Ok, so I am from Canada, and my parents found this guy for me from Pak. I was so upset about it, I mean, have all the Paki guys in Canada died? God, why shackle me with someone from Pak. K I know I was being bee-itchy, but really, it was too much. So after lots of arguing, they tell me that the guy was too masoom for me anyways (as opposed to me being chaloo??? :O), and they let the issue drop. Now I was living my life happily, until my khala arrived from Pak to ruin my happiness. She was the one who originally spoke about the rishta, and well, she was here to talk some sense into me. It is soooooo difficult talking to my khalas, cuz they r all like my ammi; stubborn as mules. Well ok, so the arguments started again, and I was emotionally beaten, blackmailed, and defeated into at least talking and getting to know this guy from PAKISTAN!
The ‘getting to know process’ started, and I found that this guy is actually funny. He makes me laugh, and he understands me. Ok, so I am starting to like him, but my pride would never let me admit it to my parents. I went to Pak for my cuz’s wedding, and I met ‘HIM’ there in person. He was apparently more charming in person than he was on msn. Yeah so I am falling in love, and I agreed to marry him. He even proposed to me, with a ring 
I got engaged, and returned to Canada to finish my last year at uni. Now my wedding is next year, in March, but my mum wants to start the shopping now. I love clothes, and I was really happy about buying my mehndi, shaadi, and walima ka joras. But my wishes were once again crushed, and I was told that walima ka jora comes from dula ki side. I am like, what the hell? Is dulha going to wear that jora? No right? Since I am the one who is going to be wearing it, so shouldn’t I be choosing it? Like doesn’t that make more sense? But no, it’s a tradition for walima’s jora to come from dulha side, and my folks are very traditional. Ok, so I thought to myself, that I’ll be mature about this, and accept this tradition (not that I had much choice), BUT ONLY AS LONG AS I get to pick what I wear on my shaadi. Not even ammi will have a say in it. My ammi told me that it was fine by her, as long as the clothes are RED. Well, I told her that I would get a RED lehnga, NOT because SHE TOLD ME TO, but because I WANTED TO. I was given a budget of 1500 CAD for my outfit.
Now I am the first in my friends’ group to get married, so we were all excited about shopping for the bridal outfit. We went to shops, searched sites, and well, tried to find the perfect lehnga for me without any luck. Then I watched JODHA AKBAR, and that’s when my real problem started. I fell deeply, madly, in love with Jodha’s bridal outfit, and I wanted the same one for myself. dmi india had it, and I asked them to send me a sample of the lehnga they would make as I wanted to see the workmanship and the quality before buying it. They wanted me to pay 25 USD for it. What a rip off. I told them I would pay no more than 10 USD, including shipping, and if I liked their work, I would order my other dresses from them too. I got the sample, and it looked NOTHING like the one JODHA wore. Even a blind person could tell the difference in not only the colour, but also the work done on it. I started searching again for someone who could make Jodha’s bridal dress for me. When I could find no one who could make me a dress like hers, I took the issue to my mother. She saw the pictures and sent them to Pakistan. Apparently, we have a family darzi at Blue Market? who made my mum’s and all her sister’s wedding dresses. He also made all my cousins dresses, and the women in my family love his work. One of my cousins even had a Karishma Kapoor style wedding lehnga made for herself about 10 years ago. It cost her 60000 RS then, and it looked very very similar to the original. So, my mami took it to him They looked at it and said that there is NO WAY they could make something similar without any detailed pictures of the design. The work done on the lehnga is very very intricate and complicated, and a few random not-so-clear pictures are not enough to imitate it. I did some extensive research, but to no avail. There are absoloutely no detailed good quality pictures available of the design.
Then my friend told me about Samsaara. They are apparently an Indian leading designer clothes sellers, and they were selling Jodha Akbar outfit a couple of
months ago. I contacted them, and they sent me the pictures of JODHA AKBAR INSPIRED lehngas and sarees. The prices were very reasonable (sarees from 20000 IRS to 50000 IRS, and lehngas from 50000 IRS, so 100000 IRS), but their lehngas also looked nothing like the original worn by Aishwarya.
Then I contacted Neeta Lallu (deisgner of Jodha Akbar outfits; got her email from her website), and asked her whether she could make me one. She said that she has some available from Jodha Akbar line, but again, the pictures she sent me were of the ones INSPIRED by the movie, and they looked nothing like the one Aishwarya wore.
Now I made myself forget that lehnga and started looking for a new one. My mami sent me sooooooooooo many pictures, and so did my cousin. We looked at many here at GTA, and also looked up at some on the web. But I just could not help comparing each one to Jodha’s lehnga.
My cousin in england is into fashion and works at movie sets. He has some contacts and he apparently got into touch with Neeta Lallu. She told him that
she would design me exactly the same lehnga, but it would cost me about 7600 USD. The zardosi, kundan, and stone work done on the lehnga makes it very
expensive, and plus it’s a designer lehnga. So while my cousin is laughing about the ridiculously high price of the lehnga, I am doing my conversions and figuring out how I can make my parents agree to pay for it. Well, the day comes for me to ask my parents whether I could buy the lehnga. When I told them the price, my dad didn’t even bother looking up from his newspaper, and my mum gave me a ‘look’, and went back to watching her drama. Well, so I tried again, and told them that I could always get the lehnga instead of jewellery. I mean, jewellery is over rated anyways, and I could always wear an artificial set. Well, again the look, and the case was dismissed. I had known before that they wouldn’t agree (I would never ever pay that much for my daughter’s lehnga), but it was still a disappointment.
I am once again in the market, but nothing else is doing it for me. So now it’s time for some drastic measures. I have some money saved up to buy myself
a wrangler, and well, I could use that to get the lehnga. My sister and best friend are telling me how I am going to regret getting it after the wedding.
They keep talking about how I would never be wearing it again, and it would be a waste then. I understand what they are saying, but they are not the ones
getting married, and they have no personal experience with the regrets.
Now finally, my question to all you ladies (i hope you are still here after such a long message), did any of you ever go through this dilemma? Did you actually
buy the outfit despite the high price? Did you ever regret buying it? What do you suggest I do?
Re: wedding dress problem?
- read half of it....wl read the other half after break :D lol....dont loose heart i m sure yr problem aint that big or so it seems....u r just a whinner :P lol j/k...wl get back 2 u after dinner :).
Re: wedding dress problem?
Can I see the lehnga pic that you are talking about 
Re: wedding dress problem?
That's a crazy crazy price!!
Its true that you hardly get to wear ur bridal dress. It just sits there and gets out of fashion after a while...You should check out some pakistani designers like Karma or HSY...their deisgns are just beautiful and would fall within ur range...
good luck =)
Re: wedding dress problem?
- read half of it....wl read the other half after break :D lol....dont loose heart i m sure yr problem aint that big or so it seems....u r just a whinner :P lol j/k...wl get back 2 u after dinner :).
Lol, Tum ab khana khate hue socho ke 1600CD me wo lehnga kahan se mile ga :p
Re: wedding dress problem?
LOL Maham, I know I sound like a whiner :(
How do I post pics? And I have checked some Paki designers out, but I cannot stop comparing their work to that lehnga. And btw, Karma people are so unapproachable.
Re: wedding dress problem?
Are you really sure that you looked at several dressed and not liked even one of them? Personally i think the dress Aish wore was ok. She had tonnes of jewellery on and perhaps thats what makes it different? Maybe you can look into getting your own dress made and invest into unique jewellery to make it YOUR look and to make it special?
I am one of those people who can never justify spending thousands of dollars on one single outfit that will be worn for 5-6 hours max. But that is my personal opinion. Doesnt mean you shouldnt look for what you are comfortable with but if it was me, i surely wouldnt spend 7000 $ on a wedding outfit. I would much rather spend it on a nice piece of jewellery or a honeymoon package.
Just my two cents.
Re: wedding dress problem?
On the right side u can see this image upload option----->
You can use it to upload pics
Re: wedding dress problem?
you should contact this lady and see if she can make it for you- her name is abida qureshi, her number is 905 472 0000 and she lives in markham.
she made my wedding dress and i sent her a pic and she made it off that.
but also, $7600 is a ridiculous price for one outfit- that could be the cost of a very fancy luxurious honeymoon somewhere or go into the downpayment on a house. think about it very carefully, cos as much as you want to, the occasions don’t arise very often where you pull out your wedding dress again.
and like someone else said, check out HSY or Karma- both make amazing, unique, vintage inspired clothes that look elegant and you might just find something from their collection. if it doesnt fall within your budget, its much easier to send pictures of their clothes to karachi to get them redone there within your budget.
www.hsystudio.com
www.aterlierkarma.com
getting good jewellery is a much better option anyway, IMHO, cos you do wear that more often and it holds its value much better… if you buy gold, that is. its also an heirloom piece- you future daughters/granddaughters might not want your clothing, but you can bet your jewellery is something they’ll cherish!
Re: wedding dress problem?
http :// i285. photobucket. com /albums/ll69/miicha1987/lehngaembroidery.jpg
http :// i285. photobucket. com /albums/ll69/miicha1987/odhniborder.jpg
http :// i285. photobucket. com /albums/ll69/miicha1987/lehngaborder.jpg
You are going to have to join the link together because I am unable to submit it :S
Re: wedding dress problem?
Hi
I bought exspensive ring last year...asked my ama to get me only one ring instead of all sets she saved for me but got THAT look u were talking abt frm her ...its typical ...lol
I bought the ring ...how (it's a long story) n wore it for 1 week n now its in my jewellery box...I dont regret buying it as it's a ring u can always n most of the time wear but dont know abt the dress ...go for it if u like it that much ...try making a longer shirt so u can wear it with a matching chooridaar or trouser after wedding too...
good luck with ur wedding.
Re: wedding dress problem?
**I totally agree with SGC…8 thousand for lengha is a ridiculous price…Karma has more vintage style clothings…you can get a very nice lengha for a max of $2000-$2500.
Instead of the dress invest in something more "tangible’ 
Good luck! The choice remains yours in the end!
**
Re: wedding dress problem?
http://lifestyle.in.msn.com/fashion/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1233496
check this .
Re: wedding dress problem?
Uff...finally after alot of headache and eye straining i managed to read the whole thing, phew! lol...jokes aside...firstly let me tell u that miicha you are really funnie and cute! lol i can just tell u that by what you wrote...maybe the fact that i see some similarity there helps hehehe. Anywayz, back to the problem solving (:P)...DOn't pay that much for any lengha!!! I know you are not going to like this answer but seriously no dress is worth that much not until it is made with diamonds which you can use later on :P. I agree that its your day and you would like to wear something that you absolutely love but yar you will find something you will love as much if not more in half that amount. You still have lots of time and keep the search on we all are here to help you, anytime. I am not saying kay dont pay lil extra for something that you luv but the amount she quoted is what like 6-7 lakhs rite and thats so not worth it. Yes, you are not going to wear it more than once....in rare occassions one might be able to wear it twice but never more than that. Waisey the reason i said above that i think you are likeable is cuz i lol think like u in some ways....i tell my mom that i dont want so much gold jewellery instead a big diamond sent would do it for me but ofcourse things dont work like that yar. Also, God forbid if anytime in future you require money the dress is not going to do you any good but the jewellery might help. Don't hate me for saying this cuz i know when people told me this i neva liked it but it kinda makes sense now as i am maturing though i still want my diamonds :D lol.
So just relax and show me what jodha akbar dress u liked and any other dresses u like so i know the kinda work/concept/ideas you like and i will be able to guide you better than.
Re: wedding dress problem?
nothing so great about her bridal jora that will cost 7k. i feel like it was her jewelry that accentuated it a bit more but this dress shouldnt be that hard to replicate.
Re: wedding dress problem?
hi just read abt half of it--wow wht an essay......well i agree with all of the above....that $7000 is a whole lot....if you want a similar design you could find it at bunto kazmi (she does really antique/traditional work). as for karma--their dresses pretty much start at 2 lakhs (which is abt $3300), but they have a sparkley (diamonte) look if you like that sort of thing...at the end....choose wht makes YOU the happiest..because its YOUR day:):):)
Re: wedding dress problem?
thank you all for the input ... i am not looking for the EXACT replica of jodha's dress, but something with similar embroidery. the problem is, nothing i have seen so far has that kinda work done on it. i did post some photo bucket picz, but u have to join the link together to see it.
@ Peshow, i contacted samsaara. they were being really helpful, but the dresses they sent me are nothing like the original one. if i wanted the ones they r selling, i could just go to pakistan and get one made myself.
@ Maham, lol, u crack me up .... yeah, well i'm the kind of person who can always find humour, even in very dire situations ... lol, i still tell my mum to forget the jewellery. i hate wearing it so much that i never even wear earrings, but i get your point too. jewellery can be sold. i am thinking of asking my frds if they want to combine money, and then they can wear it on their weddings too!!
God I am desperate. but i have got loads of time, and if you guys come across something similar to the picz i posted, plz plz plz let me know ... lol, else i may not marry just cuz i don't like the lehnga!!!!
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just think abt it....spending $8000 on fabric vs spending $8000 on Dress AND jewelery....and maybe a nice relaxing spa day...think think think.... :)
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hmmm, also i could always ask my future dulha to buy me it as a gift!!!! i may seem like a begger, but at least i will get what i want :p
Re: wedding dress problem?
^ lol...you crack me up 2 :D! why cant u just save those pix and upload it here...if u see on the left side of the page u wl find the upload link.