Traditionally a day when the bride’s hands and feet are adorned with henna, the mehendi is one of the most fun occasions on the bridal calendar, and often includes dancing and, of course, dressing up!
Mahima Gujral’s mehendi function was scheduled a day before her wedding with Singapore-based music entrepreneur Aman Wadhwa. Excited about the event and what she’d wear, Mahima could instantly recall the outfit from Sue Mue’s Ariella collection when her mother Mohita Gujral, creative director of Sue Mue, suggested it.
With beautiful patchwork embroidery, the sharara was colourful, fun and had a bohemian feel. “I immediately knew that this would be part of my mehendi outfit,” says Mahima. She needed to make sure that she was comfortable on the day henna would be applied to her hands and feet. And being Punjabi, bright colours were just as important.
“To be honest I didn’t know what kind of blouse I’d pair my sharara with till the celebrations drew closer,” she admits. But, as always, the mother-daughter duo sat together and came up with a fantastic idea to create a bustier paired with a beautiful turquoise dupatta. “By the end, it turned out gorgeous. Honestly, this was my favourite look of the entire event,” gushes Mahima.
Mohita had bought her daughter’s jewellery from Patiala – where she had also picked up the chooda that Mahima would wear later on the day of her wedding. The jewellery for the mehendi event included a beautiful gold maang tikka and earrings set – an ideal mix of modernity and tradition.
Mahima had wanted the event décor to be relaxed, a bit of Indian kitsch with bohemia. “So we chose colour palettes similar to my outfit,” she says. Beautiful white tents were set up with low wooden seating and plenty of cushions, where guests could have henna applied on their palms by expert mehendi-walas. Marigold flowers and other elements enhanced the festive atmosphere at the open-air garden.
“We had Punjabi dancers to entertain the crowd and, boy, did my friends from Europe love it,” says Mahima. Though she had to sit for almost five hours while the henna was being applied, she enjoyed every moment of it.
The favourite part of the evening for Mahima was the poignant end, when all her closest friends stayed back and drove with her to her home, where the chooda ceremony was to take place. “I still get goosebumps thinking about those conversations and emotions before the wedding,” she recalls wistfully.
It was these little moments that made her wedding so very special.
Stay tuned for the next and final part of Mahima Gujral’s Trousseau Tales: The Wedding Lehenga.