.

Wedding shopping can be really stressful and it's not something you can do in a day or two. I had about 3 months ahead of me and it still wasn't enough time. Planning is everything.

The Sarees:

I decided to go to Kanchipuram this time. Trust me when I say that you'll never find such a myriad of sarees in unique colour combinations anywhere else in the city. I spent a full 12 hours looking at sarees only to end up feeling overwhelmed and exhausted. I picked something I wasn't entirely happy with. It gnawed at me all the way back home and I finally blurted it out to my mom. She called and persuaded the store into exchanging my saree (they don't usually do that, mind you).
Finding what you want can be a frustrating process but never settle for just any saree. Take short breaks. EAT. Never shop on empty stomach.

Saree 1:

The first saree I wore on my wedding day, right before the muhurtham, was a blue-violet silk saree with temple zari. Blue has always been my favourite colour and there's no way I was having a wedding without wearing something blue. This saree was from Sundari Silks, T.Nagar. 

I decided to complement the saree with my mom's jewelry: small white stone jhumkas and necklace, a long gold haram and white stone bangles. 
I wore violet flowers on my hair for my first saree which I then changed to red to match my muhurtham saree. The silver kemp nethi chutti/maang tikka is from Kushal's, Express Avenue.

Saree 2:

For the muhurtham we traditionally wore a simple maroon checked silk saree. I decided to go for a reddish maroon silk saree with golden zari from Kumaran Silks, T.Nagar instead(so I'd be able to use it again). Since the red saree-green blouse muhurtham look was getting pretty common, I opted for a same colour blouse with green embroidery and embellishments. 

I took months to carefully choose the jewelry for my muhurtham saree. The choker was from Vummidi Bangaru Jewellers, Anna Salai. The necklace, haram and jhumkas are all from the vintage/antique collection at GRT, T.Nagar. Bangles are from GRT and Prince Jewellery.

Saree 3:

Post-muhurtham I wore the saree from Prakash Silks, Kanchipuram. It was a pinkish orange-black saree with elephant motifs in the border. I know wearing black on your wedding day is unusual and maybe even unacceptable. But don't let anyone tell you what to or what not to wear, right? Just make sure you check in with your mother-in-law.😜
And guess what? Both my grandma and mom had black in their wedding sarees as well! Not so progressive after all? 

*All my blouses were designed at KI Dress Sense, Aminjikarai and stitched at Varsidhi, Kilpauk.

*Makeup and hair were by Mr.Shabas (Mr.Ibrahim's brother) and team. If I'm being honest, Shabas is good but not as good as Ibrahim. I missed the near-perfect makeover I got during my engagement. 
*Photography was by Mr.Siraj Khan and team.
Make sure the lead makeup artist/photographer is available on the day before booking them. They might end up sending their assistants. Never say okay to that.

I kept it simple but you can go all out and wear a lot more jewelry. There's no such thing as "going overboard" when it comes to a wedding.

Until next time, ciao!