Over 2 years ago was the joyous occasion of my Brother’s wedding! Where do you start first for your sibling’s wedding? The outfits of course! It is best to work around these first. I needed 3 outfits – this should be no surprise… as normally for brides – some have up to 5 outfits!

Stage 1: The Outfits

I was quite fortunate as one of my favourite shops – Monga’s had a glorious new year sale – I was spoilt for choice, but had to remember to stick to my budget (a difficult task). I was adamant to wear at least one lehenga. I found 2 beautiful lehengas on the off-chance whilst browsing. I tried on about 5 lehengas in total – which is not bad considering it was my second shopping trip for outfits. The one thing you have to remember is when you see something you love and most definitely know you won’t be able to find it anywhere else… it would be most best to buy it (with rationale reasoning of course) 😉 .

The lehenga I selected to wear in the morning had a raw silk hot pink blouse and purple satin skirt with pearl and kundan work across the entire skirt, dupatta and blouse top. The skirt had net on top and was not too heavily skirted with net underneath, therefore it was not too difficult to manoeuvre in.

The lehenga for the evening was a pale gold/nude colour with gold thread stitching and diamond work in the navy blue borders. The blouse top had heavy work, therefore it did not need chunky jewellery to accessorise it.

Stage 2: The Accessories & Shoes

The last tasks were to buy the jewellery, shoes and clutches; I find the search for these to be the most difficult.

I took my jewellery search first to Southall, which was disappointing due to lack of good quality in most independents I visited. I knew my best bet would be one of my favourite jewellery stores: Bees, however initially I wanted to explore what was out there. Inevitably I visited Bees several times that month – I bought two necklaces and earring sets and a separate necklace (to combine with one necklace set) and all my bangles from Bees for the wedding day. All the chain adjustments need they did free of charge on the same day. To admit it, I had spent a bit a bees in total, but it was worth it due to the quality and the ease of service when matching your jewellery to your outfit.

The clutch bag I went in search of in Wembley to Avari! I love that place. One of the best places for Asian shoes and clutch bags. My only issue is I have pretty wide fit, so I cannot fit in most shoes, which unfortunately limited the choice I had. I ended up selecting silver low wedge sandals with a back strap covered in tiny pearls for my morning lehenga, and for the evening I could not find comfortable Asian shoes anywhere. Whenever I need formal shoes I go to Debenhams, where I fortunately found a pair of shimmer gold high heels (£30). I did ensure my shoes did not have any diamond work, as this can catches on the bottom of your outfit.

Lastly, the two clutches, of course Avari again! The same logic applies as the shoes; avoid clutch bags which have heavy stone or beadwork, as this will catch on to your outfit (talking from plenty of first hand experience).

Top Tip: Avoid shoes and clutches with diamond/stone/bead work as this will repeatedly get caught on your outfit, which will not only annoy you, but can damage your outfit too.

Stage 3: The Make Up

I used my lovely make-up artist Sheetal, who did my make-up for my Brother’s engagement party for the wedding. She had to create one look which I could carry across two outfits across the whole day; a challenging task. I am difficult when it comes to makeup; I strongly dislike heavy facial makeup, it doesn’t suit me at all. I stressed that I needed minimal makeup where possible (sorry Sheetal). Despite being so picky, she pulled together the perfect look at my trial; I was excited!

After organising myself and assisting the groom throughout the whole busy process, then came the big day where everything fell into place! It was incredible…beautiful and enchanting.

Lehengas: Monga’s

Jewellery: Bees

Clutch: Avari

Make Up: Sheetal Parmer

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