What goes into making a bridal outfit?

Draped in Dream Designs

What goes into making a bridal outfit? Time-intensive craftsmanship, sometimes gold, emeralds and rubies, and at times a weaver’s life-long work. India’s leading bridal-wear designers talk about their favourite bridal design

Anita Dongre This lehenga from my India Modern collection truly exemplifies ‘India Modern’. While the lehenga is red—a traditional colour, the treatment and style is modern, which resonates with the style philosophy of a modern-day bride. She is non-conformist, free-spirited and independent, yet she likes a hint of traditionalism in her bridal ensemble. This lehenga, which took about a month and a half to create, is made from raw silk, embellished with gota patti. The crop-top style choli paired with this lehenga, is a beautiful blend of the traditional and contemporary look. Tarun Tahiliani A triumph of layering, a gorgeous silk trellis is created and fastened on to tulle, which acts as a base for floral thread work and gota flowers, which are interspersed with soldered Swarovski crystals in a multitude of subtle colours including new developments in topaz, silk and the current trend of opals creating a dull and watery glaze. The lehenga starts at the top in a beige gold and drips into an ombre of rust orange velvet border. On this is a panelled long odhna veil which trails the skirt, embroidered through which is a lehriya pattern that has a spine of three dimensional Swarovski crystal. Ritu Kumar For Kareena Kapoor’s wedding outfit, the antique, traditional joda passed down to Sharmila Tagore was recreated by the craftsmen, whose family belonged to the era of Wajid Ali Shah, the exiled King of Oudh. We used gold Banarasi fabric, which was woven in the likeness of the fabrics used for the original ensemble. The traditional bridal attire consists of a kurta, farshi pajama and dupatta made of rust and gold tissue, which contrasts subtly with the soft-green satin gota at the hem. The odhni is original from the time of the last century and was recreated to form the final part of the ensemble.