First of, I need to thank lots of people from GS for helping me out with the wedding preparation. I can’t even recall all the names since they were so many of them but I can sum it up and say, a big part of how everything went owes to each of you reading this. A heart felt Thank You!
Dholkis:
The dholkis at home started more than a month before the wedding. My cousins and best friends would come over and prepare dances. Those sessions were hilarious, seriously… uncontrollable laughter fits! We ended up with almost 10 song pieces for the mehendi. The props used were sunglasses, umbrellas, daflis, roomal etc.
Bridal Shower:
We have a trend in the family that the khalas & mamoons host a dholki at their house for the one getting married. Two of my khalas hosted a grand dholki of the entire family together .. when I went there it turned out to be a surprise Bridal Shower by the cousins. OMG! It was plain awesome. We haven’t had any bridal shower in the family and they were too gora-ish for some members but this very first one went well and with a pretty desi touch so it was well received. I was dressed up in a white shirt with the picture of all the cousins and it was written ‘Prettiest Bride To Be’ on the shirt as well. They had a white veil and a tiara as well for me. Lots of games, lots of gifts and basically a night full of fun went by. Later, the dholki took its desi shape and we ended up singing and dancing. Masha Allah one amazing day, ill not be forgetting for a long long time.
Mayyun:
This was an only women event. We decorated the house with yellow pom poms, and other colourful decore. It looked very spring-like! The decore was brought to me by one of our own Guppans, who was so sweet as to bring along what I had ordered. I so need to specially thank @rabia3983 for being the kind heart that she is. Anyway, the in-laws were well prepared and well-synced in their green dressing as well. The singing and dancing competitions were fun. It was another fun-filled night. I was dressed in yellow chiffon jamawar head to toe with gota kinari at the borders of it and was wearing flower jewellery with it.
Mehendi:
The day the actual events began. The night before had already been superb since one of my siblings who wasnt able to attend the wedding due to important reasons made it right on time and gave a total surprise. So we already knew we were in for a fun ride, thereafter. On the mehendi, I got my makeup from Mariam Khawaja. I had a braid and very elegant light makeup, just what I wanted. Those considering Mariam, she is really sweet and considerate of how you want to look like. I am glad I went for Mehendi makeup as well even though I was slightly reluctant initially. Anyway, I just wore a tikka with it and no earrings or necklace. The dress was rust and magenta Angrakha. I wanted to keep it simple and elegant for the day. The function was fun. The boys from our side were dressed in black kurtas & white shalwars and those from the in-laws were in Aqua Blue shirts and white shalwars. The dances were fun .. and the shocker of the night was a dance prepared by hubby himself. I was quite surprised of course & more surprised at how well he dances, Masha Allah. I was taken to the dance floor as well and he & I had a little session too. 
We were both a cheerful couple that day, not serious and reserved that people usually are but maybe the reason was we had had our nikkah months ago!
Barat:
I headed off to Mariam’s salon at 12:30 pm. There were 2 other brides there. First was my hairdo time, i wasnt sure if i wanted a parting with the wave but Mariam said it would look good and it did. She knows what she is talking about so listen to her ladies! She did my eye makeup, loved it absolutely. The only thing that was a problem was the fake eye lashes. They were too heavy for the lids and half my vision was blurred and eyes were tires. So to-be-brides, when its your time be careful of what fake eye lashes you’re comfortable in. Its a long day so go with the most comfortable ones. My dress shirt was dark purple, you know the colour of Eggplant (Baingan) and the duppatta/Lehnga were both Deep Red. It was a very long shirt that I kept so I could re-use my dress later and not put away for ever. I wore a champagne coloured main set and a white pearls wala Rani Haar to go with it. Mariam tried red lipstick on me, I wasn’t too sure of it but she was pretty confident that I looked good. I am so thankful that I relied on her, it did look fantastic! I’ve never put on red lipstick so it was a surprise for me as well. The whole look turned out eastern, mughalish and classic sort… exactly how I had imagined myself. Later that night, who ever saw admired and appreciated and asked about the dress, jewellery, makeup everything. I knew it all turned out as per thoughts and I am glad it didnt get messed up. I think I’ve never been complimented as much as I did that day.
Anyway, I was brought in by my eldest brother and a train of siblings and cousins, coming in as couples. The entry song was… Please notice the lyrics. The male version of the same song was played when Hubby entered.
Raabta (lyrics) - Shreya Ghoshal’s nice hindi melody - Agent Vinod - YouTube
I love the song to bits & has so manyyyyyyyy memories attached with it. A lot of pictures were taken. I ended up crying a bucket at the rukhsati which I least expected myself since the wedding wasn’t hitting me at all since the very start of it. I was acting as if it was a sibling’s wedding.
Valima:
The morning of valima my family brought in the nashta. It was fun meeting them again. Everything seemed familiar yet new. On the valima I wore a Sea Green and Champagne Sharara. Makeup was by Mighty’s. They did a good job, in fact way above my expectation. The contouring was impressive. Plus, they give a lot of attention since the place is booked only for brides and no other people. I do regret having the duppatta style that I did, maybe should have had a different look but it doesn’t really matter. There are lots of things you want to do differently but what you actually end up remembering is how fast everything went by and how quickly the day you had been waiting for became a memory.
Just be sure you take a good look at yourself, do NOT .. and i mean DO NOT sweat over little minute details. They matter the least that day, you just end up with a bad mood uselessly. I was a happy chirpy bride and my pictures turned out the same as well even though I too had the same fears as any bride would have. But nonetheless for the sake of viewing them later down the lane, dont fret over intracacies, enjoy your time by being with your loved ones. I didn’t order my dress till the last very month and I was not even close to being a bridezilla. Those on my blog know what sort of a total chill-pill bride I was since all that mattered to me was always being a good wife, and not being a good bride. You’d be a good bride anyway, I hardly remember any bride that looked horrible .. you wouldn’t either, you’ll look pretty in your own way. So ignore the baby things and simply ENJOY YOUR TIME! The only thing I was frenzy over was selecting a MUA and i am so glad for the right choice. Same way, just focus on what matters most for you that day .. your decore, the venue, your own look, the happenings of the day or what ever .. and just keep your attention to it, you’ll do good. Just don’t put your foot in every single matter of the wedding and ruin the event for you and your close ones. That’s all I’d say.
Details:
Dress - Designed and got it made myself
MUA: Mariam Khawaja from Mariam’s salon
Jewellery: Hanif Jewellers
As for pics, i can share only those that are just teasers. I can’t show the rest since I found mine publicly shared somewhere without my permission so I am pretty scared now and just not comfortable sharing them anymore.
All the v.v.v.v.v.v.v.v.v.v. best to all brides-to-be. More than anything, make sure you pray a lot. I prayed 2 rakat Hajat every single day for many months and I believe all that happens or happened is because I had faith in Him. So make that your priority, He will handle the rest.
Love!!!
Some of mayyun decore for Rabia to see…
From the barat …
poofed
and at the end of it all MASHA ALLAH & ALHAMDULLILAH for everything.
Restored attachments:
MashaALLAH such a fairy tale wedding.. Guess what, The moment Raabta song was released, We Me and my hubby ] were totally in love with it, and already planned to select it for entrance song..such a co-incidence : )