Timescale for wedding lengha

Lifestyle Wedding, Fashion & Beauty
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I was thinking of starting to shop around for my lengha. I won’t be going to Pakistan, so I guess I need to start early because I doubt I will find anything which I actually like and want. :frowning:

My question is: how long before the wedding do you think I should start looking for the lengha? Bearing in mind that I may need to design it from scratch and/or have alot of alterations done.

I did go to a few shops in London and they told me to come back 3 months before the wedding. However, I don’t think that is realistic, especially when I’m a perfectionist.

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Re: Timescale for wedding lengha

definitely 6 months ahead of time! if only to make sure you have enough time to check out all your options.

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Re: Timescale for wedding lengha

Thanks SGC. I guess I need to start looking what is in the shops ASAP. We also have Ramadan in the middle, and I don't think I'll get much shopping done then, as I doubt I'll have the strength to get up, lol.

Does anyone know of any places in the UK where I can get my lengha? I'm hoping to get something very pakistani. I'm fed up with all the tacky stuff. :(

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Re: Timescale for wedding lengha

Disney, when you find that perfect outfit, let me know of the shop! :P

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Timescale for wedding lengha

Do NOT listen to those shops. That's what happend to me and against my better judgement I listend. Urghhhh and boy am I living to regret it now. Being organised like I am I went browsing and window shopping soon after getting engaged and had a pretty good idea of what I wanted-a very traditional simple Pakistani look. So anyway after some very disappointing appointments and seeing the same stuff over and over I found a store that had what I LOVED! Like exactly what I was looking for guys, they work closely with a well known Pakistani designer. So anyway I was ready to place my order there and then. BUTTTT they told me it was far too early and I had plenty of time. Note I had travelled to visit this shop and they knew this, going back and forth is not easy. They said to come back when they had all the new season stock, even though I said I don't particularly follow fashion. Anyhow against my better judgement I listend to them and went back about 3 months later as even when I tried to make an app on the phone they kept putting me off.
So I made my app. Double triple checked it because I'm paranoid like that and we were traveling q far just for this app. And then we get to this store and I'm told that I don't have an app :-/ and they are so incredibly rude and unprofessional. I finally get to see someone and they have no new stock, why make me wait 3 months? :-/ then the price I was quoted somehow has an extra 1000£ added to it so I'm like :O. Anyway I'm disgusted my the way they are treating me and leave almost in tears but I'm not the kind of girl who cries and I'm not about to cry with my family around me! So I put on a brave face and we head to other shops! You know the ones we went to previously and I didn't like anything? Yeah so... These shops tell us that they now can't work in my time scale. Which is 12 weeks, the shop which messed things up said they could do it in 8.
So I was left in a position of buying something off the rack and just having alterations to it. Nothing custom made. Now this is when I did break down and have a cry.
Soooo moral of the story is get your outfit sorted ASAP. Tell the shop/designer your wedding is earlier than it is. If you have a year/months to plan the wedding get this sorted first. Because if things go wrong you have time to fix it.

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Re: Timescale for wedding lengha

Imani Studio theres outlets in London and Manchester
Onitaa - The Essense of Asian Couture- London
Phulkari London- 189 Ilford Lane, IG1 2RU 0203 538 3066
burooj.co.uk- Manchester

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Re: Timescale for wedding lengha

OMG Aaliyah, I'm so sorry to hear about that. But thank you for the insight, I really appreciate it. I'll definitely head out soon and get this sorted. I know what I want, so I guess that's a good thing. I'm actually worried quite a bit, as I'm not sure if I'll actually find what I'm looking for. And if I get it custom made, I'm uber worried that it'll come back looking nothing like I had imagined it in my head. :(

Aaliyah, I think you should tell us the name of the store so we can all avoid it like the plague. They obviously dealt with you in a really unprofessional manner.

And, nuclear, yup, I'll let you know. Please pray I find the perfect outfit. I'm actually procrastinating because I'm almost certain I won't find anything.

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Re: Timescale for wedding lengha

Disney whens your wedding ?

my wedding will be at the end of august inshallah (10 days after ramadan ends!!!) i've already started designing my dress and deciding upon the design etc with my designer , i have 5 months to go but i've ended up changing so many things that im glad i started early , because if i had started the dress 3 months before the wedding i wouldnt have the time to change my mind and your dress has to be something that is so beautiful you're proud of it inshallah !!!!

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Re: Timescale for wedding lengha

There's a store in Edinburgh, I can't point out the name right now- when I last looked on their website they had quite a variety and apparently work with designers in pakistan .. eeek but they are far.

Btw guys doesn't the bridal joda come from the guy's side? Cos mine is. I'm a little freaked out cos MIL dearest hasn't discussed ideas with me yet, but she is wonderful and our tastes are similar so fingers crossed.

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Re: Timescale for wedding lengha

Mine’s mid October, so I still have a few months to go.

If you don’t mind me asking, are you in the UK? If so, who are you having it designed from? And how did you go about finding the designer you’ve gone with? Because I just don’t know where to start. :bummer:

And nuclear, my barat/rukhsati outfit will be from my parents, and my walima one from my in-laws. I’m sure you will be fine with your MIL chosing your dress. Even better if you get some input on it.

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Re: Timescale for wedding lengha

My wedding is in April and I ordered my lehenga last October. It was delivered the 1st week of January. Needed minor alterations so that took like 2 weeks or so. By the end of Jan (2.5 months before wedding), my lehenga was ready to go (along with my jewelry/all accessaries etc). I also did my hair/MU trial in Feb (almost 7 weeks before wedding).

Try to get these things finalized as early as possible. Now that I'm about 3 weeks away from my wedding...I can not tell you how relieved I am that all details regarding my look has been finalized (b/c there's definately enough other crap to worry about!).

Good luck! :)

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Re: Timescale for wedding lengha

ohhh i wish my wedding was in April ... August seems so faraway to me right now , everyone keeps saying time will pass so quickly ... but its still March right now lol

even july would have been ideal time for our wedding but thats when Ramadan comes around this year and reception halls were booked out ........ seriously i can barely envision my wedding because its about 5 months away , just going through the notions of preparations i guess...... having said that inshallah all goes smoothly for all the 2012 brides ...

disney , i went with xenabs atelier , so everything is done over email and sent samples etc ... it is a bit of a risk to do things online but where i live (Down under) its impossible to find decent bridal joras .... we only have one indian clothing store in my city and the clothes are quite stale :( and xenab has been amazing so far in helping me create something stunning....

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Re: Timescale for wedding lengha

Thanks Paheli. That's given me a really good idea of when I should start looking to place my order.

Insha-ALLAH it turns out beautiful and is everything you imagined it to be. I don't think I could get it designed because that would mean going down to see it, which I can't do. And I usually worry alot about minor things, so this would probably push me into depression, lol.

Thanks Shaza. I'll be going window shopping ASAP and placing my order soon, insha-ALLAH.

Girls, just pray that I get the perfect lengha.

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This is me! I ordered mine in beginning of November. It was ready in the second week of January and I recently just had it altered in time for my wedding which is in less than two weeks :D

6 months beforehand is definitely the best time to do it! Maybe start looking around now at various colours or classic designs that you definitely want but also keep an open mind at what is actually available in the market.

Remember that if you're travelling up and down the country to your lengha shop then keep that in mind too. I say this because mine was all the way in green street which is a good 3 hour journey so it would take us the whole day.

Good luck and I hope you find your perfect outfit :D

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Re: Timescale for wedding lengha

at least 6 months but dont worry if you have less time.. prepare a wedding plan and follow it strictly by assigning time slots for every task/detail etc

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Re: Timescale for wedding lengha

Which shop are you getting yours made from? I want a few recommendations from people who have actually dealt with these shops. I've read a few horror stories here on GS, so it would be really helpful if you could give me some heads up.

Thanks ceyrun. I'm going to make that plan tomorrow, insha-ALLAH. I hope I can follow it, lol.

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Re: Timescale for wedding lengha

Bridal fashion doesn't change too soon. Plus it depends on personal preferences like colors, type of work, style etc. So if you are sure what you want and you don't change your choice too often, then start getting that done right away. You'll have time to get the changes done if required. Last three months are too risky of a discussion specially if you don't have the same feedback from at least 4-5 different stores. (Keep your options)

Don't know any stores in the UK but if you feel comfortable, you might want to discuss and place order online.