One of my all time favourite Bollywood songs is aptly named for today's post: Mehndi Hai Rachenwali from the all time classic Hindi movie Zubeidaa, when I find myself daydreaming of my future wedding and my Mehndi Ceremony it often plays out like a scene from some sort of Bollywood movie, you know how it goes ladies and this iconic mehndi song plays as the backing track to my seriously over active imagination! Now don't you girls leave me hanging, I KNOW I'm not alone here (okay if I am, lie and make me feel better!) But back to today actual post! Your Mehndi Ceremony is hands down one of the biggest milestones in your wedding journey, to me it marks the moment when you start pieces together the parts for you transformation into a stunning bride for your Big Day!
For your Mehndi there are number of really important decisions that need to be made for your mendhi, and were not just talking clothes here were talking mehndi designs and most importantly how much is the right amount to wear? Honestly there's no right or wrong answer, its however much you feel comfortable and happy wearing!
A lot of brides I've spoken to and helped in deciding, get a little stuck because they either love mehndi or really dislike it, and if you dislike it then its gets a little hard because then your asking yourself, well how much do I have to wear to still look 'bridal '? To those brides try:
Wrist to Forearm Length
- Limit the amount to either a full hand or forearm back and front is a nice compromise if your not keen on Mehndi.
- When my cousin was getting married she had the same dilemma, she didn't like Mehndi because of how it looked when it started to fade, when it goes from that rich brown to that light orange colour, and so we started searching various designs and spoke to her mehndi artist and we settled on a fairly simple design that covered all the inside of her hands and just passed her wrists, and on the topside of her hands she had a a fancy line design, I wasn't sure at first it was enough but once it dried and hours upon hours worth of nimbu had been applied it looked elegant in the simplest of ways...
If however your pro-mehndi the hard choice is nailing down a length that you love, you've choice upon choice here, personally I think go all out, its your wedding for crying out loud! I've always said there's maybe only a one or two chances in your life to get away with wearing mehndi upto or past your elbows without looking OTT! But if you still can't decide for sure maybe consider these factors:
Blouse Arm Length
- If your blouse has half sleeves (so longer than a cap sleeve and shorter than 3/4 length) your going to want to choose a length of mehndi that stops below the elbow, that way your mehndi isn't competing with your blouse!
- If your blouse is has cap sleeves then consider going all out and have your mendhi go above your elbow! Persoanlly I'm torn, the only dislike I have for mehndi above the elbow is that it can sometimes look a little streched and clumsy, but having said that I have a friend who recently got married and she decided to go all the way above the elbow and it looked so traditional and the design was so delicate it showed such artistry.
Accessories
- Accessories, if your think of wearing a Baju Bandh (armlet) then you don't want your jewellery to get lost in the mehndi so I would definitely say go below the elbow
Design wise it unto you whether you prefer a Khulli design or Dense pattern, both look beautiful and give very distinguished looks. If your a bit confused let me explain:
Khulli Design
- This means that the pattern you choose or the artist creates will have alot of spacing in between the design so there will be peeks of you skin through the mehndi. This can look great with really delicate work. If your going for a long length of mehndi so elbow or above length but your worried about it looking too much go for a khulli design its a great compromise to get the length and design
Dense Design
- Basically the opposite of a Khulli design, the work you choose will be close together and will literally cover your arm, if you choose this type of design it leaves a really regal look, its a masterpiece that takes hours to create, and again with fine design work looks magnificent (as you can tell I'm really a fan of fine work!)
