For the saptapadi or the till-death-do-us-part moment, every girl nurtures a dream - to look and feel her best. With attire being the single-most important factor in deciding how one looks, many brides are opting for couture wedding attire. “Wedding is the most important occasion in one’s life. It is the biggest event across all cultures, especially in India,” says designer Tarun Tahiliani, who recently held a bridal couture exposition, where bridal attire fit for the royalty was unveiled.

Agreeing with him is designer Riyaz Gangji, who says, “Even an autorickshaw wallah saves money to give his daughter the best he can on her wedding day. So this year, where money seems to be in abundance, at least in a few pockets, couture bridal wear is the new fashion mantra.” Now, the big Indian weddings have become theme-based, with Moghul, Rajasthani, Arabian Night and South Indian Temple Style being the most popular ones. Though the basic concepts and the mantras remain the same, the bridal wear, the ambience, food, music and other proceedings are going the couture way.

	“We are approached by the going to- be married couple and their respective families with their set themes and asked to design clothes considering the décor and ambience. Though we suggest the colours and fabrics suitable to the theme, ultimately it’s the client who decides. People spend a crore or more for the attire, which has come to be known as couture wedding attire,” is a very tongue-in-cheek explanation by Gangji. To make the attire special this season, Gangji has used screen-printing on fabrics like silks and georgette and has used gold foils on the prints. Designer Ritu Kumar, the diva of Indian bridal wear, has popularised block prints, zardosi embroidery, kashmiri kadhai, chikan kari, etc. With an attire, which is all hand-worked by the best of traditional karigars, a bride will look no less than a princess on her D-day. Tahiliani specialises in brocades with gold zardosi embroidery and Swarvoski crystal work. No one drapes the rich fabric of brocade attire like Tahiliani.
Bollywood’s wonder designer Manish Malhotra specialises in using unconventional fabrics – net and chiffon, in unheard of colours like beige, lavender, and baby pinks for the wedding attire. Usually most brides like to play it safe by wearing only silks, brocades and satins, but with Malhotra to dress them up, they don’t mind trying out unusual fabrics and still feel glamorous and traditional.

The mother-daughter designer duo, Pallavi and Bhairavi Jaikishan, have an identical stamp on couture bridal wear. They use pearl embroidery, Chinese embroidery combined with Chikankari, Gotta work and zardosi embroidery on the brocade. The duo is famous for bridal wear in mulmul, organza, chanderi, Chantilly lace, besides brocade and tissue embroidered with bead and sequin work.

	Mumbai’s kundan and polki jewellery designer Bela Rastogi travelled to Benaras and spent days engaging the weavers there to make special wedding saris. Her saris, woven in rich Benarasi silks, brocade are unique as they are oneof its kind and not duplicated. Each sari is an exclusive piece. According to Rastogi, there are many takers for such saris because “Whatever may be the style of wedding, no Indian girl’s trousseau is complete without a couple of special saris.” Similar sentiments are echoed by Gangji, when he says, “There is no denying the fact that Indian brides look their best in silk saris, especially the Kanjeevaram saris.” Keeping in mind the sentiments of the Indian traditional family, designers have come up with a new concept for this season; the lehanga-sari attire. Post the wedding ceremony; the lehanga
can be worn as a petticoat while the sari can be worn separately. So the attire on which thousands, sometimes lakhs, are spent remains trendy but still retains its conventional feel. Are you getting married soon? Splurge and go the couture way!