KANNUR: The one thing dominating the thoughts of a young bride-to-be is her trousseau. Most girls would want it to be something out of the world, that makes them feel like fairytale princesses. However, getting the dress of one’s dreams remains a mere fantasy for many belonging to financially backward families.That needed to change, felt Sabitha A K.
“Whenever I attended weddings of well-heeled people, I used to come across many young girls of marriageable age looking wistfully at the expensive dresses and jewellery worn by the brides,” said the 40-year-old from Kannur. Realising everyone wants to look beautiful on that special day of their lives, she began collecting second-hand bridal wear and gifting them to less privileged girls.
“But I noticed they weren’t overjoyed or happy even after getting very beautiful trousseau, which if bought from a boutique would have cost a fortune,” she said.Another realisation dawned. The girls were missing that thrill of searching, selecting and getting their dresses in a shop setting.
“Who wouldn’t want to go out with friends and family to buy a special dress and accessories?” she said. So, around four months back, Sabitha — who was running a boutique at home — thought of making use of the extra space there to set up an exclusive area for second-hand bridal wear.
“Ours was a brand new house and one room had been set aside for my boutique,” she said. And she set about collecting bridal dresses. When she posted a request seeking undamaged second-hand dresses in her circle, there was a flood of offers. “I began getting calls like ‘hey, I have one that I wore only for half-an-hour’ or ‘I have four’,” she said.
Soon, Sabitha was able to set up her Rainbow Free Bridal Boutique. There, girls can come with their friends and family without having to deal with the poor tag, shop to their heart’s fill and have a dream wedding of their own, she said. “The girls get everything free of cost. The dress, accessories like matching jewellery and footwear, all of them are donated by well-wishers.”
Sabitha’s free bridal boutique has dresses for brides belonging to every religion.“Besides dresses and accessories, I also provide the services of a beautician to the bride,” she said. Sabitha is happy to have been a fairy godmother to more than 1,000 brides not only from the state but from places like Gujarat, Pune, Gwalior. “After getting several requests to open such boutiques in other districts, and with friends offering to provide space, I set up outlets in Kasaragod, Kannur, Kozhikode, Malappuram, Thrissur, Ernakulam, Alappuzha, Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram,” said Sabitha, a BCom graduate. She used to collect dresses and transport them to outlets. “That takes a lot of time. I now ask outlets to source dresses locally,” she said.