Let’s be honest here, who hasn’t seen Sabyasachi‘s new feed and not drooled over it?! That is especially the case if you are a bride-to-be. Your Insta feed is probably buzzing with new collections from all your favorite designers. Your keen eyes would be observing all the minute details and your sharp mind noting down all the new trends. Whether you are a bride who has a good old scrapbook for the wedding or the new-age one who banks on Pinterest, it’s no doubt, that the most important element of the main day is your outfit.
Now we do agree that not all of us have access to the platinum club of designers, but those pages of your scrapbook or boards on Pinterest surely are filled with their ethereal collections. To make these dreams into reality within a budget, we spoke to celebrity stylist Eshaa Amiin to know the best places to shop in Mumbai for a wedding on a budget.
It’s common, Eshaa says, for a client to come in with a wish to look exactly like Anushka Sharma in Sabyasachi on her wedding day or like Alia Bhatt walking down the runway in Manish Malhotra. Her first recommendation to achieve such finesse in a bridal look would be to check out young designers. It’s not only because the price bracket is comparatively less, but also because these designers have certain unique styles. They will offer a modern approach to a celebrity’s iconic look. Payal Khandwala, Arpita Mehta, Papa Don’t Preach by Shubhika, Shantanu & Nikhil, Sonaakshi Raaj, Anushree Reddy and a few others are some of the designers she mentioned.
Anushree Reddy at Lakme Fashion Week SR18If designers are not an option, retailers are quite the best for an array of options for the wedding. An insider tip from Eshaa is that Santacruz market might just be the best one of them all and close to designer appeal when it comes to ensembles. She said retailers like Neeru’s, Kalki, Aishwarya Design Studios, Benzer, Seasons, Enoya and many others cater to top quality in a good price range. Also, another thing to watch out for according to Eshaa are the designer collabs these retailers have. They get the authenticity of the designer name associated with them, and the designers get to put out their name and products in the mass market. So, it’s a win-win-win situation for everyone—the retailer, the designer, and the bride. The other markets like Crawford, Bhuleshwar, and Dadar are also famous for their budget-friendly wedding shopping.
Of course, an outfit is incomplete without the proper jewellery that the bride adorns. Eshaa recommends celebrity-approved stores like Aquamarine Jewellery, Curio Cottage, Minerali Store, etc. for accessories that will complement your trousseau.
We asked Eshaa about the things a bride-to-be needs to keep in mind before she sets out for her bridal trousseau shopping and here are some of the #ProTips she shared with us:
1. The bride-to-be needs to intensively research before she sets out for shopping. This research will include the current trends, the different price points available and to have a holistic approach for a head-to-toe look for all the events.
2. She needs to be up-to-date with the fashion trends that the high-end designers are following as well as what’s trending in the market.
3. Quality is the key, so she needs to have a keen eye for the materials, embroidery work and even stitching and fit of the garment becomes important.
4. For wedding pheras, Eshaa encourages to go for the regal and traditional red colours, for sangeet a jewel-toned or pastel outfit and for mehendi a lighter palette. So, play around with the hues through the different occasions.
We bet, armed with this quick guide to the places, brands, and designers to shop from in Mumbai, you just might be on the right path to find ‘the one‘, in this case, your outfit for the main day.
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