Pakistan held it’s very first Bridal Couture Week From Nov 26-28, and fabulous designers like Nomi Ansari, Ali Xee, HSY and Mehdi were among the talented who had their garments shown down the runway.  Produced by the Christy Turlington or Cindy Crawford of Pakistan, supermodel Vaneeza Ahmad, this show was poised for success and I was so excited to see pictures as they became available (though Vinny being on the runway would’ve made me happy!)!  After all, the garments on display were geared towards brides-to-be like myself, and many designers definitely did not disappoint.  I’ve waited to order my bridal trousseau (every Pakistani bride gets 10+ new outfits from her family as a wedding gift) just for fashion shows like this one…. so let’s get started talking about my most FAVORITE designer, Nomi Ansari.

Nomi Ansari’s show on night one was incredible!  He blended traditional Pakistani and Ajrak styles with pops of color and fashion-forward looks for the young and modern bride.  He’s one of my all-time favorite Pakistani designers.  He plays with color in a way few designers know how to—he doesn’t overdo it yet he pushes the envelope just far enough.This bright pink outfit is outfitted with muted down beige sleeves, full-front embroidery and bead work, and also has colorful borders of bright green, dark blue, gold, orange and even a bit of lilac.  This frock style outfit is perfect for a mehndi….and don’t be surprised if you see me wearing something like this next July!  I just wish I could find better photos! His designs are amazing for the modern Pakistani bride who wants anything but the typical red and gold wedding outfits.

Here’s another amazing Nomi Ansari outfit that’s well suited for young, fun bride that wants a traditional mehndi green colored outfit that has a bit of pop.  The orange sleeves give it a unique touch.  I love the length, the wide pajamas, and judging by the other outfits  he showed, the 6 inch border is totally in with Pakistani clothes right now.

And here’s another up close look at this FABULOUS outfit. And I have to say, the heavy embroidery around the neck eliminates the need for a necklace which allows for a heavy teeka (head piece) that this model is not afraid to rock.  Love love love this outfit!

Not sure the cost on these clothes, and as Nomi is very difficult to get in contact with when trying to reach him via e-mail.  These two outfits are top contenders for my mehndi outfit… do I go for hot pink or mehndi green?  Decisions, Decisions.

Hello Hello!

So our wedding date is officially July 10, 2011. So excited!  We don’t have our venue booked yet, so I am a little behind on my by the end of September deadline.  It’s ok, we have it down to two, and both are so beautiful!  I’ve visited like ten hotel ballrooms, so I am SO glad I waited and didn’t just settle on the first one… these ones are a million times better than the first one I went to.  They are both DoubleTree hotels, and their ballrooms are incredible, their banquet captains are very sweet, and they are a million times better than Sheraton hotels.

I can’t wait!

Here are some Save the Date card ideas I have (from WeddingPaperDivas.com).  I think these are SO essential since I am inviting a ton of out of town guests.  As Nick & I do not have our photographer set, we can’t take our engagement photo session and I’m not sure a photo Save the Date will work unless he and I take photos ASAP.  I don’t know yet though!

I really like this one because it has the calendar idea, and I think that’s really neat.

I think the one above is SO me & Nick.  Our style for sure.  But the whole “three photos” thing is going to be difficult as we haven’t had any professional photos taken.

I also really like this simple save the date:And this one is great too!!!  the Birdcage is SO cute!!

Anyways, all of the above re double-sided post-cards pretty much, so it’s nice and easy.  You even have the option of personalizing the back, which is super important for me as I believe I have close to 50 out of town guests and I’d able to put the wedding website info down (not yet created) and information about accommodations as well.. we also have all our pre-wedding events so to be able to list those would be good as well so people know when to fly in!!

I’m excited!  Now, which one do I choose?! [they only vary like 10 cents in price each, so your opinions are totally wanted!!]

Just wanted to update my readers, I haven’t had time to update this! But I thought I would now.
So as you know I have tons of ideas already to make the hotel ballroom gorgeous, and I just wonder, is it worth paying that “extra $$” for a certain type of hotel???  In a world where the DoubleTree is seen as less appealing than a Sheraton, and a Hyatt is supposed to be top of the class, it’s surprising to see how vastly different the reception ballrooms are at each of these locations.  Even more so, a theme park’s hotel beats all of these in square footage AND view, yet costs a little bit less.  The price difference wouldn’t make a difference if the wedding guest count was just at 100…but at 300, even a $5 difference per head adds up quickly–$1500 gone like that.  So is it worth it to spend that extra $1500 for a hotel name?  I’m not too sure.   All of these hotels have their pros and their cons, but I just wonder if the hotel chain name makes any difference! I don’t think it does.  All I want is a beautifully decorated room!

I’m attaching photos of some ballrooms and you guys get to tell me what you think, w/o learning of the hotel’s name!

Ballroom #1They have nice carpet, very spacious, I like their chandeliers, their walls are painted well, well lit and nice, muted colors. (can u tell I like them?)  Also, the draping on the left wall is not included obviously, but it’s something I kind of want to consider if it’s budget friendly.

VENUE #2 (they get two photos, another so you can see their carpet… eeek)

(this was a short-table event apparently, but still… do you see the carpet….)

OK VENUE #3
Now that’s venue #3, it’s nice, been to weddings there.  I kind of hate the lights!! Why are they squares? I like chandelier type lighting….

So I bet whoever is reading this is thinking a few things:
-if the venue is DECORATED nicely, it will look nice, duh Sidra
-they all kind of look the same…

PLEASE COMMENT!!!!!  I’d love your advice.