Renting a Wedding Sari

Recently I met up with a former bride (now friend) to catch up after her wedding. She brought along her wedding album and I was able to see pictures of all the festivities of her East Indian wedding. I have always (secretly) loved saris and of course I noticed hers and complemented on all of them. She thanked me and made one comment that was very unlike her. She said "they were VERY expensive." I totally got it. They were expensive. Most of my bride's saris were around $75-$100. Just the fabric alone on hers were over $250. Because of the cost, she paid for all five of her bridesmaid's saris too. Wowzers.

When I first met my friend, she told me her wedding is a three day celebration. I immediately thought, you are essentially planning three weddings. A typical wedding costs on average $30,000. She is multiplying that by three and she is anything but average.

After some research, I learned there are three companies based out of the States that offer a service of renting out saris. These companies are: Luxemi, Borrow It Bindaas, and Devi’s Closet. While wearing something "new" is important to some East Indian families, this might be a good option for your bridesmaids. If you are a less traditional bride and just want a beautiful sari at a good price, the rental market might be right for you!

What do you think? Would you consider renting your sari or that an absolute NO?

~Monica Hui
Owner, Lead Planner and Designer
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Photo Credit: Jaylena Photography

Pinebrook Golf Course Wedding

Shainoor and Abid had their ceremony at the Calgary South Ismali Centre Wedding Ceremony and their reception at the Pinebrook Golf Course back in June of this year. Abid was working in Vancouver during most of the wedding planning process. I met up with Shainoor mostly and we had gotten quite close. During one meeting, we started talking about our childhood BFs and ex-BFs rather than the wedding. Getting off topic happens.

During our initial design meeting, Shainoor would always say one thing after almost every sentence: "no pressure ok?" My reaction: "Uhhh...lots of freakin' pressure NOW!" (Of course, I kept this thought to myself and didn't vocalize it.)

Shainoor said décor was very important to her, even more important than food, except after her gowns. She initially wanted a totally white wedding and then decided that was crazy talk and she wanted a lot of color. She wanted a dreamy and classy wedding. She also wanted to be center stage. She wanted a romantic canopy for her sweet heart table. She wanted lots of flowers. No pressure.

Pressure or not, (mostly the former) we pulled off the design she wanted. Here are the pictures of her and Abid's wedding reception. (Judging from the pictures, can you imagine my pressure levels?)

~Monica
Owner and Lead Designer @Wishahmon