How to choose a bridal saree
Bring your wedding shoes and a photograph of the drape you plan to wear. If someone will help you dress, ask them to talk you through any ceremony details that affect the drape. You might need enough pallu to cover your head, or want a particular border to be visible when you sit.
Measure for your drape
If you already own a saree that works in this drape, lay it flat and measure its length end to end and its width from one long edge to the other. Use those measurements to compare the pieces you try. Ask for the usable draping length of each one, excluding any fabric that will be cut for the blouse.
The pallu can hang down the back, come forward over the shoulder or cover the head. Decide where yours will go before judging how much of its design will show. See the drapes described by the Eskenazi Museum of Art.
Try your two favourites the same way
- Arrange the pleats and hem. With your shoes on, take a few steps. Check that the hem clears your feet and that the folds at your waist feel comfortable when you sit.
- Set the pallu in place. Spend a few minutes with its weight on your shoulder. Reach forward as you might during the ceremony and see whether you can use both hands without holding the cloth.
- Look from the guest’s seat. Ask someone to take a full-length picture and one while you are seated. Compare where the border falls and which motifs are visible beside the jewellery you plan to wear.
Leave time for the blouse
Show your tailor the blouse fabric measurements and the sleeve design before anyone cuts it. Work back from the wedding date to agree on a fitting and time for alterations. Add up the cost of the saree, blouse stitching and any finishing, and ask how cutting the fabric affects the seller’s exchange terms.
If you are still choosing between two pieces, note which one stayed in place when you stood up and which detail you most want to see in the ceremony photographs. If you need help identifying that detail, find the body, border and pallu on an open saree.
Trying a wedding drape in person? Find the SPP Silks showroom in Erode or Coimbatore and contact the team about the designs you would like to see before travelling.
