Tag Archives: pakistani wedding

Gifting at Weddings – Guide for the Wedding Guests

Posted on by

0

Not surprisingly, my most popular post on this blog is the one about “No Boxed Gifts” and the other about “How to Ask for No Boxed Gifts” – guests are confused by our South Asian cultures.  I am so happy to help people figure out what this means and just hope that people come away from the idea that it’s wrong of us to request this.  I actually prefer to gift cash for gifts.

Let me explain this little South Asian girl’s response to her very first non-Indian/Pakistani wedding invitation.  

I’m still pretty was appalled that people think we are nasty/uncultured/rude/greedy (all those have been said in comments on my blog) for asking for no boxed gifts.  I am sorry, but it’s not rude.  I don’t find asking for fine china or crystal items rude, but it’s definitely strange to me.  Strange to me that I’m buying items that a couple scanned at a store specifically for their wedding and anticipate that their guests buy this stuff for them as gifts, yet people find the concept of requesting to bring cash or a gift card to a wedding “rude”.  (this couple is awesome so I’m not knocking them, we love them!)  It’s jut that in my mind, the concept is no different than asking for cash.  

It’s kind of funny because one of my husband’s groomsmen thought our “No Boxed Gifts” thing was odd – but to me the registry is equally as odd.  I’d prefer to gift them a gift card or cash (so much easier!!) but we will oblige with the custom and get a gift off the registry.

My next step is to find out proper gifting cultures – my husband probably won’t have the pointers I need for gift buying (and we know that I’ll be doing most of the buying!).

– I figured that people send gifts in advanced of the wedding, so I should order my gift now

-I was also invited to the bridal shower, do I bring another gift personally there?  I think so.

So it looks like my summer wedding couple’s registry is looking a bit sparse to me at the moment as all the cool items are taken.  We have to order a gift like ASAP!  

When do you start shopping for gifts off someone’s wedding registry?  

Advertisement

Pakistani/Indian Bridal Trousseau: How to Select and Order Your Bridal Dresses on Facebook

Posted on by

3

I’ve taken a hiatus from blogging, but I’m back!  Hopefully with more posts and more wedding planning excitement and tips for brides in the midst of planning.  As a reminder, if you’ve just gotten married or had a super sweet engagement session, submit your pix!  Would LOVE to see your wedding photos and share them with my awesome readers.  🙂

So, what is a Pakistani/Indian girl to do if she’s planning a wedding in the states and simply does not have the time to go overseas to pick out clothes?  It’s almost unheard of these days that a bride actually get to take the time to go shop overseas, and it may be because our community is progressively producing more and more professional young women who can’t take prolonged vacations in addition to honeymoons.  That, or, we just learned how to order dresses online.
So, how do you prepare for your bridal trousseau shopping?  You have the mehndi dress, your wedding dress, maybe your valima dress, and inevitably the outfits for future events.  It amounts to quite a bit of fancy new clothes.  Dresses by top designers like Nomi Ansari, Bunto Kazmi, Sana Safinaz and the like can help your bridal budget spiral out of control (each party dress is like $800, bridals are $3,000+), so a lot of women opt for designer replicas.  The best-kept secret in Pakistani and Indian fashion is out of the bag, ladies.

There has been a surge in Facebook groups where women sell designer replica dresses.  As a matter of fact, my bridesmaids dresses were from a woman who does business via Facebook, but I also met her personally so I felt secure dealing with her.  More on the process for another blog post!

Here is an example of a Facebook page where I found a shalwar kameez design I saw online and placed an order.  My cousin and his wife visited Karachi and she was kind enough to visit this woman and place an order for me.  The outfit came out literally exactly like the photo.  I don’t have a boyish body like this model, though, so the outfit fits differently on me, obviously.   I found a photo on this Facebook page, Azmeh Ahmed Couture.  I was SUPER happy with the end result.  Here’s a photo of me wearing my outfit at a valima brunch (left) and the original (right).

The end product (left) and the original outfit (right)

Needless to say, I can recommend Azmeh and would buy from her again in a heartbeat.  I believe I paid around $200 or $250 for this outfit.   I wear this outfit as often as I can, especially at brunches or lunches.  She has a wide variety of clothes, so I recommend you guys hop on over and take a look.  [also, no, this is not an endorsed post].

Has anyone else bought outfits via Facebook clothiers?  Do share!  I’d love to see how things worked out.  Did you have a good experience?  Have you heard any horror stories?

Timeline Ready: “LIKE” me on Facebook!

Posted on by

0

Hey All!

This is non-wedding related, but, I just wanted to let my fans know that I am now on Facebook and I would love if you would go and become a fan. I have really exciting promotions coming up that I am dying to share with you, so, go ahead and visit my page by clicking HERE and becoming a fan.

In other news, we are going to start taking submissions of weddings because after all, you come here not only for wedding planning advice but also to peruse gorgeous photos.  So, feel free to email me at thebridaldiaries@gmail.com for a chance to have your wedding/bridal shower/engagement or any other amazingness featured on the site!

XOXO,

Sidra