Mangalsutra with initials, monogram masks, lehenga with a love story: Personalised wedding trousseau is a rage this wedding season

Since Covid-19, weddings are getting less elaborate and more intimate and personal. In a way, this has given a boost to personalised wedding trousseau for brides and grooms. Whether it's a hanger with the bride's soon-to-be last name to hang her dress on, a robe with her new initials, a pendant, locket or bracelet with bride and groom's monograms, personalisation surely adds special touches to the big day."Few years back, designer Kresha Bajaj wore a fabulous love story lehenga where every panel of her D-day lehenga had embroideries narrating her love story journey and since then it has been a rage amongst the millennial brides. I recently had a bride who wanted a silk quilted sweater with her husband's name hand-embroidered in Urdu for her outdoor sangeet," says designer Aniket Satam

Brides and grooms want to incorporate memories, special events, their philosophies, loved ones, etc into their ceremonies, and what better than making them a part of their wedding trousseau. “Wedding trousseau is getting more personalised with passing time and now both brides and grooms demand to customise their outfits and jewellery to add a special message or memory. After Priyanka Chopra Jonas’ hand-embroidered wedding gown became the talk of the town for having eight significant words — ‘Family’, ‘Hope’, and ‘Compassion, among others — embossed in it, brides started getting their haldi, mehengi, sangeet, and wedding outfits customised to have something added to them, that are closest to their hearts,” says designer Sabeena Yasmin from Delhi. Nick Jonas’ purple double-breasted tuxedo also had a piece of PeeCee’s dress hand-embroidered with the Urdu words 'Meri Jaan.' Sabeena says personalised wedding trousseau is the new ‘wedding tattoo’.

Kolkata’s Sunaina Pathak, who will be tying the knot on December 25 has opted for a wedding lehenga with her wedding hashtag embroidered on it. “I want people to remember my wedding forever, so this way, each time I will wear the outfit, people are going to notice my wedding hashtag which is #NainaRe (my fiance’s name is Rehaan). Even after 60 years from now, when I become a grandmother, I know my grandchildren will look at my wedding outfit and think I was a cool bride,” adds Sunaina.
Today’s brides and grooms are showcasing their feelings and emotions through the outfits and jewellery that they were wearing on their special day. "Brides often have their father’s name embroidered on their dupattas or saris. Jewellery with the names or initials of their deceased grandparents or pets is also in vogue. However, many to-be-wed couples have each other’s name engraved, embossed, or stitched on their outfits, stoles, dupattas, pagadis and sehras,” says wedding designer Garima Goel from Kolkata, pointing out that personalised masks are a huge trend this year. Deepika Padukone’s wedding attire had a dupatta with a personalized touch, with ‘Sada Saubhagyavati Bhava’ written on the border.

The emotional value of bridal jewellery in India trumps its monetary value. "They are looked at as heritage pieces that are meant to be passed down to future generations. With customisation and personalisation, brides can reflect their personality and immortalise their memories through their jewellery that make their wedding day as special as they want it to be," says jewellery designer Vandana Jagwani.
Amongst jewellery, customisation is most prominent. "Customized Kalire are trending this season, were every trinket has some meaning and a story behind it. Mangalsutras are now having birth stones and they have transformed into bracelets or dainty chains with chic pendant variations," says Satam.