"A wedding dress is both intimate and personal for a woman – it must reflect this personality and style of the bride."

- Carolina Herrera

One handpicks their bridal lehenga with utmost care and after hundreds of criteria fulfillment. It is a dream for most brides to have a fairytale wedding and be decked up from head to toe as a princess. A bride-to-be searches for that one perfect lehenga of her dreams. But how does one make it personalized and unique for themselves?  

A customized embroidered bridal dupatta is a great way of making sure you have a unique bridal lehenga that cannot be replicated. Getting a personal and private message on your chunri makes the whole look extra special and personal. Mumbai-based designer Nachiket gives it a thumbs up and adds that this personal touch is the reason why the trend is a hit. 

Incorporating a special message from a parent or sibling

It truly saddens a bride’s heart knowing the fact that a parent or sibling will not be there to join in the biggest celebration of her life. Let’s take a look at Gurugram-based Suvanya’s wedding veil. The newly-wedded bride had her bridal lehenga veil customized through fashion designer Sunaina Khera. Suvanya lost her father, an ex-army officer, to cancer last May. Wanting to have his presence at her wedding, she had an excerpt ‘from my heart to yours' from a letter he wrote stitched on her bridal chunri. 

Write an embroidered message in your native language

This is a great way of paying homage to your native culture. By getting a short and sweet message written in your native language, one can make their bridal lehenga extra memorable. A great example of this trend is Indian actress Patralekha Paul’s wedding veil. 

Written in her native language- Bangla, the customized message read “Amar poran bhora bhalobasha ami tomae shomorpon korilam'' and translated into “I hand over my heart full of love to you”.

Get quirky with your would-be's name

A trend that started a few years ago and still can be seen is getting your future better half’s name on your wedding veil. One of the most stunning lehenga veils in this trend was worn by Gurleen Mokha. The peach-Punjabi Anand Karaj lehenga was designed by the bride herself and had the couple’s name embroidered in Gurmukhi.

Speaking about this trend, designer Arpita Mehta shares how the tradition of the husband’s name in mehendi has transitioned to having their name incorporated in the bridal veil.  

Another take on this trend is the ‘Bardinath ki dulhania’ style. Television actress Dipika Kumar was given a red chunri with the “Shoahib ki Dulhania” stitched on its borders. Although not a bridal dupatta, it is a great inspiration for your bridal dupatta. 

Muslim brides can adorn a bridal dupatta with their husband’s name on it. A customized dupatta, the chunri has “Furkaan ki dulhan” stitched on it. 

Wear your and your partner’s names or love story to the mandap

Whether it be a love marriage or an arranged one, a love story is there in the making. So, what is better to tell your big day guests about your blooming love than to have it etched on your bridal chunri. Get all your monumental and special dates and moments stitched to wear on your wedding day. 

Sanskrit mantras never go wrong

One embroidery idea which can never go wrong is getting Sanskrit mantras on your bridal dupatta. A trend started with the bridal lehenga of Indian actress Deepika Padukone; one can choose from a large number of Sanskrit mantras the one they want to wear. The Piku star wore a red Sabyasachi lehenga with the mantra “Sada Saubhagyavati Bhava” on her dupatta border. Translating to may you always be lucky as a married woman, this trend has been an inspiration for many. 

Delhi-based designer Aamir Rajput talks about this trend “After Deepika’s wedding, clients want similar dupattas. We embroider shlokas as per their request. Couples are also asking for mantras such as Gayatri Mantra, Ayushman Bhava, and Sri Ganeshaya Namah on their outfits.”

Another variation we saw recently was worn by actress Mouni Roy at her Malayali- Bengali wedding with Dubai-based entrepreneur Suraj Nambiar. The Gold actress had 'Ayushman Bhava' written on her dupatta border, translating to healthy long life and luck.