Nail Art : Pre and Post Bridal

Nail Art seems to be the order of the day, specially if your getting engaged. With pictures having a special focus on your hand and a million people asking to look at the 'dazzling ring' you need to insure your hand looks as sparkly as the ring.

If I had known about nail art earlier I would have certainly gone for nail art for my engagement! The only reason I didn't get it done for the wedding was because I had too many events back to back and I didn't want my nails looking same in all functions..

Ofcourse nail extentions are always the option. If your the bride who nibbles on your nails when tensed and its taking all your self-control to stop your self, this is the answer. Get natural nail extensions a month before the wedding. This way you can still use any nail paint you want.

As to why you should get it a month earlier, one of the nail artist advised me the same. She said " When you get it done it takes a little time to get used to it...although it wont break girls are always worried. On your D-day you'll already have a heavy lehenga and a million other things on you, the last thing you need to worry about is a nail. So get it done a little early so you have time to get used to them. Plus they last 3 months!."

If your planning to go ahead with nail art for your D-day its better to may be try it out on one finger first.
You demand a trial makeup then why not a trial nail art.

Really like this one, not very 'bridal' but love the whole 'quite' look of it

There are a lot of nail art salons in Saket Mall, Delhi which do an excellent job, also love 1010 the nail spa


EXTRA's

I am sure you have seen the launch of new nail art stickers by loreal, I still have to try them. Here is a review by another blogger http://nailartandthings.blogspot.in/2013/01/loreal-color-rich-le-nail-art-stickers.html

Learn here how to do Newspaper Nails http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=495xsppG_HY

Buy Nail Crackle (pic below) here http://www.365gorgeous.in/catalogsearch/result/?q=magnetix, its easy to do yourself. Apply a base coat then apply a coat of this nail paint...wait..and it crackles on its own!

Magnetix! You apply the paint, put the provided magnet on top and voila design gets imprinted.

You can buy this here http://www.365gorgeous.in/catalogsearch/result/?q=magnetix
Word of Advice though I havn't personally used it and havn't heard great reviews about it, so try at your own risk!



Have you tried nail art before?? If so please share your views!

To all Sisters and Friends @ a Wedding

This post is dedicated to my sisters and friends. Thank you for all the help!

Being the eldest daughter I have actually held each and every sister of mine, so when the time for my wedding came I commanded and demanded things from them without thinking whether or not they want to do it. My baby sisters did not once say 'no'.

I am today extremely happy of the support and love each of them gave me...I remember during Vidaii it was one of my youngest sister that came up to me to wipe my tears..

It is however not the orders that I asked them to do or the things that I expected that make me so grateful to have them, it is the one tiny unexpected thing they did that make me love them more then ever...

While I was on stage every time I got a bit nervous or was surrounded by a pool of strangers and needed a familiar face I would look to my left and one of them would always be there.

It was much later, after the wedding that I found out my sisters had taken the decision to take shifts and not leave me alone, one or two of them would always be sitting around incase I needed anything.

My Friends played there part perfectly as well! Thank you for making me dance to my heart content, for being by my side when I was uncomfortable, for running with me to the balcony to see the baraat, and for being there always! We may not be related by blood but our as close to me as my sisters

And finally to you, my childhood friend, my sister, the maid-of-honor (slave-of-honor) you kind of fit into both the categories but a mention of you separately is essential! I shall not say a formal Thank you to you, with you I take everything for granted, I am the burden that you have to carry :P

--

So if your friends/sisters weddings coming up, be there for the Bride!
Remember even if you think your support might go unnoticed and unappreciated trust me the bride see's it all and in her hearts of heart even if she doesn't say it she appreciates every small help...

and it goes without saying when your time comes her experience will help you...

Friends and sisters @ Tilak.
See the left most Saree,  its designed by me, see it in details here

Sisters @ Mehendi

Friends @ Mehendi

WEDDING

Friends wore either Saree or light lehenga

Sisters on my special request wore only lehenga's @ the wedding

Jacket Lehenga, slave-of-honor got this made

This lehenga also got stiched , really nice borders  (will try to see if I can find a closer picture) , but needs accessories 

My friend wore her wedding Saree, her's was a morning South Indian wedding.
Find this saree very pretty

Sister-in-laws

Thats what my sister-in-laws wore

Other Online inspirations for sisters and friends :

how about a loud blouse and a simple plain saree

or maybe a quirky one?

Hairstyle for the new Bride Part 2

After such a great response to the 1st Hairstyle article which seems to be the most read article on the blog after 16 Singar here is another one!

Hairstyle for the New Bride was written while I was learning and researching new trends for my then long hair, but pre-honeymoon I cut my hair shoulder length *gulp*, So all that research went a bit down the drain. Fortunately a lot of them are such that they can be used for short hair too! 

So started my journey for a bit of research again for both long and short hair!

SHORT HAIR (ofcourse long hair beauties can try these too)

Half Open-Half Closed

I make this the most!
Its my quickest way to get my hair dressed up.
See a video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=te8mi37ss5s (start watching from 50sec)

Ponytail

This is a simple Knotted pony,  works on all types of hair.
Can be done back or sideways

 BUNS

Surprisingly this works with short hair!
I thought great buns need long lengths!

LONG HAIR  ( *jealous*)

Four strand Braid

When I had long hair I used to make this....*sigh* looks very pretty

IDEAS

Add a tiny braid in between your normal 3 strand braid

For immediate wavy hair using a straightener.
The thinker the braid the bigger the wave.
Small braid like this = smaller waves 

See Hairstyles for the New Bride 1 :

http://www.crazyindianwedding.com/2012/07/hairstyles-for-new-bride-learn-before.html

and 

16 Singar :
http://www.crazyindianwedding.com/2012/08/modern-brides-16-singar.html

Look What I Found! Sari School!

I guess I will probably start a whole section of 'Look What I Found!' I seem to be finding a lot of new things these days! :P

When I was about to get married one of the things-to-learn was how to tie a Saree. Still not an expert I do continuously you-tube different ways of draping a Saree.

So this is what I stumbled upon

The Saree School invites you to learn how to drape a Saree 
On 25th Feb,
Time : 10:30 - 1:30pm 
At Jangpura Extension, New Delhi. 
Register at thesarischool@gmail.com
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There Facebook Page claims :

A workshop by renowned author Ms. Rta Kapur Chishti teaching the various styles of wearing the unstitched garment. The aim is to promote the wearing of saris and also giving the garment a contemporary touch by plunging into our roots.

The course will include : 
- A 30 minute introductory audio visual 
- An introduction to regional variations in wearing styles: North/South/East/West 
- Materials, spinning & weaving techniques. 
- Atleast 4 select wearing styles from a 108 available will be taught in practice in every session representing the regional variations. 

Learn the basics so you can reinvent this unique garment. 

Atleast 5 members to each session For Further enquiries & enrollement, please confirm through email by Thursday any week E-mail id: chishti@airtelmail.in Or contact Rta Kapur Chishti at 011-41823927 / 41823134 / 9810054147 between 10am-6pm
Or write to: The Sari School, registered at K-42, Jangpura Extension, New Delhi-110014 

Photo taken from http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Sari-School/178704555508100

Look What I found! Mehendi Candles!

If your google history consists of everything associated to a wedding then you must have come across pretty mehendi cakes and candles!

I was walking down the lanes of Lajpat doing a 'hush-hush' project when I saw this mehendi wala making something on a cylindrical wax type object, curiosity got the best of me and I got into a conversation with an ex-banker who makes these lovely candles. (see below)

Ideas!

1. A great item as a center piece for your mehendi or to use to decorate your home during your wedding.

2. Its a pretty Return gifts for Mehendi

3. Surly a great gift for the bride and groom (maybe with their name on it..and a dulha-dulhan design.)

4. How about gifting it post wedding to friends and family who helped you out the most. Like a gift of appreciation.

5. Or use it around the house for decoration purpose



You can see more henna candles @ http://www.facebook.com/navakritiartists.in
(Their facebook page doesn't do justice to the product, the candles look even more prettier in real.)

Online Weddings, the dawn of the new age

With the world going online for everything why should the bride of today be any less tech savvy. 

Wedding Coutdown app 

Most of us do download on our smart phone. After all Every Bride needs to know the number of months, days, minutes and even seconds left till the D-day. Infact I havn't removed my app till now and its now counting the number of days since the wedding.

Facebook Events 

This is probably the best way to invite all your online friends. Knowing that you dont talk to half of your fb list and they won't come anyway. Just send them a fb event invite, they will be happy that you were considerate.

Twitter

So you want to keep your friends and family informed about everything but don't have the time or energy to make a blog or a Website...well just create a Twitter account and tweet on the go. Its the easiest way to update your guest.

Blog

If your reading this then you probably understand the need of a blog. Everybody does it for a different reason, while some might just want to keep their guest updated, others (like me) just want to keep other fellow Brides informed about things we are upto or would just need an outlet to satisfy our need of talking about the wedding continuously.

Wedding Website or Wedsites

Probably the best way of keeping your guest informed and involved in the wedding is having your own wedding website. If you have talent, knowledge and time for making your own wedding website then congratulations! if not then there are sites such as www.myShaadi.in that provide you with an opportunity of have your own wedsite with a small payable amount.

myShaadi.in says "We have close to 35,000 registered couples who have created their wedding website with us and use it to select and send E-invites, create their guest-list  upload pictures and much more."

For Fun : Virtual Weddings

Multi player online games may not be a huge trend in India but it is prevalent all around the world and what more to make them a little more interesting but a virtual wedding! Ofcourse such a wedding will not be considered legal in the real world :P

www.virtualvow.com says 
"A virtual wedding, sometimes called an online wedding, IRC wedding, or chat wedding, is an unofficial marriage between two persons or entities. Although it is not for legal purposes, it conveys a message of commitment and caring between the two involved. It is not a legally binding marriage, and does not fall under any regulations or legal requirements. It is meant only for the participants and their friends. "

You also get Virtual Wedding Certificates!