Every bride wants to look her gorgeous best, not just on her wedding day, but on all the days leading up to it too! But what makes her look that stunning? The right outfits, right makeup? Well, we have the answer. It is a mix of the perfect outfit, jewellery, makeup and of course, that gorgeous bridal glow.
So, we at POPxo, in collaboration with ace designer, master of wedding couture – Anita Dongre, gave three lucky brides-to-be a chance to win a dream bridal photoshoot. Three pretty brides decked up in beautiful lehengas and jewellery from the house of Anita Dongre and were prettied up by MUA Paveena Rathour and hair by Himanshu Rathour. Award-winning wedding photographer Ramit Batra captured the brides-to-be in all their finery at Anita Dongre’s sprawling Mehrauli showroom.
For all the pictures from the shoot, head here.
Meet the brides!
The elegant one…
Our first bride-to-be is a total stunner – Sakshi Budhraja. One from our own pack, she’s a Junior Beauty Editor with POPxo and she’s getting married in August this year. We hear her gushing about her Bali wedding every day at work and we must tell you, this gorgeousness is super duper excited about it. Sakshi walked into the shoot in a casual white dress and soon transformed into a royal Indian bride. After trying out an outfit in a deep purple hue, she finally settled for a rani pink gota patti lehenga. Ask Sakshi about the most beautiful moment of her relationship and she’s quick to point it out to the day she and Mayank had their roka. “I truly believe in the power of our Indian ceremonies and they do, in some way, make your bond stronger and everlasting,” she shared.
Jab they met
“Ours was a quintessential arranged marriage set up. We met through our parents. But it didn’t go the cliche way. Our parents left us to each other, they wanted us to spend a lot of time together. There was no rush. It wasn’t like we met two times and were asked to make a decision. We actually met for a year, spent as much time together as we could and realised that this was something that could turn into something bigger. And the rest, as they say, is history!”
Sakshi was styled in a heavily embroidered rani pink lehenga. Made with organza fabric, this vibrant pink lehenga choli is exquisitely embroidered with gota patti, dori, pearl and zardosi handwork and is a beautiful example of handcrafted brilliance. Rajputana style earrings and an antique finish gold plated collar necklace with exquisite gold scallops interspersed with dazzling stones made her look like a princess. Adding to the charm was a dual chained nath and a simple haathphool. Her makeup was kept minimal and damn, she looked every bit the royal Anita Dongre bride.
Want Sakshi’s look? You can buy a similar lehenga by Anita Dongre online for Rs 1.99L. The scallop choker is available for Rs 25,000.
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The vivacious one…
Next up was our very chirpy and super excited bride, Rukman Dhawan. Working as an HR professional with an MNC, Rukman’s infectious energy and positive attitude was just what we all needed on the day of the shoot. A natural poser, Rukman wrapped up the shoot like a pro! The bride-to-be actively supports animal causes and recently even adopted an Indie stray dog, Daisy. Her friends describe her as an extremely hardworking and driven person and by the end of the shoot, we were convinced that this bride comes packed with lots of goodness and an amazing sense of humour too. Here’s what Rukman told us about her bae and her wedding prep:
“We met at a friend’s engagement and we just danced together that night. So, we literally met on the dance floor! And hey, look at us now!!”
The part about where her fiance proposed to her was even cuter:
“We’ve known each other for almost four years and dated for two and half years. We’ve been together for a very long time, so we know each other well. Shiv knows how much my family matters to me and so he decided to pop the question at my house, with all my loved ones around. He knew I would want to share the good news with my mains first thing after I said yes.”
About her equation with his family and vice versa, she said:
“His mom and I get along very well. Even my parents are very happy. For parents, I believe no guy is ever good enough for their daughter, but he has grown on them with how amazing he is! I’m eagerly waiting to spend my life with him.”
Rukman is getting married in February 2019 and is very excited about her wedding shopping and trousseau. For the shoot, we styled her in a beautiful sea blue and pink lehenga, very similar to the one Sagarika Ghatge wore at her mehendi. Crafted in silk and exquisitely embroidered with gota patti, dori, pearl, sequin and zardosi work, this lehenga is a stunner in every sense of the word. Her look was accessorized with a statement pearl and gold-plated necklace set in silver, and natural dewy makeup.
Get Rukman’s look with this lehenga available at Carma Online for Rs 4.78L. You can even buy a very a similar neckpiece worth Rs 10,800, available on Anita Dongre online.
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The shy bride…
And ending with our cutest bride – Prerna Chawla. Prerna works at PwC and is all set for a winter wedding in February 2019. An old soul at heart, she strongly believes in destiny and trusts that destiny has its own way of surprising you. In her own words, she’s obsessed with the idea of love! While she always wanted to opt for an arranged marriage, life had different plans. Anish and Prerna’s love story is proof that opposites do attract!
“I met him right after I passed out from school, in the first year of college. We met through our mutual friends and we knew from our first meeting that we are complete opposites. I’m an introvert and he’s extremely outgoing! But we just clicked and we knew this was it!”
Well, her love story is just as sweet and simple as she is! And her look for the shoot completely resonated with her personality. Prerna wore a bright sunny yellow lehenga skillfully crafted with care, adorned with gota patti, zardozi, dori and pearl work. We accessorized with just a chunky gold-plated crystal neckpiece, an oversized ring and a plain gold bangle completed her look.
To get this look for your big day, pick another one of Anita’s creations in a similar colour available at Carma Online Shop for Rs 2.47L. The same neckpiece is available for Rs 24,000 on Anita Dongre’s website.
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But that’s not it. We got dholwallahs into the scene and it was a riot of colours, dhols and absolute madness. Such bride’chillas’, you guys!
And that’s it from our first ever real bride photoshoot. We had so much fun doing this and so did our brides!
A special mention to Anita Dongre who can magically bring fabrics to life, with her vibrant colour combinations, intricate designs and a vision that nobody can match. Her new collection, Songs of Summer is all about subtle colours and flowy fabrics, keeping summer weddings in mind. You can shop the collection here.
A huge shoutout to Paveena Rathour, our amazing MUA who worked wonders by giving our three brides their beautiful bridal makeovers. You can follow Paveena on Instagram to check out more of her work. And finally, all that overdose of beauty was captured to perfection by award-winning photographer, Ramit Batra. After studying engineering, Ramit decided not to fall into the trap of a 9-6 job and pursued his passion instead. For more, check out his website.
Stay tuned for the next edition, coming super soon!
PS: We’d love to hear your comments!
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