It is almost time for the wedding season to start, that means, the wedding shopping for both the bride and the groom's family is in full swing. And of course, the most exciting as well as the scariest part of shopping for the Big Fat Indian Wedding is finding and buying the bridal outfit.
We are sure that a modern bride to be, you are constantly scrolling your Instagram and Pinterest for the latest bridal trends and tips and tricks for the upcoming wedding. You are just waiting for the day when you find your perfect wedding saree/ wedding lehenga/ wedding salwar suit and buy your dream wedding dress online.
All the excitement aside, if you thought that shopping for a bridal outfit is going to be easy, let us burst the bubble for you. Buying a bridal outfit is nothing short of a treasure hunt with not enough clues to figure out everything. There are chances that you will be hunting for the perfect bridal lehenga or saree for days walking from one boutique to the other or do it smartly and just have to browse from one webpage to the other.
To ease this long and painful process of shopping for the Indian wedding for you, we have created this list of 7 important things you must remember while shopping for an Indian wedding.
Let us get started
Stick to a small group of advisors
Too many cooks spoil the broth! We know that you think you need all the advice you can get to shop for your big day. However, that doesn't mean you ask a thousand people for advice thinking that will help you make the right decision (we know you are not asking a thousand people, it is a hyperbole, relax!). As a matter of fact, too many people means too many opinions, and that will just end up confusing you even more. What you need to do it ask a few good people who you can trust to give you the most honest advice and you know that they have a good sense of the latest fashion trends.
Be sure of who are you shopping for
While making a shopping list and planning your shopping itinerary, make sure who you are shopping for? Does your shopping responsibility just involve buying your own wedding dress? Are you shopping for the groom as well? What about the rest of the family? Are the clothes for the entire wedding party your responsibility too? Shopping for an Indian wedding is one hell of a task, so make sure you have already confirmed with everyone what to buy and what types of clothes they want. #PlanPlanAndPlanSomeMore.
Calculate and stick to your budget
It is very easy to go overboard and spend a lot more than you can afford when shopping for a wedding, especially the wedding dress. So before you start window shopping or start browsing for bridal sarees online, it is advisable to have a clear cut idea about how much you can spend on the wedding shopping. This way if you are going old school and shopping at a brick and mortar store, you can tell your budget to the salesperson and they can show you outfits in your range. While if you are shopping for wedding dresses online, most eCommerce websites like Hatkay.com will have a price range filter which will narrow down your choices and ensure that you don't get tempted by out-of-budget bridal dresses.
Wear clothes that are easy to take off while shopping
This one is just for brides that are going to physical stores and boutiques to pick out their wedding dress. Most probably, there are chances that you will be looking for your wedding outfit while on a shopping spree on foot. There are even more chances that you will not be finding the perfect one in the first go and you will be trying on a lot of bridal outfits that you think might look good on you. Since bridal clothes are often quite bulky and not that easy to slip on and off, after a while you will get tired from all the clothes trying on and off session. Help yourself in that situation and wear something comfortable for yourself that day that is easy to put on and take off, something like a simple t-shirt dress or a pair of tights and a tank top. The bonus of wearing tights is that you can try your lehenga or saree right over the tights, so you don't even need to remove it.
Keep your bridal outfit for your current size
A lot of brides think that they will lose a few kilos before the wedding and so think that their bridal outfits should be an inch or two tighter than their current size. Don't make that mistake, pick the ones that fit you properly now! Even on an off chance that you do end up losing a few inches, it is easier to tighten up a blouse or lehenga than increasing its width.
Think practically and wear heavy make up while shopping
Think about it, you try on the outfit at the boutique and it looks fantastic but then when you actually put on the dress on your wedding along with the heavy bridal makeup, you realize that the outfit looks a little too much. What can you do? There is no turning back now!
To avoid all that drama, wear a little bit of extra makeup on the day you are shopping for your bridal outfits. This will give a decent idea of how you are going to manage the overall bridal look on the wedding day.
Think about your accessories as well
It's not just the makeup, even accessories will add weightage to your final bridal look. A lot of brides make the mistake of thinking about the bridal outfit and bridal accessories as two different things and not as a whole outfit. While shopping for the bridal dress, keep the complete look in mind and also think about the accessories as well. The best thing to do if you can't imagine the look is to carry the accessories with you when you are out shopping and then make the final decision.
We hope these small things but must know pointers of wedding shopping will ease your things for you while you are hustling for the perfect bridal wear. Do you have any of your own tips and tricks to share? Let us know inf the comments.
