What Do *Desi* Brides Do With Their Lehengas After The Shaadi?

The big fat Indian wedding is incomplete without a beautiful lehenga, right? It’s something that the bride is very excited about…after all, it’s her day and she wants to look her best. Finding the ‘perfect lehenga’ requires loads of time and money, but don’t you wonder what Indian brides do to their lehenga after the wedding day?! Do they just hide it in their closet or do they actually revamp it and use it for other occasions? Well, we tried to find that out. This thread on Quora reveals what Indian brides do with their shaadi ka joda after they get married. Read on to find out the answer to that…

1. ‘Indian brides lovingly store their bridal lehengas instead of wearing them again.’ – To get that feeling of nostalgia years later?

Namita Zavery says… Aren’t some memories to be cherished? A bridal lehenga is for a very special occasion called wedding. Why should you wear it again and again? It can be worn on special occasions like a sibling’s wedding or a dear friend’s wedding. Indian brides have a special sentimental value attached to their wedding lehengas. Such a special piece of attire should be properly taken care of and stored to evoke memories later. That is exactly why Indian brides lovingly store their bridal lehengas instead of wearing them again.

2. ‘Some find innovative ways to reuse them…’ – We thought they just store them in their cupboards!

Sri Durga Kotte says… While most choose to treasure theirs and wear on rare occasions, some find innovative ways to reuse them in different ways.

3. ‘Some brides also get it altered by a designer to make a completely new outfit…’ – That’s a great idea!

Sumit Handa says… Bridal lehengas are really heavy stuff and would be used very rarely in a lifetime and mostly in marriage functions of friends or relatives.

Sometimes they are borrowed by close relatives as well to wear in functions that they might be attending.

Some brides also get it altered by a designer to make a completely new outfit post wedding, however that is something they would have planned with the designer pre-wedding itself.

And yes, few have started renting it as well on websites that have come up in the recent past.

4. ‘You probably wear it at a close relative’s wedding.’ – Yeah, we’ve seen newlywed brides do that!

Priya Sharma says… Nothing. After this special occasion it’s difficult to wear such bridal lehenga at some other occasion. Although if its a designer one, you probably wear it at a close relative’s wedding.

5. ‘You can use choli with another matching saree.’ – Good idea! We might try this…

Hiren Patel says… Most Indian brides do nothing and keep them for years in their cupboards because bridal lehengas are too heavy and mostly can not be used to wear in someone else’s wedding.

But you can do a lot with it…

You can use choli with another matching saree.

You can convert the lehenga to an anarkali. This means only top has to be made and added to lehenga, and you need a churidar to be stitched.

Dupatta can be used with any other salwar kameez or anarkali.

Most lehenga and dupatta has a lace border. These lace border can be added to a plain saree to make it look great.

You can read the full thread here on Quora.

So what would you do with your wedding lehenga?

GIFs: Tumblr