Moved to Wordpress

Hi!

I've moved the entire blog to Wordpress - thedelhibride.wordpress.com

Thanks for following me here, hope to see you at the shiny new Wordpress blog! 

Ideal Makeup for Wedding Day

Have you heard about Nisha & Jiten's wedding? If you've been following real weddings on any of the wedding websites, chances are you probably have. I have no idea who Nisha & Jiten are, but her wedding lehenga is WOW. And her wedding day makeup - PERFECT. That amount of makeup is EXACTLY what I want. Here's the link to their wedding video - just check out how lovely her makeup is when they're sitting at the mandap and she looks at her soon-to-be-hubby and gives him a big grin.

Busting 10 make-up Myths

This post by Elton Fernandez gives you a kick on your butt for believing some rubbish myths!

I was most happy to see the correct place to apply blush on your face, but I do not agree completely with shaping the eyebrows point - some of us actually have eyebrows that don't need to be plucked, bleached or colored. What say?

Check it out on Miss Malini's blog.

The Month of April

It's almost been a month since I updated this blog!
Had to travel for work, so you can imagine wedding prep came to a long pause.

These are the updates:
1. VENUE
Do parents tend to flip flop a LOT with wedding plans that have already been fixed in case they have too much time? My wedding is over 6 months away, and I had pushed them to book the venues for wedding and sangeet asap. It was all fixed, deposits were paid, and then slowly but surely, their idle minds started coming up with new ideas. So now, they have changed the wedding venue to a farm house (I'm not complaining though - the venue is gorgeous, the decoration team is extremely competent).
However, I do have a problem with their wanting to hold the Sangeet also to an outdoor venue. My issues with it -
a) the wind from mist fans will mess up my hair
b) if I feel hot, my makeup will melt and I have oily skin so that could be a potential disaster (well, not really - MAC blotting film to the rescue).
c) guests will also be able to enjoy dancing more indoors with the AC on! No?
Ok, so tell me if I am over-reacting. Maybe it won't be that bad? I don't know, I'm not convinced yet.

2. HONEYMOON
We started off with Thailand, then we pretty much settled on Australia, when all of a sudden the fiancé calls me up last night and says "what about Spain? Check out Spain! You'll do the research na?"
So, since he is Mr. Entrepreneur, apparently I have more time to undertake all this research. Well, consultants work hard too, you know! Hmmm...I lost that argument. In addition, my consultancy work ex apparently gives me the skill sets to find a pin in a haystack.
I checked out Spain, and figured it'll get too cold to enjoy the waters on a beach. I crossed it off our list. Can you guess His response?
"You need to give more flexibility to the plan. Your wanting a beach with warm waters is causing so many things to get crossed off the list. Can't we do a beach holiday some other time?"
Ok, so these weren't his exact words, but this was the message! So I told him - pick ANYWHERE in the world, just let it not be as cold as the Delhi winter, because I really, really hate the cold. Let's see where this goes...

3. GUEST LIST
Ah, the dreaded guest list. Since we obviously cannot afford to feed 2000+ mouths on a single night, irrespective of what a great deal my parents can get with the caterer, we need to cut this down. AND filter out who's going to be invited to the Sangeet (we CANNOT be calling more than 250 people tops). Why is this such a painful exercise?!

4. ALL THINGS TROUSSEAU
I bought a beautiful turquoise blue flowy top to wear over my bikini suit (so pointless if there's going to be no beach holiday, hmph), and that's pretty much it. Unless you can also count a pair of grey jeans, 2 amazingly smooth and soft M&S bras, and a pair of silver ballet flats from Zara. Need to start looking for my lehenga now - end June is my deadline. Oh, I went to Anita Dongre's store in Phoenix Mills, Mumbai. I found some of the suits and lehengas absolutely amazing, but they were all way over my budget. Hmmm...need to check out Chandni Chowk soon.
As for makeup, I have started applying spf, moisturiser and foundation daily (foundation is necessary to make my face less shiny after all the spf and moisturiser).

Ok, you know what? I'll add more about makeup in a separate post later. Should probably get back to work now :)

See you soon, ladies!

Weekend Reading for the Indian Bride to Be

The weekend is here! And here's a list of blog posts by Miss Malini - The Domestically Challenged Desi Bride that I'm sure you will have a great time reading through!

DIY Sari Draping, and Overdoing Trousseau Suits!

Bought 3 new suits!!! 2 suit ka kapda (just cloth, need to get it stiched), and one cute kurti from W. The suit kapda are from Kalpana and Heritage in South Extension market, New Delhi. They're all so pretty and cute! :)
Ok now I think I've over-done the suits, need to start looking at other trousseau items now.

Btw, BIG NEWS. I learnt how to wear a sari! Mom taught me this week, so I tried wearing 5-6 different saris at home. I'm a pro now :) and have learnt how to wear it in a way that looks good on me :) I am relaxed now because it means when I need to get ready for my reception at my in-laws' house, I will not need to go to a parlour to get my sari draped. Phew! I also know how to wear a heavy net sari in a proper way.

About the guest list - I have been able to finally get my parents to sit down and start editing that monster of a list. Hopefully we will be done soon!

Some Latest Scoop

Some useful things I've come across recently:
Lehenga Draping Styles for Brides - many, many different styles! Very enlightening to us uneducated to-be-brides :)
Honeymoon Trousseau for the Indian Bride - some silly things, some practical ones...

Magical Days

Not much to update on wedding front.
Wedding guest list is almost done, but a long way to go before it's final - need to sit down with parents and edit!
Bought another suit, for casual wear. It's made of origandy and is a nice shade of purple with same color embroidery on it. Atleast through wedding shopping, I'm learning a whole new vocab for textiles!
Sent out Save The Dates to all my friends, sent His out as well. Got a whole bunch of RSVPs already, though my mother's saying I shouldn't be so sure that everyone will actually land up on D-Day.
A friend from the past contacted me, and wrote the sweetest congratulatory message!
And, the BIGGEST news I had to share - I started reading and using The Magic book. It's incredible. This book has changed my life in a matter of three days, and it will help me sail through all the wedding (and life) madness! SUPER happy to have found The Secret back in my life!

Save The Date DJ, I'm having 2 Sangeets!

A LOT has been happening the last few days!
Other than work keeping me stressed...
The Panditji is 100% booked. As is the sangeet venue! Deposit's paid. DJ got booked today. He's charging Rs. 15,000. Anyone know if this is the going market rate these days?

Picked up my brand new angrakha suit and it can be described in just one word - fabulous. It's such a unique piece, perfect for any bridal trousseau. As a new bride, you are expected to "stand out". And stand out I shall! :p

Ah, and I'm going to have many many nights of partying during the wedding!
So...I'm going to have 2 sangeets! Seriously :)
And a separate reception.
So that means, I have to buy 4 fabulous outfits for all 4 nights.
And of course, something pretty to wear for day-time on all these 4 days.
And a haldi, and a mehendi outfit.
Does that sound like a lot?
Well, I'm getting married! It don't matter! Hehe.

In other news, Save The Date card is done! We had a photo shoot that my sister did :) and it was amazing! We've got a whole bunch of beautiful picture memories from that day now (I've even made a collage out of the best moments!). I even set up a form on Google Docs to collect RSVP and contact information from my friends - will send a link of it to my friends when I send save the date cards (hopefully, tonight!). I'm extremely pleased with my STD card btw. The right moment has been captured, and the final output looks a little Bollywood-movie-poster-ish, but I'm not complaining! Very, very excited to finally send out these cards!!!

My mother went out and bought FOUR wedding magazines! At first I thought - what a waste, mother! You get everything on the internet these days! Turns out, I was wrong. There's some pretty pictures and helpful articles in there! Will share as and when I get more time.

Oh, oh! And my FMIL got me a saree for Holi (Indian festival of colors)! It's such a GORGEOUS saree! It makes me very happy to know that my fiancé's family's tastes in clothes, home decor, etc is so much like mine! It's a big relief too. Because when they spend so much money to buy me gifts (they're big gifters!), I want to be able to love it and use it often. Which is exactly what I'm going to do with my gorgeous, gorgeous saree! :)

Looking forward to my FIVE day wedding affair! Always imagined mine would be wrapped up in a 2-day weekend. Never imagined it would turn out to be such a grand affair! This is what you get when you marry a Punjabi. Go Punjabe-eee! :) oh balle balle, hey hey! :p

The List

This is a list of websites you can visit for a daily dose of wedding & related inspiration & learning:
http://peachesandblush.com/ (specially her Bridal Files)
http://www.myasianwed.com/
http://asianweddingideas.blogspot.in/
http://thebigfatindianwedding.com/

A little bit of inspiration for you

Loving the ideas on this pintrest Unique Decor Details page...!
http://pinterest.com/saricladbride/unique-decor-details/

Shopping & Bookings off to a GREAT start!

First trousseau purchase - done!
I bought an angrakha style suit from Kapil & Mmonika and I LOVE it. Well, it still has to be altered to my size so how the finished product looks on me remains to be seen. But I'll tell you why I love it - the style is so freaking modern for a salwar kameez. I can wear it to a dinner party at a hotel, and even to lunch at a relative's home. It also has a bit of turquoise or teal blue (I'm a little color illiterate) popping out, and that's a shade of blue I am looking to have even in my wedding lehenga!

Also bought an off-white kurti from Fab India, that can be worn with a variety of bright colored patialas/churidars with an equally bright dupatta. Although I might end up wearing the kurti over the next few months, the Kapil & Mmonika suit will be packed up and kept inside my cupboard - to be worn after I'm married! Wow, that sounds pretty cool to me :) "after I'm married"!!!

Oh! And the fiancé and I just got invited to probably the first wedding we will attend as husband and wife! A second cousin is getting married about a month after our wedding, and we're going to attend it as Mrs & Mr. Wow-zie! Yes, wedding excitement makes me say silly things like wow-zie. But, really, wow! Sooo excited for it already!!! :)

In other news, the panditji is sort of booked for the wedding. I say sort of because he still needs to confirm 100% that he's available and willing.
I have also sent off a mail to the videographer of my choice, asking to set up a meeting when he is in town next so I can finalise whether or not I want him and can afford him.

Left to book still: sangeet venue, DJ, decorator, photographer (99% going to be the same guy who did the engagement). Oh, and the Make Up artist! I must, must head off to the mall next weekend and book her. Hmmm...! So much to do still, as always :)

Venue Done. Let the preparations begin!

Wedding venue is available, and booked! Only the deposit needs to be paid now, which should be done by Tuesday.

Yey!!! And I've heard that the venue has a few trees of my favorite type :)

Another update is that I've started helping my father with putting together his guest list. We need to have a final guest list in place by mid-March.

And we need to have our Save-The-Dates ready to be sent!

And I want to start shopping for trousseau sarees - sale is still on.

And I have got a few recommendations for good photographers/videographers. Need to research.

And, I have to work this weekend. Phew!

Aaaah! So much to do!

More About Me

This is a place for me to talk about my daily life as a Bride To Be (BTB). Expect useful links, life lessons, and general bride banter.
Right now, I'm typing away at my laptop while I'm being driven back from work.
So I have decided to keep my mind on just work 5 days a week, and only on wedding preparations during the weekend. I need to segregate my life into these 2 separate compartments, otherwise I won't be able to focus on either. So expect most updates on weekends.

I'm getting married in October to probably one of the best men that exists on planet earth =)

This is the status update at the moment:
- date is fixed
- wedding venue: we had decided on a place, but then our delay of 1 day in booking it led to somebody else taking it. Poor mother had to go scouting for other options this morning, but I don't think there is a lack of good options.
- caterer: for wedding, its fixed. We're getting a very good rate. No, I won't tell you how much. But I will reveal their name after the wedding if I feel like they were good.

That's about it for now.

What's My Love Story?

Boy meets girl. Both fall in love, then boy falls on one knee and pops the question. And now they're getting married!

That's not us.

Nothing about our story has been conventional from the very beginning. So expect a wedding that is nothing like your typical Indian shaadi.