HYDERABAD: Every bride dreams of having a fairytale wedding. Everything’s got to be perfect — from the flowers to the food. Don’t forget the trousseau, it’s what she will carry from the mother’s place to her new home. A box of memories some may call it, a trousseau means the world to every bride.
Zaarah Khan, who owns the Zaara Khan Store at Banjra Hills, helps us understand what brides are looking for these days while planning their trousseau. “A wedding trousseau usually has clothes which are given in the joda. Chikankari, velvet, Luknowi and Phulkari fabrics are the most common ones. Earlier, clothes were gifted for the main functions such as mehendi, haldi, wedding and reception, but these days, cocktail and bachelor party dress are trending,” she says.
Brides have their eyes on fancy trousseau. They usually approach designers with a very clear brief — they want it to be decorative as well as incorporate the emotions attached to the items in the trousseau. “A trousseau might have a mother’s clothes which she wore for her wedding. We restyle these, give them new cuts and silhouettes. There are a lot of emotions attached to such pieces of clothing, hence a bride might choose to wear it for her wedding,” says Zaarah.
For instance, the bride will turn her mother’s engagement saree into a lehenga. If this is old for you, Zaarah has had clients who wanted to wear their grandmother’s sarees which were nearly 100 years old. “Apart from this, brides want their trousseau to match the groom’s outfit. They also have pre-wedding photo shoots which capture the moments of them assembling their trousseau,” says Zaarah, who gets sometimes gets clients who are Nawabs and they want silver and gold zari on their sarees.For Deepali from Deepali Creations, it’s more about how the trousseau is packed. “A wedding is incomplete without the bride’s trousseau. A lot of creativity goes into showcasing it. We design these on the lines on the wedding theme,” she says.
In contrast with earlier times, trousseau decor these days is done in contemporary, lightweight material which ranges from pinewood trays and acrylic boxes to cane baskets. Embellishments such as real or artificial flora, fur, strings of pearls/beads, shimmer nets, laces and ribbons are used for decorating and wrapping the articles, says Mahveen Baig, who owns Sajawat.
“Customers want uniqueness and extraordinary decoration, which calls for vivid imagination on our part. We achieve this by experimenting and playing with colours, materials, draping methods, display themes, artificial lighting and more. It’s the intricate details, the draping of a dress, the fold of an attire, the orientation of objects, etc. Which bring out the best end-result every time,” says Mahveen.