Weddingbee boards

Calling all South Asian brides or brides that have/had SA aspects to their wedding! What are you planning to wear and why? Or, if you're married, what did you decide to wear? If you have lovely pics, please show off :)

Sari for me!  I have considered wearing a gown for the reception, but I'm not sure how it will look with henna and stuff (I'm white...) so I might do a lengha for the reception so I can dance more freely :)

Wow, you all are making good points. Love the traditional look of a sari, but dancing in one is difficult...hmm.

@rasgoola: You look gorgeous, and you two look great together! Congratulations!

@ Miss Sequoia ... is it just me, or isn't doing anything in a sari difficult!?  I honestly can not walk up stairs if I am wearing one :) hopefully I'll get more used to it soon!

oh and I'm so happy to see another 2011 south-asian-wedding bee :)  yay!

@mechiebaby: True that! Putting on a sari and moving naturally in it take a lot of practice (which my aunties & mom have and I do not)...I have a feeling what will happen is I'll go shopping and then fall in love with either a sari or a lengha, and that will be that. I don't know if I'll have the time to change once things get started, but maybe...I guess that really would be the best of both worlds. And I'm so glad you're on weddingbee too! Double yay!

@Aarti: That is such a pretty wedding! Her belt is so unique, I don't think I've ever seen anyone do that before! Do you wish you had worn a sari because it looks more traditional, or for some other reason?

Wow! You rocked the 2 outfit wedding! Definitely inspiring, thanks so much for sharing, Rasgoola!

Any future SA brides/marrying SA men want to chime in?

Thanks!

Wow it's courageous to let them choose for you (I realize this is traditional in many places, but I can be a little control-freaky about what I'm wearing)... I know you'll look lovely, whatever it is! Hopefully you'll decide to share your pics with us bees!

@ MeelaBeela @Miss Sequoia - my inlaws will be picking for me too! I guess that's traditional?  I'm glad I haven't seen as many outfits or dreamed about the sari I would wear or anything so I won't be as picky :) Hopefully I will get veto power though!

Hi all -- I have a question about pre-stitched saris. I know one of the other threads mentioned putting bridesmaids in them. My aunt made a snide remark about wearing a pre-stitched sari, but they just sound practical to me. In fact, I kind of want one myself!!!

Is there a stigma associated with them? Can you totally tell that someone is wearing one? Or is my aunt just a snobby goose?

Thanks!

Hmmm...this is something worth considering for sure! I know last time I wore a sari for real (to my high school graduation) it took me like an hour to get ready. And I hardly even cared!

@MeelaBeela: that's reassuring! Yay! Thank you.

@runskiclimb: Double yay! Do you have any pictures of them, or yourself in them?

@ Miss Sequoia.. I'm ordering a test round of sari's from utsavsarees.com (one for me and one for FSIL), and I'm getting mine pre-stitched. I'll post pics / my thoughts after I get it :)  (I'm getting this one, for the various events leading up to the wedding that require a sari but not a super fancy one)

@ runskiclimb thanks! I hope so!  Can you try posting your pics again...?

@MeelaBeela .. soon as I get them I'll let you know!  The green one for me is "art silk" and the one for my FSIL is "faux georgette"  since those fabrics had the most choices for designs that we liked, so we wanted to test both.  So far I've learned to totally ignore the "ships in __ days" since both we ordered were for 5 days, and well, its been over a week.  They have been very responsive, clarifying the designs I chose, etc.  I just hope they ship it soon!

@runskiclimb I think the file has to be lower than 150k?  So, pretty small..  If you use the little icon (says insert image when you hover your mouse over) then you should be able to see immediately if the picture was inserted or not, instead of the "upload file" option.

@Jenn23 you look great!

So.. I finally got the utsav sarees!  I think the shipping was also delayed because of all the snow we had over here. 

I ... didn't like the pre-stitching.  I actually took all the seams out, before I remembered to take pics!  But it basically was... the sari had a button right on the edge, so when you wrapped it around you it matched up to the other side (no having to tuck it into the underskirt) and then the part with all the pleats in the middle had a hook on the inside, which matched up with a part on the other side of the skirt, so the pleats just hook right on, then you wrap it one more time and over your shoulder, like you normally would.  So the only difference is the middle pleating is done for you, and it hooks on instead of being tucked in (which looks less bulky) I am picky about the way the pleats looked, and I didn't like the way they folded/stitched them, cause it didn't lay straight on me (maybe because of my giant hips).. so, not all of the edges fell straight to the floor, the outermost one was kind of diagonal (if that makes sense).  After taking all the seams out there's a kind of funny looking missing part at the top, but when you fold the pleats and tuck them in it's not visible at all.  When I order more sari's I will not be getting them pre-stitched.

However!  If you are less picky then me, then you may find noo problem at all with prestitching.  Or it could have been my hips. Just make sure you make it long enough (remember what shoes you'll be wearing, add that to the length!)

As for utsav quality, the faux georgette is very soft and nice feeling, and quite a bit transparent (as you can see from their pics)  and the art silk isn't quite as soft, but does still fold and pleat well, it's not too puffy.  The colors are very true to the pics (another thing I was worried about) I think for what I paid, it's totally worth the money.  My FSIL loves hers.  I will order some more, for my friend who's coming to Malaysia with us for the wedding -- she needs something to wear! And maybe a few more for me also ;)

@Jenn23, thanks for sharing your pics from India! You are such a cute couple, congratulations!!!

@mechiebaby, thank you for the utsav review! I'm excited to see them if you can get a small enough picture up.

I've decided I'm not shopping for a sari/lengha till I at least know where we're having it, what kind of party it will be, etc. I figure a quiet brunch calls for a sari, whereas a dance party calls for a lengha...maybe?

I'm so excited by all the ideas on this thread. Yay!

Hi ladies -- Just wanted to let you know that after mechiebaby's review of Utsav, I went ahead and did a test-run of ordering 2 saris from them. I didn't ask them to be pre-stitched, because of what you said (I figure I can get them stitched locally if need be).

I'll keep you posted!

And if you have pics of yourself in your beautiful clothes, please feel free to show off!!

I am so ecstatic - I bought my wedding lengha yesterday from the newly opened Sona Chaandi in Phoenix. It wasn't really what I had been looking for and the red is bolder than the shade I was originally going for but its so beautiful and unique, I just couldn't pass it up!

The lengha has all over gold and silver jari/zari work, with crystals and pearl beads scattered all over.

The choli was much shorter than I originally wanted (I wanted to cover my stomach), so now I got to tone my stomach up for the big day, luckily its in January! 

I'll post pictures once I get it back from alterations. 

And today I'm going to (hopefully) book the venue...finally! Yay for progress!

@MissSequoia: FI took some pics of me when I tied it to show him, I'll get them off his camera and post them here.  I hope you like yours! What did you order?

I put in another order to Utsav, since when we go for our wedding in June, we also are attending his cousin's the week before (a day after we land in Malaysia!) So I needed a sari for the wedding and reception ready to go, no time to get it stitched there.  I got this one for the wedding and this one for the reception.  FSIL got this to wear at either our wedding, or her cousin's... I think its super cute!

@BriarRose: I wanna see! sounds beautiful.

did they take the edit comments feature away?  Well, anyways, here's my utsav sari...  Depending on the lighting the color changes slightly.. in person it looks green, but in pics looks brown?  I got the blouse stitched through them too, and it fit very nicely :)

Mechiebaby I love that sari! It looks lovely on you, you're right that the stitching you picked out doesn't even show. Thanks for sharing it with us!

New update: So I have two potential wedding saris!! One is a violet base with pale gold zari all over it, and one is a deep turquoise with a dark blue pallu and blouse piece, with less zari but bright colors. When I get them made I'll post them both and ask for your opinions!