My Mehndi!

This  is the story of mine and SMs’ mehndi, told through the photographs of Mir Anwar – enjoy!

It all begins…with a barn:

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To which SM rode into on a horse (naturally) to Jay Z and Punjabi MC (naturally, lol) accompanied by his yellow posse (that’s not even half of them!):

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“Kiss the horse!!!” = mandatory after dismount!

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And so, SM and the baraat (boys side) enter the barn! See the balcony? I was peeking from up top watching the whole thing, waiting to make my entrance!

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Once inside, I think everyone was just taking in the the magical work of Amna Rather, of Lemon Truffle Designs:

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As you can see, Amna completely brought my “Bollywood Barn” vision to life! The warmth of the wood with the rich colours were exactly what I had in mind when I thought barn mehndi. It was beyond beautiful! After the boys side entered, everyone was waiting for me! Yay! :

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And so my girls brought me downstairs to the classic Punjabi song ‘Mehndi ni Mehndi‘:

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Under the colourful dupatta I got from Liberty Market in Lahore (Peekaboo!):

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OK OK, here I am! My sister and cousins bringing me up to SM on the stage:

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“Hi!! I  know you!” 🙂 I’m so glad I decided to do my makeup myself, btw (link to the post about my mehndi makeup!) I felt like if I had my makeup professionally done, it would look like it, even if I told them to keep it very light, so I knew I wanted to just have the control and do it myself. (Traditionally girls wore no makeup on the mehndi so that you really stood out on your wedding day) Because I kept my makeup so minimal, I felt fresh and light and comfortable in my skin, and on the shaadi, I reallllly felt like a dulhan!

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We then took in the awesomeness around us – the dolki sess, paan table, and our mommas doing the rasms (traditions):

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Here are 6 out of 8 of my non-desi bridesmaids who I dressed up with saris from Gerrard Street and $1.50 Forever 21 tank tops which an auntie made crop tops (money saving tip: be creative, girls!!!, and how awesome do they look, btw?!) and all my boys from uni, whom I brought back purple kurtas and yellow dupattas for from Lahore! I got my own outfit in Liberty, I just saw it on a mannequin and instantly fell in love with the ‘gota’ work and the little mirror accents, the jamawar skirt and the colours. In fact that’s how I knew this was the one – I knew that SMs kurta was that turquoise colour and when I saw that the skirt was the same it was perfect! I then chose to make the dupatta hot pink and the shirt yellow because those were our 3 colours. It was definitely a success story in terms of shopping in Pakistan, oh and did I mention this whole outfit was $270?!?

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My friends then proceeded to kill it on the dance floor (check out the aunties expression when my purple boys are at it!):

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SM and I were clearly having a blast watching this:

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These are his boys – I had also arranged for their yellow kurtas from Lahore!

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After these and lots of other amazing performances by our super-awesome family and friends, we make our dance debut….to Dili Wali Girlfriend! 😀

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After which, this happens:

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And this:

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And then this 😀

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I wanted to do the joota chupai on the mehndi (I felt like the “mohal”, vibe, is better suited!) And so my sister in green took over:

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At one point, I proceeded to show SM where his name was written in my hand (I didn’t know he was supposed to find it, lol!)

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And then we paid our respects to HOV!:

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And danced the night away! The end 🙂

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So there you are! Some choice pics of what was by far my favorite part of our wedding!

-Safa

66 thoughts on “My Mehndi!”

  1. Omg I love your outfit! Where did you get it? Looks gorgeous! Im getting married this summer, and I was looking for inspiration. Love your blog! xo

    Reply

  2. Loved reading through your wedding journey…truly entertaining, beautiful and classy. I also felt it calming as I help my sister through her wedding plans for May 2014

    Reply

  3. Awesome! loved it! Barn mehndi was a brilliant idea and the decor was perfect.
    What henna did u use?? such a beautiful colour

    Reply

  4. Hi,
    This is beautiful. I am working on creating an inspiration board, Can I use your pictures for inspiration around Mehendi. Beautifully done must say. I am in love with the colors.
    Let me know, looking forward to a positive reply.

    Reply

  7. You looked so beautiful in your mehndi! I loved your idea about doing the mehndi in a barn! After reading this blog, now I’m thinking about doing my mehndi in a barn! I’m only 18 and I’ll probably get married around 25 haha. You’re an inspiring person! 🙂

    Reply

    1. Hi Anupoma! Aw that’s so sweet, thanks! I’m sure that whenever your wedding time comes it’ll be beautiful, til then study hard and find your career!:)

      Reply

  8. This looks so amazing! I have always wanted to do my mehndi in a barn as well so this is great!
    I’m from Milton too any idea how much the rental for Gambrel was and was it easy to get them to allow our own caterers?
    Thank you 🙂

    Reply

    1. Hi Amara! Thanks so much! Ya the barn was the best part of it all 🙂 im pretty sure the rental fee was $1850 for the Gambrel which we split both ways, and outside catering was tough to get but SM is a charmer so it worked out!

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      1. Hi Safa! I’m planning on doing an event at Gambrel, most probably a mehndi. They’ve said no to outside catering, any suggestions as to how to persuade them to allow outside/halal catering?

      2. The rental cost for this barn is now $7000. I am planning to do my mehndi here but its coming back to same thing if it is worth it or not.

  9. Hi Safa!
    I’m wondering how you got the Gambrel barn without their catering. I am planning a mehndi event without their inhouse caterer but with an outside halal catering- and I’ve had one phone conversation with them and they’ve said no outside catering. Any suggestions?

    Reply

    1. Hi Mary, sorry I don’t have a more helpful answer –it was SM who negotiated with the Gambrel folks to let us bring our own halal caterers! They could have tightened their policies since? Good luck!

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    1. Hey!!! I got all of the guys kurtas in Lahore yes and all readymade! Cant remember the store name but I got an amazing deal cause they were 60%off so ended up being lan equivalent of $10 each, I think I paid 1000 rps each or 1200 rps cant recall!

      Reply

  11. Hi Safa,

    Where did you buy the bridesmaid’s dress (saris from Gerrard Street)? Is it also from Lahore? And amazing Mehendi ceremony. I love how you color coordinated all the guest’s dress color and the stage decor

    Reply

  13. super awesome MashaAllah. i love the idea of a barn wedding. and offcourse the entire colourful event..am sure joota chhupai would have turned out to be real fun on mehndi,,,as this idea is so not the norm…good.

    Reply

  14. Hi Safa, I stumbled on your blog researching Gambrel barn where I am also planning a Mehndi/Reception next year. We are going to try and negotiate outside halal caterers, but I’m wondering if you could tell me which caterers you actually used? It might help our case to reference another event with an outside caterer that is already familiar with the space and its restrictions. How was your experience with the outside catering coming to Gambrel? Was is it a lot of fuss for your caterer able to use any of the facilities? I have a lot of questions 🙂

    Any help would be appreciated! Thank you 😀

    Reply

  15. Hey Safa, I was wondering if you are going to do a post on photographers and videographers and how to select one, price points, etc. I am planning my wedding now, and I may have under-budgeted this part of the wedding lol! Looking forward to your advice! 🙂

    Reply

  16. Well it is just awesome to remain a part of Wedding journey that till remains in Mehndi and I’m moving ahead but before I couldn’t stop myself to comment to say how much I loved these whole celebrations and it would must be a crazy ride for you both .
    🙂
    Wish you a Happy life Ahead 😉

    Reply

  17. Hi,
    I just stumbled upon your blog via Pinterest and can I tell you how helpful it’s been?? I feel like I’m just running around looking for things, but not finding anything at all! Your references have been amazingly helpful. May I ask where you got the flower jewelry (tika, earrings) from?

    Reply

  18. Hi,
    Your blog has been so helpful in my own wedding journey.I feel like I’m constantly running around researching or looking for things, but not actually finding anything. May I ask where you got the flower jewelry (tika, earrings) from? Thank you!

    Reply

  19. Wait I’m sort of confused
    You got your mehendi done at your mayoun? then why is this event called a mehendi?

    Reply

    1. Hi Shreshta…I can see how that’s confusing…so back in the day the mehndi used to be when they applied mehndi on the girl, but these you usually have the mehndi already applied on the day of, but the tradition of the name still stuck. I had my mehndi applied the night before my actual mehndi event…they say it’s darkest two days after so I timed it so that it would be darkest for the shaadi!

      Reply

  20. Hey,
    Loving your blog! Has been very helpful for me in terms of planning my own wedding! You look beautiful m’A! Loved your colour palette! May I know where you got the flowers and flower jewelry from? I am having trouble finding someone for these tasks right now and my wedding day is coming up soon! Thank you!

    Reply

  21. It’s so beautiful! The whole three days.

    I’ve always dreamt about mine, my S.O is fairly new to Pakistani weddings and this was just the perfect example I was looking for!

    Wish you guys the best of luck, thanks for sharing 😀

    Reply

  22. Hi Guys, first of all congratulations to both of you.
    I have seen the photos of your mehndi and it’s amazing. I love the attire of Bride and as well as green kurta of Groom. The photos are really amazing

    Reply

  24. hey safa
    you did an amazing job for this event !! who did you hire for your catering. I am stuck between a tent wedding at a farm vs this barn but i need to find some halal caterers who can bring their own staff/dinner plantes and etc for both those options. I would really appreciate any help !! .

    Reply

  25. HI safa
    this looks like a lovely event !!
    I just went to go check out this barn for my reception. Ive to decide between this barn or a tent wedding at a farm. but for both options i need a halal caterer to bring their own staff and dinner plates and etc. Who did you hire to do this ?
    any help with be appreciated.

    Regards,
    Zara

    Reply

  26. I am a soon to be bride and I feel very overwhelmed with the anout of stuff that needs to be done. Could you make a wedding checklist/planner type thing or tell us how you kept everything organized! Love your blog

    Reply

  27. Hey Safa!
    I have been following your blog for almost a year, its so light hearted and full of life and love!
    I am getting married in the near future and needed some help with outfits. My mom is going to Pakistan to shop , where did you buy your Mehndi outfit and in which city?

    Thanks!
    Aisha

    Reply

      1. Thanks Safa! Which store did you buy it from in Liberty? My mom is traveling to Lahore so maybe she can find some good inspiration there 🙂

  33. I absolutely LOVE what you did with gambrel barn – actually having my wedding there just so I can also do the fusion Indian and western theme barn wedding.

    the colour scheme is amazing and actually what I am considering for my wedding (im just having one day!)

    Reply

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