As the wind chills are setting in another glorious wedding season is at our door steps. Some of you are getting married yourselves or your close friends/family are and many of us have several invitations to attend. Indian ethnic wear is the quintessential outfit for the desi wedding settings. So for our first post this season, decided to jot down few essential tips. 
Weddings creates a lot of memories and fun times. We want to look our best, and grab all the attention. So if its your own wedding, its THE day of your lifetime when you don't want anything wrong. Even for the wedding guests or bridesmaids its very special and looking horrible is the scariest dream come true for them too. I still cannot share the my photos of my twin's (sanchita's) wedding as I looked like a zombie and it's still a nightmare for me😖😖😖.
Thus from my trials and errors in this lifetime, I am sharing my wedding season tips for you: 


Know your preferences well ahead

To achieve the look of your dreams plan well ahead of the event. First and foremost, you'll have to know your own style and preferences. Its OK to not give in to the ongoing trend. Specially if its yours or your close one's wedding its better to follow your own style than the fashion guru's. Turn deaf ears to the "body type styling" trend. You experiment yourself and come up what you look comfortable and good in. Take help of inspiration boards in Pinterest, Instagram or Google Images to know what you like and how you want to look. In our case, well before our weddings we knew how we wanted to look. We did a lot of search on social media and made a full folder of pics that we love and looks we wanted. It made things a lot stress free while shopping.

Consider your Budget while shopping

Next most important factor is your budget. While shopping for the event, you can either tell upfront to the shop keeper to show you the best within your preferred range or you can negotiate the price to suit your budget. Its not that you won't be able to get a good buy within lesser budget. Spending a bomb is not always needed to get your dream look. Look out for sales and clearances to have the best you can get for your buck. You can always re-style your old sarees and jewelries if you don't want to buy anything new and if its not your own wedding. Click here to know how you can restyle your old sarees in newer ways.

Be photo ready!!

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Wedding photos are great memories and in this Insta-age its all the more important 😎😎.  If you are a photo buff like me and cherish your photo memories this tip is for you...remember some pieces can look gorgeous in person but not in photos. Thus click pics by putting that saree on your shoulder before buying it. Don't feel shy to do so in middle of onlookers as its your buck and your buy...make the most of it.

Market research about where to buy from

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Do market research around where you live to know where to get the best stuffs best deals from. Ask around friends and do little bit search online. These days you can ask for feedback from experienced shoppers on different forums on Facebook. So take advantage of the age we live in and make most of your shopping experience.

Online shopping for convenience

Apart from them, look around for online stores/sellers for some good deals. They are the best bet for shoppers like us who live abroad and want to shop for Indian outfits. But before purchasing take into consideration the outfit color/fitting etc as they may not be best represented in most of the pictures. Accessories like junk jewelries, bags can be bought easily conveniently from these online stores. There are several sites like Pernia's pop-up shop, Carma, Utsav fashion, Mirraw etc. Even different stores have their own online shops as well, you can buy directly from them. There are different price ranges available, work around which one suits your choice and budget more. There are yearly sales in these online shops as well so look around to shop around that time for bonus savings.

Renting your Outfit and Accessories

You can also look around for renting your indian sarees or lehengas for the day of the event. This helps you to spend less for the event and also achieve your dream look. There are online renting stores like Borrow It Bindaas, Saris and Things, Swishlist and others for your convenience. 


Classic pieces rules ages

if you are buying for your trousseau buy classic pieces like traditional silks, or hand embroidered pieces. they are evergreen and you don't have to worry about being out dated or ill fitted. In these cases sarees becomes the most classic outfit as unlike your lehenga or kurtas as their fitting and cuts can become uncomfortable over time depending on the ongoing fashion or your figure. keep a lot of margins in whatever you are getting stitched. In this case from my own experience, I bought some expensive salwar suits for my trousseau which i can only imagine to fit into now, and they are adorning my wardrobe ever since. But my silk sarees like benarasi, baluchari, kantha, kanjeevaram can be and has been worn several times with different blouse options.

Accessorizing makes the game!

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Accessories can make or break a look. Zero down on the acessory or outfit and let the other one compliment it rather than overshadowing. When you begin putting your outfit together, design blouses/cholis according to the different necklines suited for your jewelry pieces or vice versa. Polish your jewelry if you are wearing heirloom pieces. Don't over do with your jewelry. If your outfit is simple, wear heavy jewelries, but if they are heavily embroidered opt for subtle pieces.  Choose your bags and shoes according to your outfit. Remember even a Louis Vuitton can look ugly if its not complimenting the attire. So go for the whole look rather than the brand.

Comfort, Comfort and Comfort!!

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Think about the duration you are going the event for. If its a day long one, your comfort is everything. Consider shoes you are wearing, weight of the outfit etc. The last thing you would want is to take off your heavy dupatta or are shivering in your chiffon by the end of the event. Shoes should match but let your comfort speak for you. Use shoe inserts for added comfort and get used to your shoes ahead of time. New shoes, shoe bites etc can be too much to handle for you on that day. While deciding on shoes and bags keep in mind what your role would be that day. Clutches can be very stylish but sometimes while running around the event, it may be bothersome to carry in your hand. Opt for sling bags in such cases.


Lay out your full outfit

Before any important event, its best to decide every small outfit details well ahead. Last minute "jig saw puzzle settings" are not fun. There would be many more important things to sort out on the day of the event so let your outfit be sorted out before-hand. Lay down your outfit and accessories together to get a sense of how they are looking.


Makeup and Hair

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You can opt for makeup and hair from your preferred specialist on the day of the event for lesser stress. If its your own wedding, please invest in finding the best professional according to your budget. Its them who can make or break your look. Even if you are wearing the best saree or most expensive jewelry, the "cakey" makeup or messed up hair can spoil the whole thing. Go for pre-wedding trials and have a good discussion on what exactly you want. If you decide to do your own makeup, do some rehearsal sessions so that you exactly know how to do it on the final day. Remember you should look like yourself and not someone else, so avoid going over the top dramatic with hair and makeup. 

Thus these are tips we came up with for this wedding season. These holds true for any other major ethnic event you're having in your family. So let us know how you liked them and do you have any other tips for our readers. Do like share the post with your friends and family who you think will benefit. 

P.S. This post was not sponsored. 

Its a evident that the festival season is still hovering over us as you can spot endless shopping , plethora of online deals, gift exchanges, meeting friends, and planning in advance on ”what to wear”. After Durga Puja/ Navratri, it’s time for Diwali/Kali Puja now. If you have forgotten, a quick reminder of Halloween next couple of weeks, and then Christmas is just a few more weeks away! Phew!

Kali Puja has been the most special festival for our family as we celebrate it with much grandeur in our house. During childhood days, as others used to suffer from post Durga Puja depression, we would be overly excited for the Kali Puja to come over. We would look forward meeting all our cousins, burning fire crackers, gun-caps, devouring on bhoger khicuri-labra and enjoying all the আদর (love) of the family members we used to seldom meet otherwise. The whole neighborhood and our school friends would be invited and we would show off our best outfits that were reserved from the puja shopping for this evening (quite early fashion addicts you see!!😁😁😁). But the only rule Ma imposed on us was to wear cotton, to be safe running around diyas and fire crackers. This year would be the 35th year of our family puja. Both of us unable to attend the celebrations of-course adds into our homesickness and nostalgia which we can only dilute with some good saree pics😒😒😒 

Thus for this Diwali look Sanchita wearing cotton hot pink Chanderi benarasi saree. Chanderi saree is a traditional saree made in Chanderi, Madhya Pradesh, India from as early as 2nd century. These sarees are produced in pure silk, chanderi cotton and silk cotton, one featured here is a cotton one. Traditional coin, Flora art, Peacocks and geometrics are woven into different chanderi patterns. The sarees are among the finest sarees in India and are known for their gold and silver zari and opulent embroidery.(Source )

The intense color of the saree stands out in the evening fanfare, brightens the ambience and is also perfect "সুতির " (cotton) saree as Ma would prefer. Paired it up with a black benarasi sleeveless blouse to add contrast and glamour. 

You can ace the look at a Diwali party or Kali Puja outings and also to any ethnic evening parties you want to attend. As if the brightness of the saree wasn't enough, we styled it with over-the-top Kundan necklace and earrings to make it all the more festive. Kept accessories on my hand minimal as to draw all the focus to the neckline. This gorgeous Kundan set was added to the jewellery box during the recent India haul.

So can you tweak this look...yes totally!! There are too many options to make this look your own. You can wear any contrast full sleeve benarasi blouse, big chandelier or chandbali earrings or bun up your hair with some fresh gajra....this outfit gives you room to experiment with your style. So drape your bright cotton sarees and amp it up with a gorgeous blouse and stunning accessories.

Happy Diwali and Kali Puja to everyone celebrating!

Outfit details:

Saree was a gift from cousin on his wedding, bought from Adi Mohini Mohan Kanjilal, Kolkata, India

Blouse material bought from Geeta's, Hogg's Market, Kolkata, India and designed by Sanchita

Necklace set from Gahana, Triangular Park, Kolkata, India

SUBHO BIJOYA greetings for all our readers, friends and family. Hope you all had a wonderful Durga Puja/Navratri celebration. With this starts another year of waiting for Ma Durga to arrive on this mortal earth. But fear not, we have several grand festivals lined up for the next few months. We express our gratitude for the overwhelming response to our blogposts on Durga Puja lookbook. We have also been recieving requests on our Facebook and Instagram pages to share how we actually dressed up for Durga Puja. As both the sisters living in US, the celebrations were restricted to mainly weekends. So we thought of publishing some of our looks from the weekend in this post. Hope you enjoy them.

Look 1

Moumita wearing Madhubani printed pure silk saree with some statement junk jewelries. Kept the hair simple and straight, added dark burgundy lip color to match with the fall season in this part of the world.

Saree from Adi Dhakeswari Bastralaya, Gariahat, Kolkata, India

Neckpiece from hawkers stalls, Gariahat, Kolkata, India

Earrings handmade by a dear friend, Titli Maitra

Leather purse from Karukrit, Bolpur, West Bengal, India

Watch fro Fossils

Look 2:

Sanchita, wearing Nakshikantha on peacock blue Bangalore Silk saree. It has intricate bird motifs hand embroidered all over the saree. Paired with a matching blouse, long dangler pearl jhumkas, golden batua purse and simple light makeup.

Saree from Karukrit, Bolpur, West Bengal, India

Gold Batua purse gifted by a friend, source unknown.

Earrings from Gariahat, Kolkata, India

Look 3

Hot pink Chanderi benarasi draped in sidha pallu style by Moumita, over a contrast aubergine benarasi blouse. Accessorized the look with oversized chandelier earrings, a statement palm ring, Gujarati sling bag and a contrast green bindi. The look gives a very typical Navratri feel.

Saree from Adi Mohini Mohan Kanjilal, College Street, Kolkata, India

Earrings from Vijatha COllections, Virgina, US

Palm Ring from Bilu da's Boutique, Kolkata, India

Bag from hawkers market, Gariahat, Kolkata, India 

Look  4 

The final look for the pujo is by Sanchita. Wearing a gorgeous ivory colored Kanjeevaram saree with gold and red border,  teamed with a contrast  rich ikkat weave blouse. Paired up with gold jewelleries and red bindi for a quintessential bengali look on Dashami.

Saree from Sundari Silks, Chennai, India
Bloused material from Geeta's, New Market, Kolkata, India. Designed by Sanchita
Gold jewelry from N.P Jewelers, Gariahat, Kolkata, India 

I hope you enjoyed all the looks and found some inspirations through them.

If you have liked these 4 looks and feel inspired, then please share this post right now with your friends on Instagram and  Facebook. Leave us a comment or two below so that we know our effort was worth it.

Makeup and styling credits: Moumita and Sanchita on their respective looks

Photography credits: Kapildeb Ambal and Debasish Barik

After a sure-shot Shaptami (here) and Ashtami (here) style plan which we told you, make sure you are ready to make onlookers astounded with your final Navami evening look. According to mythological stories, Goddess Durga’s battle against Mahishasur, the king of demons lasted for nine days. The ninth day is the final day before the Goddess won over the evil with her power and wisdom. This is the last night before we send off Ma Durga to Kailash after celebrating her victory over evil, and wait again for the next year. So its the last opportunity to absorb all the fun and frolic and loose ourselves in the festive spirit for the year. Thus the fanfare certainly gets intense during Navami and this post today is all about this dazzling Navami look.

If you have read our style stories on the Shaptami  or Ashtami looks earlier, you have noticed that the festive fashion tone started with a chic grey for Shaptami and transitioned to an elegant red and white for Ashtami . But for Navami, the attire and the attitude will indeed be more flamboyant. If there are more than one days to a festival, why would you get stuck with one style? So on Navami, have put on a half and half bright orange and electric blue saree.

 The saree has a georgette fluorescent orange upper portion, with gold and hot pink geometric pattern around the hem and pallu.

The other half is electric blue net with intricate, wide gold embroidered border, almost as in Manipuri Raslila skirts (the elaborate skirts worn by Manipuri brides ). This  saree came with a  fancy blue full sleeved blouse which I decided to ditch owing to the sweaty weather. Chose this stylish sleeveless blue silk blouse that rounded out the look so well. With my hair in a small bun adorned and covered with an oversize flower, I finished out the look with a pair of dazzling long earrings. Kept my other jewelries minimum and added a bright orange lip to keep the look simple yet gorgeous for the special eve.

Considering my last two Durga Puja appearances in ethnic sarees, this sighting in a flamboyant designer saree made for a refreshing change for its modern style. Every woman should at least have one georgette designer saree for fancy outings, where you want to drape the saree quick and can deviate from the traditional ঘরোয়া (homely) saree look. Being able to wear this stunning saree was exhilarating as it had been lying in my closet for sometime now. The contemporary design of this saree, made by a very dear designer friend Kunaal Basaak is a treat to my personal style senses. It is visually stimulating, bright and eye-catching than one can imagine! It brightens up the ambiance for the final night of the puja fanfare.

On that parting note, wishing you all happy Navami! Bong mania overloaded team wishes all its friends and families who celebrate this festival – Shubho Sharodiya! As this is the last look for this Durga puja, I hope you enjoyed all the posts and found some inspirations through them.

  If you have liked these 3 looks and feel inspired, then please share this post right now with your friends on Instagram and  Facebook. Please also do share your looks with us by tagging us @bong mania overloaded on Facebook or simply #bongmaniaoverloaded on Instagram. Leave us a comment or two below so that we know our effort was worth it.

What Was I Wearing?

Saree from Kunaal Basak
Blouse designed: Yours truly Sanchita
Earrings from Sam Moons, Houston, TX, USA
Hair & Makeup: Yours truely Sanchita
Concept & styling: Yours truly Sanchita

Photography: Rabindra Kumar Kundu

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post.

Durga Puja/ Navratri season is back! You can literally feel the positive vibrations electrifying the air. We Bongs call it পুজোর গন্ধ! At this time of the year, we just want to forget our stress and miseries and get allured in puja vibes. For most of us, Durga Puja is one of the most beautiful times of the year to grab some of the yummiest treats, buy awesome gifts at highly discounted sales and wear our best traditional outfits. 

Speaking of traditional outfits, with all the festivities to attend and be part of this extravagant celebrations, you got to look the part! Thus we have come up with a saree look-book for 3 days of Durga Puja or Navratri.  After sharing our Shaptami Day look here, in this post, I’m sharing my Ashtami look. It’s all about bringing the traditional quintessential saree style back! Bengalis are known for their red and white sarees and thanks to Bidya Bagchi of Kahaani fame the whole world knows what we chose to wear during our Durga Puja. Also, bengali women who love sarees cannot have enough of jamdani weaves. Thus we had to put together a look with both these Bong favorites, so here it goes, red and white jamdani for Ashtami puja 🎉🎉🎉

As most of you know by now, I am not a big fan of styling my sarees conventionally, thus wore this traditional dhakai jamdani with a black off-the-shoulder crop top blouse. It gives this quintessential saree look a much needed edge.

Draped the saree in traditional Bengali আটপৌড়ে style, tied the pallu end on my wrist . Also if you notice, my pallu pleats are more casually pinned to give a softer look than a form fitted pleated one.

This look can be sported on morning  Ashtami puja or even carried to any evening pandal hopping or Sandhi puja. Am sure you'll grab some amazed eyeballs in the crowd.

A side messy-meets-softer bun in wavy hair worn with a traditional saree is one look I like to wear in a heartbeat.Skipped the necklace part and finished look with an over-sized stone stud which is a spin-off to the traditional gold stud or kaan pasha. Added a small bindi and alta and bold red lips to enhance the traditional look. Minimal accessories makes this look stand out and much more wearable for an Ashtami adda. You can tweak this look and make it your own wearing a gorod or traditional gold jewelry. But with this fusion saree look less is more, so try not to overdo with hair and accessories.

Share your Durga Puja/Navaratri Look on Facebook and Instagram tagging us or simply #bongmaniaoverloaded, we will repost the ones we love most.

What Was I Wearing?

Saree from Jamdani Ghar in Kolkata, India 

Crop top Blouse from , Forever 21 , City Creek Mall,  UT, USA

Earring from Sam Moon, Houston, TX, USA

Clutch from Delhi, India

Enjoy your festive days and let us know how you liked the look 😊😊😊