Nope, it’s not the D-day yet, but the festivities are rolling in. Just a few weeks after the grand Italian pre-wedding celebration 2.0, the Ambani family is gearing up for the wedding of Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant. While some of the biggest designers and stylists are busy dressing the family in the chicest outfits, for some of the traditional Gujarati ceremonies, the family has made sure that they pay a nod to their roots, whether it’s in the form of textiles, colours or even embroidery and craftsmanship.
The traditional pre-wedding ceremonies
For the mameru–a traditional ceremony where the maternal uncle (mama) of the bride visits her with gifts, dry fruits and sweets, and mausala–a ceremony where the groom’s mother’s family visits to bless the couple with gifts and offerings, the women donned bandhani and leheriya outfits, two traditional crafts that are from Gujarat.
The outfits
Isha Ambani Piramal, styled by Anaita Adajania Shroff, wore a custom look by designer Arpita Mehta, which paid a tribute to the art of bandhani. Nita Ambani, epitomised elegance in an ivory lehenga by Manish Malhotra, which was complemented by a woven Banarasi tissue dupatta with zari borders. Shloka Ambani donned a bandhani look by Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla, while for the garby night, she wore an embroidered lehenga by Tarun Tahiliani. The bride, Radhika Merchant, too, wore a custom Manish Malhotra bandhej lehenga for the traditional pre-wedding ceremonies, and was styled by Rhea Kapoor.
Notable menswear moments
