For her haldi ceremony, the bride-to-be leaned on the romanticism of flowers to complement her Anamika Khanna ensemble
Radhika Merchant's floral dupatta was made with 90 marigold flowers and countless jasmine buds. For her haldi ceremony, the bride-to-be leaned on the romanticism of flowers to complement her Anamika Khanna ensemble
Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant’s wedding celebrations will culminate this weekend. The duo tied the knot on July 12, 2024, after a string of pre-wedding celebrations spread across four months. From the star-studded guest list to rare performances, the festivities have been causing a global stir.
The bride avoided a linear approach for her trousseau and picked a variety of couturiers and silhouettes. For the haldi ceremony, Radhika Merchant retired her extravagant pieces for an understated yellow lehenga by Anamika Khanna.
The bespoke creation comprised a modest sleeveless blouse and a diaphanous skirt. Cut in rich silk, generously enhanced with floral thread work and in an easy silhouette, it's a quintessential Anamika Khanna piece. The multi-hued embroidery was emblazoned on the waist and the hem, and elevating it was a dupatta dreamed up using fresh flowers.
Where it’s common for brides to adorn themselves in floral jewellery for the pre-wedding event, of course, you can’t expect Merchant to do anything with half measure. Along with fresh floral jewellery, she went all out with a phoolon ki chadar dupatta by Floral Art by Srishti Kapur.
“For Radhika's haldi, we collaborated with stylist Rhea Kapoor and Anamika Khanna to bring her vision of a quintessential Indian bride to life. Her fresh floral tagar jaal dupatta was made using the freshest tagar kalis (jasmine buds), yellow button daisies, Thai rui flowers and genda, showcasing a seamless cascade of lace-like work. More than 90 genda flowers and countless tagar kalis went into making just the dupatta.”
“The jewellery also featured the same flowers including earrings with kaanphool, tasselled tops, a double necklace, haathphool, and kaleeras,” shares Kapur.
Several Bollywood brides have dialled up their haldi and mehendi looks with floral ornaments. Katrina Kaif, like Merchant, harnessed the ethereal beauty of jasmine buds. She wore a pair of tagar kali earrings with sahara strings. In contrast, her ring, bangles and kaleeras were made of dry flowers.
For her at-home affair, Alia Bhatt married her uncut diamond jewellery with floral pieces. She kept it pared-down with nothing but corsage-esque hand adornments, featuring a mix of Indian flowers with baby’s breath blooms.
Bipasha Basu, too, blended fine and floral pieces to accessorise her mehendi look. She opted for a dainty pearl saatlada necklace and jadau jhumkas from Jaipur Jewels. She punctuated it with a white and pink flower haathphool, matching armband, and headband to make the look her own.
Original article available on Vogue India
