Whether it’s an elegant kanjivaram or a beautiful lehenga choli, my mom was just as excited as I have been especially when it comes to dressing up! And interestingly, I discovered so many new things about ma during our long wedding shopping trips… things I hadn’t known for years owing to my busy schedule. I was REALLY surprised, as we planned outfits for the mother and sister of the bride, that my mom had been meaning to wear her own, 30-year-old wedding lehenga on my big day. And she was already thinking of ways to style it differently and to make the ensemble work! 

WEDDING

So mom wore a gorgeous gota lehenga on her special day along with a dogri nath and jewellery that I wore as a bride too. Her lehenga had an umbrella cut with no kalis and sported a bright red raw silk skirt with embroidery all over. In order to make it work for my wedding, we decided to tone down the skirt since it was pretty rich looking and pair it with with a dual toned silk choli and a double shade dyed dupatta in chiffon. 

She didn’t want to wear a net dupatta since the original lehenga didn’t have one. The choli had shades of green and aqua and we got the neckline embroidered in gota to blend well with the skirt. The dupatta on the other hand had gota embroidery with red coloured pasting and tassels to complement her ensemble. She looked like a dream, is't it?

Also, mom decided to wear different styles of outfits for all occasions that she could use later (I mean post my wedding too).

ENGAGEMENT

Being the Army wife that she is, mom wanted to wear a stunning saree on one of the days. She wore beautiful kanjivaram saree purchased from Nalli, Chennai for my sagan/engagement and looked her formal best.

MEHENDI

For the mehendi she settled on a pista green anarkali with chikankari work. Green was the theme for my mehendi! 

Haldi & Chooda

For the haldi and chooda ceremony, the theme was yellow and mom wore a long, fitted kurta with embroidery and yellow palazzos. Palazzos look great on elderly women as they elevate the regular salwaar-suit look. Plus, they are super comfortable too. 

Some of the brands I would like to recommend for mothers of brides-to-be are Meena Bazaar, Nalli Silk Sarees, Fabindia, Raw Mango, Sue Mue (Green Park) and Asha Gautam (Defence Colony). For fabrics, KC Creations in Lajpat Nagar is a must visit.   

Also, while some moms prefer wearing neutral palettes of beiges and browns, I think it’s about time that they started to don colours that compliment their skin tone. Colours always look great and one can always add softer shades in the form of dupattas and accessories to rock the ensemble. 

Follow this space more as I finally share the details from my big fat #JiteshDevina Punjabi wedding.