Shopping for the bride especially for the wedding dress a.k.a. Muhurtha saree/lehenga is a big deal in every Indian family.It was the same with my family also.In our custom,the weddding saree is gifted by the groom's side.So our shopping was mainly for the reception outfit and other trousseau clothes.Also to purchase the sarees which should be given as wedding favours to close family members.Since ours is a small town we planned to go to Ernakulam,the metro city of Kerala.
So armed with wedding magazines,photos downloaded from various sites,our army of six headed to Ernakulam,the fashion capital of Kerala.We were joined by my cousin there who knows every good shop in the city.
Our prime choice was Seematti. My sister,cousins, everyone got their wedding trousseau from Seematti and their customer service is pretty awesome..
But first we decided to pay Jayalakshmi silks a visit as it was on our way.It was a bright morning,few days before Deepavali.So the store was crowded like anything.Just while walking in, my attention was caught by a beautiful net lehenga which was set on a mannequin. The only thing I wanted for my reception lehenga was a huge flare and this one had a pretty decent one.But my choice was rejected by the rest of our army as they didn't find it apt for a bride.I admit,it was low on the bling quotient.But it was simple and elegant and I didn't want any blingy one.Anyway to cut the long story short,I let it go :-( We caught hold of a sales person and she took us to the bridal section.Most of the outfits were pretty,but not much flare and I rejected all those.There was one Arabic lehenga which I liked,but I was not comfortable moving around in it.And lastly I liked another one which was being tried by another girl.So we waited patiently for her to finish deciding her choice.But no luck, as she finalised that same outfit which I liked.Then we decided to see some lehenga sarees as it was the happening thing then.We tried a few,all were so heavily embellished which was not my type.And lehenga sarees were not known for their flare,so my adamant mind didn't like any.So my sister started searching one for herself and since our tastes are similar she also didn't like any.And to tell the truth it was so crowded in that section and 10 minutes there,I just wanted to get out and run.It was festival and wedding season combined.So we expected it to be crowded,but not this much..The sales girl in that section was very co-operative and she tried her level best to cater our demands in spite of the huge crowd there.But since none of us liked anything so much to buy it,we politely excused ourselves and walked away.
When we crossed the wedding section,my eyes wandered towards the first lehenga and it was not there.Somebody bought it :-( I told ya,it was beautiful.
Then we went to the kids section to buy some dresses for my niece.But it was crowded there and she was getting irritated.So we decided to go to Seematti.
Jayalakshmi silks is a good store with a wide selection of outfits and brides who like heavily embellished dresses will surely like it.The sales persons were good,but since it was an exceptionally crowded day they couldn't help much.This is my personal opinion from just one visit.Others might have a different say.
My adventure of outfit hunting continued in next post.:)
