Not sure what the “Wills” means – I’m assuming it’s not a reference to Prince William – but some of the pieces are pretty!
Tarun Tahiliani
Tarun Tahiliani
Manish Malhotra
Manish Malhotra
Manish Malhotra
JJ Valaya
JJ Valaya
JJ Valaya - I like the contrasting chooridar!
JJ Valaya - love this!
*Images via South Asian Bride Magazine*
Hope you had a good weekend – I certainly did! Nouman was super awesome (MashAllah) and set up appointments with DJ and cake people. Our appointments ran from 12pm – 5:30ish pm so we were super exhausted by the end. I’m glad to say that it was an extremely productive weekend 
We have our cake person now! YEAY
Anyway, I thought I’d continue my posts about desi clothes shopping in Toronto. I heard about Oriental Costumes a long, long, long time ago. I always see Oriental Costumes collection showcased at the Suhaag and Kismet shows – and there are always a few pieces that I really like.
Unlike most desi clothes places, Oriental Costumes is not run from a basement – they have their own store in Mississauga. The store is massive and I really like the layout of it – shawls/jewellery in one area, casual/semi-formal outfits in another and their bridal collection in the back. To top it off, the aunty that owns the store is super sweet.
We went to Oriental Costumes last month and I must say, I was slightly disappointed. The bridal pieces they had at their store were very different from the collection on the runway – many of the outfits seemed outdated and from the early 2000s. The kaam, the cut and the colour combination’s just did not scream trendy to me.
The casual/semi-formals are nice but not fashion forward… you’ll definitely find clothes “in-style” (i.e. long kameez/frocks) but nothing that I would consider unique or exquisite.
I’m assuming they keep the newer pieces stored away for customers who are seriously interested in buying bridal pieces – we had told them that we were not looking for bridalwear.
I would recommend you to check out their store because their pieces at wedding shows are nice and they do offer custom bridal clothes – just make sure you let them know that you are interested in formal/bridal clothing!
You can also check out my previous post about Naz Fashion Bug.
I came across these stunning pictures on Wedluxe and the images stuck in my head all day. I knew I wanted to share the soft gorgeousness with you guys.
This is modern elegance at its finest – I love the use of the colour red; subtle but oh-so-bright
Love the red, the lace, the hair, the makeup
Awww!
She is so stunning
Have a good long weekend everyone!
I went to my last wedding show this past weekend – after 2 years, this was the final one! WOOT WOOT! It’s actually a little sad but I’m definitely more excited that the wedding planning is almost over.
Before I started planning my wedding, I had no idea what happens at wedding shows nor that there are wedding shows specifically for South Asian brides. Naturally, I was shocked when I found out that the GTA hosts not one but two desi wedding shows – how awesome is that?
Suhaag and Kismet are the 2 largest South Asian wedding shows in the GTA. The turnout at both of these events is HUGE – we’re talking close to 200 vendors and a few thousand “guests” throughout the day. Pretty impressive!
Both of the shows happens twice every year – once in the winter and once in the fall. I think wedding shows are a great way to meet different vendors and get a taste of their work and personalities. I totally recommend that brides should go to wedding shows – the amount of information (and deals) available at these shows is amazing. If you organize your thoughts before the shows, you will come away with lots of useable information.
Top Reasons For You To Attend
It’s all part of the experience and you need to have fun while you’re planning!While both of the shows are great, I think I like Kismet slightly more than Suhaag. The reason? Simply because I find Kismet to be more interactive – you can get makeup demo’s, henna on your hands, pictures taken at Photographers booths, and my favourite; you get to taste some cake (also at Suhaag)!
All the below pictures are from the wedding shows
Bite Bar
Big Al Studios - Our Photographer! Their booth was set up in Valentines Day theme
I got a demo done by them - pictures coming soon
That's me - completely shocked at winning something at Suhaag last year.. because I NEVER win. Not even at Bingo. Sorry the picture quality sucks - it's a camera phone
The vase got knocked off and broke... right at the end of the Kismet show
p.s. One more day until FRIDAY!!
Over the years, I have spent countless hours searching different mediums for wedding decor inspiration. I came to realize that Pakistan has some of the most stunning, jaw-dropping decor ideas to offer.
I have been to a crazy number of weddings (averaging about 6 or 7/year for the last 3 years) but no wedding has come close to the grandeur that Pakistani weddings have. In Pakistan, if you can think it (and your wallet can allow it), you can have it.
Since I love flowers, I wanted to share pictures of wedding decor that is full of them. Unlike North America, flowers are very affordable in Pakistan so they are used elaborately in wedding decor. People make entire stages and archways with them!
Can someone say stunning?!
Love, love, love the colours!
Yup, all the yellow you see are real flowers!
An arch... made of real flowers
Notice the "chandeliers?" Yup, you guessed it - they're made of flowers!
That's a WALL of flowers - how awesome is that?!
Those aren't towers of silk roses.
p.s. notice anything different on the blog?
I was going to write a review about 2 wedding shows that I recently went to but I couldn’t wait to share the below images with you guys! A couple of you have asked me to suggest places around the GTA that carry a wide range of desi bridal clothes – so this one is for you guys!
One of my favouritest places to shop around Toronto is Naz Fashion Bug (you might remember my previous Friday’s Feature about her). Naz Fashion Bug is owned by Nazish Khan – a very sweet and genuine person – and her collection is ah-mazing. We recently bought 3 outfits from her and I love how unique and intricate her work is. Every piece she has is extremely different to anything else available in the GTA – alot of desi stores are still stuck in the 90′s! Seriously, what is up with that?!
Everytime I have visited Naz Fashion Bug’s studio, I can’t help but want everything… I felt like I was back in Pakistan doing my bridal shopping. Her work is delicate and not gaudy – something that is seriously lacking in Toronto; you either find ultra boring or ultra gaudy. I also love her choice of colour combinations.
To top off everything, Naz is such a nice person to work with. The first time we went, we told her which colours we were looking for and she made sure to order outfits in that colour – how sweet is that?
Brides: Naz does take custom-orders so you can talk to her and see if she can make your dream dress! She also has matching clutches that you can purchase with outfits. If you’re wondering – yes, she also has grooms sherwani and pagri’s
Naz showcased her latest collection at the Kismet Wedding Show on February 12, 2012. I have one word to describe the entire runway show by her: breathtaking! She was inspired to give her collection a Sufi touch and hence her models wore Turkish hats on the ramp. The clothes, the jewellery, the hair/makeup and the entire ambiance she created on the runway truly captivated the entire audience.
Enough of my blabbering – check out the pictures below
I've seen this outfit displayed and it's even more gorgeous on the runway than the mannequin
Mumma and I both fell in love with this outfit when we saw it earlier this month
She's looking at me... I should've waved. I do that to random people sometimes.
The show stopper - my friend tried this outfit on back in Dec!
Final walk
Don’t you just LOVE?
p.s. Happy Valentines Day!! Please don’t go overboard with presents – chocolates and flowers are the best way to go
*All the above pictures are owned by me*
I’m not much of a tea drinker so this post is probably coming as much of a surprise to you as me. The only type of tea I drink is green tea – and not the fancy kind… I drink the stuff by Tetley and Lipton. So as you can imagine, I was surprised when I had a random urge to try flavoured teas – what an odd craving!
Since I know nothing about tea, I wasn’t sure where to start – what kind of tea would I like? What the heck am I supposed to say to the “tea experts” if I walk into a store? Yeah, a little intimidating!
Anyway, I was walking around the mall on Saturday and I passed by Teaopia. I decided to go in and just look around – secretly hoping someone would help me. I walked up to the counter where they keep all their specialty teas and was greeted by an extremely friendly “tea expert.” I’m pretty open/honest so I told him straight off the bat that I know absolutely nothing about tea and that the only type of tea I drink is green tea. I told him I was also open to black tea as I do like the flavour of it without milk.
From then on, he narrowed down my likes/dislikes based on what I wanted and what I smelt. I really wanted something with pomegranate but the green tea that had bits of pomegranate was almost finished… so we went with Monk’s Blend: Ceylon Black Tea, Vanilla & Grenadine.
I love the smell of this tea! Both of the sisters think it smells like medicine but NO it doesn’t – I like the sweetness of the grenadine and the subtleness of the vanilla. I’m not a fan of the ultra sweet smell of vanilla, so I liked that the this blend has just the right amount of sweetness.
As my first loose leaf tea, I think it was a good choice I didn’t have to add sugar or honey so yeay! It has just the right amount of sweetness and pick-me-up goodness.
I can’t wait to try more teas from Teaopia!! I totally want to try something with chocolate and/or almond pieces next – in addition to something slightly more fruity.
The blue is from blue corn flower petals
Into the tea strainer we go
Orion's Belt... haha. Get it? Men In Black? Nevermind
Are you a tea drinker? I’d love to hear your recommendations on what I should try next!
We’re a houseful of girls so I grew up watching Disney and making up stories of princesses and happily ever afters. While browsing through Green Wedding Shoes, I came across this totally cool photoshoot. It’s inspired by the fairytale Cinderella – who didn’t want to be Cinderella growing up? Heck, most brides still picture Cinderella when they say they want to look like a princess on their wedding day.
I love the modern twist on this classic fairytale!
Cinderelly, Cinderelly
Night and day it's Cinderelly
Make the fire, fix the breakfast... Wash the dishes, do the mopping
And the sweeping and the dusting... They always keep her hopping
We can do it, we can do it
We can help our Cinderelly.. We can make her dress so pretty
Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry... Got to help our Cinderelly
We'll make a lovely dress for Cinderelly
Love this shot
When dancing at the ball...
... She'll be more beautiful than all...
In the lovely dress we'll make for Cinderelly
A dream is a wish your heart makes
Have faith in your dreams and someday... Your rainbow will come smiling through
No matter how your heart is grieving... If you keep believing
The dream that you wish will come true
*Images by Three Nails Photography*
Yes, I listened to both songs while writing this Have a great weekend everyone!
I haven’t done a Modern Bride post in a while but I’ve been wanting to blog about this for some time now.
While searching for ideas for our reception centerpieces, I came across the most scrumptious idea: Cake Centerpieces! It’s unique, colourful and very chic. Your guests will LOVE these centerpeices for sure
Image via Magnet Street
Image via Cake Central
Yummm-ay
What do you think?
Pictures from their wedding reception!
I'm in love with pale yellow
Interesting
I like the saree
Everyones favourite Bollywood family - the Bachans
I know you all want a closer look
Madhuri! I love her
Gorgeous - my favourite look of the night
