India shopping trip prep - last minute shenanigans

So far, I think I’ve been a fairly calm bride. Frankly, things have gone relatively smoothly, especially the big decisions. The venue, date, and the photographer were actually quite easy decisions to make after the initial research and meetings. But as of a week ago, I officially started to freak out. And it’s all my fault you see, because I kind of made a boo-boo – I let my passport expire, months ago. This wouldn’t have been a huge deal if I just needed it for my yet-to-be planned honeymoon. However, several weeks ago, I decided to go to India for a pre-wedding shopping trip with my Mom. Super fun right? I wasn’t planning on it but my Mom convinced me “You’ll have an amazing selection of sari’s and lehengas and it will be SO much cheaper, we have to go!” And yes, I am now really excited to be going – in fact I leave this upcoming Saturday. Woohoo!

But back to the passport issue… because if any of you brides are in my same situation, I hope you will not make the same mistakes I did. I have a crazy stressful job and I tend to put off annoying things like paperwork and bureaucracy. Also, I live in LA (this will become relevant very soon). By the time I figure out how to renew my passport (about 4 weeks prior to my trip – plenty of time, right?), I discover that it takes 4-6 weeks to process a passport renewal via mail under normal processing times. Clearly this won’t work for my situation. Then I see that it can be expedited via mail – for a charge – to 2-3 weeks. That’s cutting it close and I’m really nervous about sending in my passport in the mail. What if it gets lost, then I’m screwed! Ok, so I hear that you can renew in person. Perfect. The website repeatedly insists that you cannot book an appointment until 2 weeks prior to your trip. I keep reading this and getting really anxious. What I should have done was actually call the office and talk to someone about my situation because then I might have found out that you can book earlier IF you also need a Visa. Long story short, I went in for the passport renewal last Thursday – 9 days before my trip. I pleaded my case and they said I could pick it up the very next day. Yay! Then I got the bad news… the woman at the Passport office said that all of the Indian people she had encountered at the office said they needed to get the Visa in San Francisco. Yikes! I assumed LA would have an office where I could do this, but they just mail it to SF. Oh, and the Visa office is only open Mon-Fri. So I booked a last minute trip to SF this weekend to go in tomorrow morning. Wish me luck.

Brides, make sure your travel documents are in order. Get your photos taken asap. Call and talk to a live person whenever you can. Bring your itinerary. For the visa, you need a copy of your birth certificate and proof of address. Fill out your forms online ahead of time (the Indian visa app in particular was very detailed – I had to list the dates of my last trip to India from my old passport and the address of where I will be staying in India.)

Can’t wait to share the spoils of my India shopping trip when I return!

**Update on the nitty-gritty details**

Show up early at the SF Visa office! It opens at 9:00. I showed up around 9:05-9:10 with an appointment at 11:20 but the manager allowed me to check in b/c there weren't that many people there. (Maybe 15-20 minutes later, she told my brother that he would have to wait till his appointment time.) You need to go through the process by 11:00 am for same day delivery. Then you stand in another line to get your ticket number. There is a one final main line where the application is processed. One one person was at each station. They say no cell phones or backpacks - the no cell phone usage is heavily enforced. Fill out everything online first to make sure it's a smooth process, but there are laptops there if necessary.

Clever Ideas for the Escort Card Table

From the beginning, the fiance and I have bonded over food (good and bad) so it has started to work its way into the wedding theme in a subtle way. This escort card idea is pure genius! Not to mention budget friendly and EASY. I never would have thought of using common Indian food staples like kidney beans, lentils and rice in a display like this. It's colorful and quirky.

See more pictures of this wedding on Daughter of Design.

I also really like the idea of using fruit as an escort card because it's simple, rustic and charming. You see pears commonly used. For an Indian wedding, I would be more inclined to use fruits such as pomegranates or oranges (from Martha Stewart Weddings).

A custom designed tea bag (courtesy of The Knot) would also be a fun way to tie into the theme.

It Takes Tulle: An Elegant Touch for the Lehenga

I've been searching for a modern design element for my bridal lehenga dress. Well I found it! Tulle is such a fun unique idea for Indian formal wear and I personally haven't seen it on anyone yet. It's looking simply gorgeous in these photos. The key is to have it peek out from underneath the skirt for a subtle effect while it provides hidden poofiness for a dramatic flair. Once again, Posh is on the cutting edge of fashion. The entire photo shoot from Our Blog of Love is a must-see because the bride is adorable.

Source: Marigolds & Mithai

Source: Our Blog of Love

Source: Our Blog of Love

Source: Our Blog of Love

(oooh fun peep toe shoes too)

Source: Victoria Beckham in Tarun Tahiliani for Vogue India

Color inspiration image

After weeks (nay months!) of scouring the internet for ideas and inspiration to help me decide my color palette, I *think* I've sort of, kind of, come to an understanding about what I would generally like it to be. Granted, I do reserve the right to tweak said palette...but it's looking like I'm headed in the Pink and Orange direction. Not just any pink and orange though. Specifically, Fuchsia and Saffron - i.e. a deep hot pink and a dark vibrant red-orange. Indian weddings are very festive and celebratory in nature. To me, this palette is colorful, modern and chic and flat-out makes me feel happy and energetic when I see it. Here was the image that sealed the deal.

Source: MyWeddingPlace.blogspot.com

And here is the inspiration board that brought it home by visualizing how the palette will come together at the venue.

Source: WeddingNouveau.com

I'll probably create my own inspiration board soon but we have a starting point. yay!

Indian bridal wear - Celebrity style

Like any bride, I am dreaming about my bridal gown... and lucky for me, I get to pick a few outfits for all of the different events at our Indian wedding. In fact, I am planning to make a trip to India to do my wedding shopping. A few weeks ago, at my mother's prodding, I drove down to Artesia - aka Little India - with the fiance to have a first look at some Indian bridal dress options. Ideally I am looking for a lehenga for the reception and sari for the ceremony. I still haven't picked my color palette (eek!) so I thought the sky was the limit in terms of color options. However, I have since discovered from my mother and various helpful websites that it is most traditional and lucky for the North Indian bride to wear a red sari (or something in the red family like pink or burgundy).

From CitySaheli.com

The color red has deep rooted significance as it represents abundance and fertility. Today, many brides stick to this tradition and wear red on their wedding day, while some brides wear offshoots of red, such as pink or orange. You won’t, however, see a Hindu bride wear white, since white is the color of mourning in India.

I am not huge on ALL traditions but this is one I don't want to mess with. I'll take all the luck I can get my hands on! As far as design goes, there's a lot more flexibility. In my internet search for design ideas, I stumbled upon some photos of celebs donning beautiful wedding outfits. Check out Victoria Beckham, Heidi Klum and Liz Hurley (my favorite) all rocking the desi bridal duds.

Source: Vogue India magazine

Source: SareeDreams.com

Source: Glam.com

Source: Glam.com

Color Palette Inspiration Board 1 - Burgundy, Red, Pink, and a Touch of Green

Check out my first color palette inspiration board! It just wouldn't be an Indian wedding without lots of color. As you can see, I created this board around some stunning images of flowers because well, flowers are just gorgeous. The rich, vibrant colors will fit perfectly with the location of our wedding since it's at a winery but also bring in the Indian flair. Rather than go purely with rustic vineyard colors (burgundy, chardonnay, and green), I chose to add some big pops of color with the fuchsia and flame. The champagne gold helps ground the bold colors while keeping with the rich look. I'm really loving the analogous palette of purple, red, and pink - they create a cohesive statement and at the same time allow for some needed variation in the color scheme. Sigh, I could never decide on just one color...

Image source: Karen Tran Florals (top left), Fifty Flowers (top right), Town & Country Magazine (bottom images)

Tasty Cake and Dessert Ideas

The tall multi-tiered wedding cake is certainly dramatic and traditional. I found some beautiful exotic Indian style cakes that would fit with our wedding. But lately I've been thinking that it would be great to do a twist on the traditional wedding cake. I'm all about tradition with a twist! Rather than going so high on the cake I think it would be a little more contemporary to just do a smaller version of one of these cakes (say, the top two tiers) and then bring in other desserts for a nice variety. It seems like cupcakes have been all the rage for the last few years so what about donuts? They would be so whimsical. Anyone who knows the fiance knows he loves PIE - doing a variety of cakes, pies and Indian desserts would be a fun way to make everyone happy and express our personality too.

Source: Maharani Weddings

Source: The Knot

Platinum Weddings on WEtv features a decadent Socal Indian wedding

My Tivo is now filled with an array of wedding shows, much to my delight (and to the fiance's chagrin). I stumbled upon Platinum Weddings recently which is a show on WEtv. A recent episode featured a lavish - and I mean lavish - Indian wedding. It's a hotel wedding overlooking the beach in Santa Monica and let me tell you, no expense was spared. The show tells you what each major item costs so you can see and be astounded. The total budget was (gulp) $425,000! Makes me feel less guilty about my budget.

The style isn't quite what we are going for because our wedding will be at a winery (think rustic elegance), but I took special note of a few unique touches. One of the bride's outfits featured a unique peacock design on the back and on the bottom of the lehenga. The turquoise blue color scheme makes a huge impact. The mandap was made out of acrylic and was filled with flowers and had crystals. Check out more pics here.

Lovely invitation designs

Here are some invitation inspirations that are fun, bold, colorful and wonderful eye candy. These are all from Momental Designs. Absolutely stunning work with vintage and exotic flair. Right up my alley.

More images to come...

The search for the bridal dress

In actuality, there may be more than one dress – but let’s start with one. I will freely admit that I am not the mostup-to-speed on Indian weddings. Frankly, I haven’t been to that many and so I’m not really sure about a lot of protocols. One thing I have discovered in talking to friends and looking at photographer blogs is that it seems like most Indian American brides wear one outfit for the ceremony and then change into a completely different outfit for the reception. I’m totally down for two different outfits!

There are a couple of reasons why this works on a practical level. My ceremony is probably going to be fairly conservative and therefore I want to be covered up to be more respectful. On the other hand, for the reception I expect to be bee-bopping around and, of course, dancing(!) so I want something more fun and easy to move around in. I’m pretty sure I want a lehenga for the reception and for the ceremony either a lehenga or a sari. As a sari novice, I don’t think I could boogie down in it – I would constantly be stiff and worrying about it unraveling.

Here are some pretty options I found.