Anniversary Weekend Outfits

On Saturday night my husband and I went out to a nice dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse.  The food was amazing and the service was great except the waiter forgot it was our anniversary sometime during the meal.  When he brings out the dessert, my husband's plate says "Happy Birthday!" complete with a little candle for him to blowout .  We both start giggling and remind the waiter its our anniversary.  He looked so embarrassed and apologized repeatedly.  We promised to come back again in two weeks to celebrate my husband's actual birthday.  He said we should request him and he'll bring us both complimentary "Happy Anniversary" desserts!

So for the anniversary/birthday dinner I wore the my Flower Stand dress for the first time.  I've been in love with this dress since I saw it in the store a several weeks back.  I checked the website repeatedly to see if I was on sale and saw it drop from $228  to around $160 which was still not in my price range.  On my last visit to Anthropologie I was able to snatch one up for $60!  I was so lucky there were only four pieces left in the store.  Two in a size 4 and two in a size 6.  I crossed my fingers and took a 6 to the dressing room.  I think it was fate that it fit so perfectly! 

Dress: Anthropologie-Flower Stand Dress~$60

Cardigan: Target-Sea Foam Green~$14 (similar here)

Shoes: Ross-White strap cork wedges~$16 (similar here)

Necklace-Payless Shoe Source~$5 (similar here)

Bracelet:Gift from a relative

Approximate Total Cost:$95

 On Sunday we went to my cousin's house to celebrate Rakhi . The actual day was a month ago.  My family never celebrates it on time since we have to wait for snail mail sent rakhis from my aunts.  My mom always complains I don't dress like a newly wed.  In Indian custom newly wed wives wear lots of bright, shiny, fancy clothes and get all dolled up with jewelry and makeup and stuff of that nature.  Not really my style, but I do like making my family happy so I wore a pink silk sari I inherited from my mother.  She wore it only once before.

Sari: Inherited from my mom ~FREE

Sari blouse: Sari Boutique in Berkeley-light golden shade with gold dots~$25

Shoes: Nordstrom Rack-Italian Shoemakers Suite in Gold~$25..i think

Jewelry: Necklace and earring set were a gift from a relative~FREE

Approximate Total Cost~$50

My fashionista niece.  She is so girly and  loves to get dressed up.  Note the matching bangles.

Ist Wedding Anniversary

Wishing my dear husband a happy 1st wedding anniversary! <Insert mushy romantic heartfelt feelings here> Though seriously, I can't believe its been a year!

I enjoyed planing, shopping and creating decorations for my wedding so much. Today's post is a photo flashback of those days (yes, I had a big multi-day Indian wedding)

First and foremost, my dress:

Lengha-Sari Palace in Berkeley-$1000

My wedding lengha I purchased at the Sari Palace in Berkeley.  They had the blouse custom made for me. The original blouse paired with this skirt was a hideous yellow and gold sleeveless thing and looked terrible with my skin tone.  We decided to get the blouse done in the green shade found on the lace on the bottom of the skirt.  I think the combination is beautiful, but a little watermelon like.  The amount of beading and embroidery is pretty minimal for an Indian wedding lengha, but I don't normally go for bling so it suited me perfectly.  Also, lenghas can get pretty heavy with lots of work on them so I was looking for something light.(I was a lot skinner then :P)  The embroidery and beading is on tulle while the undershirt is a satin type material. The blouse portion is a raw silk material.  This lengha is by far the most expensive clothing I own but compared to what people seem to spend on wedding dresses on "Say Yes to the Dress" I think i came out with a bargain.

The jewelery was bought by my aunts in India. I hardly ever wear jewelry and having so much on was quite uncomfortable.  Getting all those bangles on to my wrist was just plain excruciating.  They bought a size too small thinking I had given them the wrong information.  My hands are not petitie nor do the fold easily!

 

My shoes were from Nordstrom rack.  I don't remember the brand nor the price but if i had to guess they were likely 25-30 bucks.  My wedding ceremony was outdoors and the aisle on grass so it was important to me to get wedges so not to fall.

Did I mention there were multiple outfits?

Reception:

Reception Sari-Turquoise silk Benarsi sari~$600 when you convert from Rupies

I absolutely loved my reception sari and how the red and white bangles contrasted with the color.  The sari was purchased for me in India by my aunts on my mom's side.  Lots of Indian brides will take a shopping trip to India before there wedding.  I saved on airfare and outsourced the shopping duties to my extended family in India.  I like when other people buy clothes for me as it brings more variety into my wardrobe.

Sangeet:

A sangeet is a singing and dancing party to celebrate and kickoff the wedding events.

 

Sangeet Lengha-Meena Bazaar in New Delhi-~$300

Jewelry-Some store in Artesia, CA ~$100

Me, dancing like crazy.  Had to get all the movement out of me before the Mehndi the next day.

Mehndi:

The green suit I wore as a dress was purchased at a sari shop in Sunnyvale, CA...not sure the name of it.   I think it was around 80-100 bucks.

I did my makeup myself for all the events.  I don't normally wear makeup and before the wedding didn't own anything.  I made several trips to the mall trying out different brands and getting mini makeovers.  I was able to learn some techniques for applying makeup and what shades looked nice on me.  I ended up liking Bobby Brown makeup and purchased quite a few things which I still use if I'm going out somewhere nice.