Wedding Preparations – Part Two – Bridal Attire

Hello Wonderers, hope you are well and are enjoying my Life of a Bride Series, this one is more fun, and my emotions were sky high. It was trying on wedding dresses! 😮

Yep, and that’s when it all kicked in, and I was like “Oh crap! I’m getting married!” I went to a few places to try on dresses and to have a browse, I created a Pinterest board of asian wedding dresses, where I would pin a few different styles, and designs, so I could get a sense of what I would or wouldn’t like.

Dresses

First place I went to was Bibi London, (IG: @bibildn) This is an asian wedding dress boutique, and it was only 20 minutes away from me, on their Instagram they had a very unique style of dresses. I thought I’d check it out and see what styles they had to offer.

It was a lovely setting, however, the dresses I liked, was way over budget, my in laws gave me a budget and I wanted to stick to that, also, I was very realistic throughout my wedding shopping, I didn’t want to buy a dress that is over £2000, which will then sit in a storage box underneath my bed, I know it’s you’re wedding day, but lets be real girls, it’s not so clever.

A week or so later, I went with my dad and went to some Bridal shops in Ilford lane, its like a second Green Street. (Asian Galore) I visited a few of the stores and they were more Pakistani styled bridal outfits. The work of the dresses were really heavy, and also the price was crazy. But going there, I learnt a few things, I didn’t want a dress styled bridal outfit, I wanted a Lengha! Which is a top, a skirt and a dupatta.

Another thing I learnt, you got to be sneaky when taking pictures, don’t lie, you’ve all taken pictures in these type of shops, they have hawk like eyes and are like “NO PICTURES PLEASE.” Because, apparently some people take that picture and will replicate the dress elsewhere. Whoever has done or does that, you’re a weirdo.

Back to the dress, it’s a stunning dress, however, that style and fit just doesn’t suit me, I felt like a long oblong potato. I would obviously have sleeves added on, and it would be adjusted to my shape, but it wasn’t calling out to me.

Next, it was a trip to good old Southall, everyone hypes about Southall and the shops for asian weddings, me, I just personally didn’t get the hype. Some stuff is crazy cheap, however, they all have zero customer service skills. So, I bet you can take one guess where I went to look at wedding dresses? Yep, the famous Mongas.

So many brides have purchased from there, so many amazing outfits, not just for bridal, they provide services for Groomswear, Bridesmaids, and party wear. I loved the setting of it, and they had amazing customer service too. A lovely lady, (who’s name I have forgotten, please don’t judge me, I struggle with my own name at times) she took the time out and explained to me the process of browsing different styled dresses, trying them on, seeing what suits you, picking what material you would like, having them customise it to your shape and taste and it would then be ordered, which will take 16 weeks. Thats 4 months. A very long time. Anyway, they had different styled dresses, A-Line, Fishtail, Empire, to Lenghas, dresses or even Sarees. I had already decided that I will be going for a Lengha and went to that section to pick out a few outfits to try.

When it comes to any outfit, I won’t waste my time on something if I don’t like it, I had picked up three, but only one was appealing for me, so I only chose to try on that.

I loved the detail of the dress, it was very Sabyasachi styled Lengha and came with two dupattas. However, I wasn’t so keen on the top, I felt like it was too much detail and looked liked it had a lot going on. Plus, you had to bear in mind, I’d be wearing a lot of jewellery, and I’d have the hair, makeup, and the scarves would be set, it would just look like a whole load of mess. That’s my personal opinion. By going to these Bridal shops and trying on outfits, I started learning a lot about myself, what I liked and disliked, what I felt like would suit me and what wouldn’t.

After countless shops and bridal boutiques, I popped into Bidaii in the East Shopping Mall thats located in Green Street. I was just having a browse and started talking to one of the girls there and telling her about how picky I am and that I’m working with a budget, I was so specific, like I want this and I want that, it has to have this and has to have that, and it also has to be within this price range. I started trying on a few lenghas, again, I wasn’t so wow by them.

She then came out with this BLUE wedding dress, I was like uh, I don’t want a dress and thats blue love. 😛 She then explained to me, that all these outfits are for try on, once you’ve placed an order it is made from scratch, so this dress can be made into a lengha, it can have minimal stone work, you can change the stone colours, and the outfit colour to whatever you want. I tried on the dress, and I fell in love with it, but I was a bit skeptical about the whole changing the dress thing, cause I couldn’t envision this dress being something so different yet similar. The girls there were not pushy at all, they told me to come back after I’ve thought about it and to just talk with the manager about my worries and concerns.

I went back after a few days, and met Bez, the manager, I tried on the dress again and she went through the step by step changes I wanted and how it could be made to my liking and taste. I was sold, and I could just see the style of lengha I wanted in my head.

I also narrowed it down to what colour I wanted. I really wanted a black wedding dress, but my parents were not having any of it, they think black is like some omen or some crap. I was like uhh, okay. I really fought for a black wedding dress, but the battle was lost. So I went for the darkest and deepest burgundy I could go for. I placed the order mid October, and my dress would be ready for me mid February.

I wouldn’t be able to pick out my jewellery until my outfit is here, as I would need the colours etc, so I moved onto the other things I could buy, and the most important part of the whole outfit. As this was a long post, I had to break it up, so stay tuned for the next post, Wedding Preparations – Part Three – Accessories, where I will be taking you on the journey of picking my shoes, Makeup Artist, Hair Stylist and my bridal jewellery.

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