A big fat Indian wedding isn’t complete without an extravagant lehenga. Isn’t that why every bride-to-be spends hours and hours and of course, loads of money to get that ‘perfect lehenga’ for the wedding day? Sadly, most of these gorgeous lehengas are trapped in a suitcase once the big day is over. It’s time we changed these old habits, ladies. Here are 10 awesome ways to reuse your bridal lehenga after the big day!
1. Reuse the blouse
Image: Esha Gupta on Instagram
The bridal lehenga along with the blouse can be a little too heavy to be worn for other traditional functions. A good way to reuse the lehenga would be to wear the blouse with a simple skirt, a plain ghaghra or a saree to make it a lot more wearable.
2. Flaunt that dupatta
Image: Dia Mirza on Instagram
Dupattas have the power to brighten up any dull outfit. So why not get a suit stitched that matches your dupatta? Or just pair it with salwar suits you already have in your closet! Go crazy mixing and matching that heavy dupatta with kurtis and suits. It’s no rule that you have to wear your lehenga as a set every time.
3. Take the anarkali route!
Image: Ami Patel on Instagram
No matter how heavily embellished an anarkali suit is, it’ll always look less bridal than a lehenga. And needless to say, anarkalis are here to stay. So why not get your lehenga altered into a gorgeous anarkali suit? You can do so by getting your choli and lehenga stitched together.
4. Modernise the blouse
Image: Jacqueline Fernandez on Instagram
Because trends keep changing and your wedding day blouse may seem a little old-fashioned a few years from now. You can add a modern twist to your bridal blouse by altering it to a design of your choice. Cold shoulders and off-shoulders are a hot trend this season and will surely make for some really trendy blouses!
5. Transform it into a kurta
Image: Kriti Sanon on Instagram
If you’re okay with the tailor running scissors over your bridal lehenga, you can ask him to cut it into a beautiful kurta for you. A heavily embellished kurta will surely occupy a special space in your closet! You can wear it with palazzos, Pakistani pants or even ethnic maxi skirts.
6. Chop-chop!
Image: Ami Patel on Instagram
We know this may sound a little absurd to you, because it’s your wedding attire after all, but you can totally cut out the beautiful handwork and motifs and use it on suits, dupattas or anything you like!
7. Use the dupatta as a saree
Image: Shilpa Shetty on Instagram
Bridal dupattas are usually very heavy and it’s rather unfair to wear them only once. If you have a long trailing dupatta you can drape it over a simple skirt and style is as a saree. If your dupatta isn’t as long, you can still use it as a pallu over a plain skirt and style it like a lehenga saree!
8. Styling is key!
Image: Aditi Rao Hydari on Instagram
If you just don’t want to run scissors over your lehenga, you can always style it differently every time you wear it. You can wear a jacket over the lehenga or add a cape and ditch the dupatta to make it a more trendy and wearable outfit.
9. Make home accessories
Image: Shutterstock
This may sound a little weird to you, but won’t it be great to have a house full of photo frames, cushion covers or accessories that will forever remind you of the lehenga you wore on your big day? We think a photo frame made up of your lehenga is perfect to hold your wedding photographs!
10. Leave it as it is…
Image: Bipasha Basu on Instagram
Because there’s nothing wrong with wrapping your lehenga up in a suitcase and wearing it occasionally! We understand that your bridal lehenga has a lot of sentiments attached to it and cutting it up is something not everyone would like to do.
