My Sustainable Indian Wedding
20.02.2020. I was most excited about picking that date out for my wedding. The zing that it has!
Karn and I wanted a no-fuss wedding with no over-the-top ceremonies. We wanted to have a small, sustainable wedding with one Reception Party that our parents thought absolutely necessary.
We decided to get married in Ranchi, India, the city we both hail from.
Our wedding was before the novel virus had made its waves all over like it did. Everyone around us was trying to adjust to the idea of having a really small Indian wedding. (Which post Covid19 seems to have become a norm). I must say we dealt with a lot of disappointed faces for cutting out ceremonies like haldi, mehendi, sangeet etc.
So the itinerary was such:
20.02.2020 – Wedding
We had a wedding ceremony at my parent’s house under my favorite tree with both our immediate families as attendees. In the evening we had a few friends and relatives come over to Karn’s for drinks. (I’ll be writing a piece on my upcycled wedding outfit from this day shortly)
21.02.2020 – Meet and Greet
We had most outstation guests (very close family and friends) come in on this day to attend the Reception Party on 22.02.2020. We’d organized a dinner party for these guests and immediate family at my house with some live music for the meet and greet.
22.02.2020 – Reception Party
There was lunch with outstation guests at their hotel. Some more people arrived the same day just for the evening reception party. Our reception was at night at Karn’s grandmother’s house with approximately 700 guests. (After great efforts from both sides to cross out almost half their guest lists, we finally arrived at this number.)
The post I share is from the dinner at my house on 21.02.2020. And almost only talks about my outfit. If anyone wants any tips and tricks, pros and cons of a small, sustainable wedding I’m here to help. Anyone facing a dilemma can please reach out to me directly!
Sustainable Wedding – Outfit Search!
So, coming to the most important thing every girl looks forward to – the wedding clothes shopping!!
For years now I’ve been seeing the same Indian bride looks – over-the-top lehenga sets with hardly any variation in silhouette. I do think some of them are gorgeous but that is just not my vibe.
I like things that are unique, personal, comfortable and sustainable. So every outfit I bought or upcycled for my wedding was keeping in mind all four things. Moreover, I could use each piece multiple times in multiple ways.
I was not going to buy things that would lie around. And maybe use them twice and sit with the hope or delusional story of passing it on to a daughter or niece. That was one major decision I had made before calling it a sustainable wedding.
I also knew I was moving to London and that extremely traditional Indian outfits may not get multiple wears.
An Upcycler’s Hunt
I have the heart of an Upcycler. So I wanted to find my mother’s or grandmother’s old outfits to upcycle – personalize and customize them.
One day my eyes fell upon a mustard-gold saree lying folded in one of my mother’s cupboards. She had commissioned a lady in Bihar to embroider Madhubani Art on it. I had not seen her wear this saree and took my chances with this one.
So I asked my mother, “Why haven’t I seen you wear this?”
She replied, “I had asked for the embroidery to be done on a gold saree. I had an antique, dull gold in mind. But I received a shiny mustard instead with all this handwork. I don’t like the colour and don’t know what to do with it.”
I’ll tell you what, had you seen just the saree as is, you’d have agreed. Just yards of that colour draped around wasn’t the most aesthetically pleasing garment but my brain had done one somersault.
I had wanted a Madhubani Art outfit forever! Although traditionally Madhubani art is depicted through paintings, I was ready to make this exception as I’m also a big fan of any hand embroidery. Also, for the sake of transforming a not-so-loved piece into one I could fall in love with, I wanted this saree.
I pestered my mother to let me have this hand embroidered tussar silk saree – the only Madhubani art saree she agreed to part with.
And with this piece, I decided to explore a very local art form from the Bihar, Jharkhand region – the place where I grew up. What was more exciting to me was that this embroidery was done on tussar silk which is also a local silk produced in this region.
Upcycling a saree for my Wedding Dinner
I decided that this outfit could work perfectly for any occasion other than the Reception party – which was to be a little more formal..! Since the dinner party was for close family and friends who were first hand explained my idea of a small, sustainable wedding, it was best to flaunt this piece then.
So I got hold of this “heritage” piece as I’d call it and married it to modern aesthetics with the help of my best friend and designer Tanya Dhawan.
Tanya (and her label Tayna) is based in Vizag, India and has some of the most comfortable and fluid pieces you’ll come across. The label creates womenswear and her sweet spot is extremely chic, comfortable and classy fusion wear. She has her seasonal and patent collection, and a variety of fabrics and also the option of hand embroidery for those who may want to customize pieces.
Tanya was my go to person for all my wedding needs. She helped me with not just this, but multiple outfits for multiple people at the wedding, which I’ll save for a later day.
So my best friend helped me create the vision I had for this one. We instantly agreed on all details for it, especially the choice of a striking red skirt as a contrast to the mustard yellow.
Colour Selection for the Skirt 
The Original Saree 
Who Made My Clothes? 🙂
Working on the Silhouette
We wanted the embroidery to be the star of the outfit and wanted to use as much of the saree as possible.
So we went for a long cape that was to flow around with ease. We made the back of a cape with the larger pallu (that’s the embroidered end of the saree). And we left the cape sleeves lose and flowing and didn’t stitch the the sides either, leaving it open.
Next came the blouse. And we used the blouse of the saree as is. Traditionally sarees come with blouse pieces to match the saree. This particular one was embroidered for a deep u-neck, sleeveless blouse already.
We paired the cape and blouse from the saree with Label Tayna’s statement drape skirt in red. It is a pleated, asymmetrical wraparound style that flows beautifully! It can be worn as semi-formal western wear as well accentuate Indian style.
The Final Upcycled Outfit
This outfit was my personal favourite! It was so easy and comfortable and I thought, looked so so good!
It was local, unique and as personal as it could be! I felt rooted and very proud as I walked around wearing it at the party.
Each piece of this outfit can be worn separately in multiple ways! I can wear the cape with solid blacks, browns or whites inside. The blouse can be worn with a saree or as a crop top. And the skirt, I can just as well wear it with a polo neck as I can with a belt or even as a tube dress!
This outfit in itself is comfortable, light, yet dressy and very me!
I tried my own hand at make up but not quite as successfully. So my lovely Sahithya Shetty bounced in and did her “fixing”. Really I don’t know what she did but in 15 minutes, she did my eyes like I never still can! She is another creative genius! (I didn’t do justice to her here, but her actual, fantastic work was my Reception party make-up.)
The jewellery, I decided, needed to be traditional and simple too. The piece I wore is something my mother bought at least two decades ago. It’s gold with some brown beads and has a choker, earrings and a matching cuff bracelet.
I carried a Bottega Veneta sling for my lipstick and keys and wore these Marks and Spencer heals I bought in 2014 I think.
I really wanted to make a point at my wedding – social expectations or pressure was not more important. My personal choice was simpler and more suited to the ecology. Although there was resistance to start with, people actually understood and admired the idea of fewer functions, fewer invitees, no physical invites etc eventually! My sustainable wedding did open the possibility of less is enough if nothing else. (I hope!)
A little about Madhubani Art
Madhubani painting (Mithila painting) was traditionally created and passed on from generation to generation by the women of various communities in the Mithila region of Bihar. It is one of the rarest folk art forms of the world which has been evolved by women, preserved by women and still practiced by women.
They mostly depicted people and their association with nature and scenes and deities from the ancient epics. It was done with a variety of tools, including fingers, twigs, brushes, nib-pens, and matchsticks and using natural dyes and pigments. The paintings were made on freshly plastered mud walls and floors of huts, but now they are also done on cloth, handmade paper and canvas. They have moreover diversified into embroideries and other products to keep alive the art form.
Until recently, the richness and variety of the folk art and craft of north Bihar was little known. There was an assumption that no factories of craftsmen were set up here by the Moghuls because of the unwillingness of their armies to settle in this wild undeveloped area.
Ironically, Mithila or Tirhut was historically one of the important seats of administration of the Mauryan and Gupta empires. Besides being the birthplace of Sita and the capital-seat of the Janakas, it was the most important centre of Brahmanical, Jain and Buddhist cultural activities. Thus many factors have enriched the imagination of people in this area that has helped build traditions of craftsmanship and awareness of aesthetic value. Even though these may be fashioned out of the wild monsoon grass, simple red clay or pieces of gaily coloured materials.
|Source: Madhubani Painting by Upendra Thakur|
