Shopping for a wedding dress

Okay, don’t panic people. I haven’t gone crazy and gotten engaged to some rando in the last few weeks. I am just attending a traditional Indian wedding two weekends from now so I needed something appropriate to wear. How did I get invited to this wedding do you ask? I am not really certain actually. Aadhithi, my friend with whom I traveled in Singapore and Cambodia, had a family friend getting married. Aadhithi’s mother is attending, and asked the Mother of the Bride (MoB) if I could attend. Not only did the MoB say yes, she told me she would help me find something to wear! T.I.I.*

MoB only had time to shop on a Tuesday so I headed out of the office for this “business meeting” (don’t worry Bainees reading this, I worked in the car), driving the 45 minutes or so to down Delhi to meet her. We went to a street which has wholesale clothing stores in Lajpat Nagar. The first merchant we went to tried to charge me a fortune as I am a foreigner so we had to walk out. Next we go to “Elegance,” a nice boutique with plenty of saris and lenghas. One look at me and the attendant and MoB decide the fancy salwar kameez is the way to go (read: a dress that does not expose the belly or require intricate tying to keep on—don’t want to give people a free show at the wedding after all). MoB decides that the black/purple/gold/silver one will be best with my skin tone so that’s what I buy.

I have been informed I should wear it with my silver or gold high heels, huge earrings, and bangles. I only have a 4 inch pair of heels with me so we’ll see if I can stay upright for long (also, I will be the tallest person in the whole wedding). I don’t have any bangles which was sad for MoB, but she said she’d see what she could do (my friend Mayuri says I can borrow hers). Some thoughts on the dress: it is both the most intense and the least revealing wedding outfit I have worn. It covers me entire body (god, I am going to be warm) long-sleeved see-through arms, tight pants, and a top that goes up to my neck. Why is it intense? It’s SO sparkly and has so many patterns/things going on I can’t even describe it. In order to see the dress, you’ll have to keep following the blog!

I will meet MoB again around 2/3PM on next Friday for the beginning of the wedding events. Friday is the mendi, where the women decorate hands with henna…let’s hope it looks good on my uber-pale skin. After that, there are ceremonies on both Saturday and Sunday. Supposedly there will be 500 people there all decked out in Indian finery. I will take a lot of pictures, don’t worry. So people: any idea of a good wedding gift?

*T.I.I.=This is India (As in…“This is madness!” “No, this is Sparta er India!”)