Ayesha's wedding took place in Karachi and Lahore since her family resides in Lahore and the groom’s (Kamran) family in Karachi. They both met in New York but decided to get married in Pakistan. Kamran works for a Financial services firm and Ayesha works with a legal firm.

Creating one desired wedding look is a hard enough chore. But I had the pleasure of creating THREE since a Pakistani wedding consists of three important ceremonies-- the Mehndi, the Baraat, and the Valima. But planning and selecting was made easy, thanks to help from my loved ones who helped me all the way.

MEHNDI: April 18, 2007---Defence, Lahore
The Nikkah had already taken place earlier in the day and the air was filled with excitement, hectic activities and a promise of a fun-filled evening. The Mehndi included songs and dances by both the bride and the groom's side and my family and friends had been rehearsing for many days. My hands and feet were adorned with mehndi. Later as per our customs, I accepted from my groom an outfit that was hand-picked by me. It was a beautiful yellow raw silk kameez with sequined work. The ensemble included a plain yellow raw silk loose salwar and a tie-dyed yellow and fuschia pink chiffon dupatta with very light gold thread embroidered motifs. My hair was twisted into a loose braid. I chose to wear the dupatta on my head instead of covering my face since I did not want to miss watching the fun and happy moments of any event. Since the brides are expected to be dressed up simple for Mehndi, I did not wear any jewellery and my make- up too was minimalist.

BARAT: April 19, 2007---Pear Continental Hotel, Lahore
The Mehndi festivities lasted till the wee hours of the morning after which I went to my beautician Madeeha to dress up for the Barat. My bridal outfit was a Nasreen Hamayun creation-- a maroon and burnt orange lehnga and choli; my jewellery and other accessories included a beautiful ruby and polki set (necklace, earrings, and tikka) from Hasan Javeri. In three hours Madeeha gave me a beautiful and I felt absolutely elated.

From there, I and my fiancé headed for a photo shoot to a studio after which we went off to the reception venue. The entire evening I received many compliments for my look. Kamran looked smashing in an ivory colored Junaid Jamshed sherwani which he wore with a deep maroon shawl and ivory khussas (traditional slippers).

The Mehendi

The Baraat

Ayesha and Kamran

The Valima

VALIMA: April 23, 2007---Karchi Club, Karachi

After two days, we flew down to Karachi for the Valima. The make-up for the Valima was done by Nabila's Beauty Salon. My outfit was an ivory colored lehnga and a copper colored choli by Rabia. The choli was filled with marori work and the accessories included a beautiful topaz and polki necklace, earrings and a very delicate tikka on a thin gold chain. I loved the Valima look created by Nabila’s because it was very close to what I had expected—very subtle and my style. Smoky eyes, light lip color, more gloss and less lipstick with a finely blended blush.

All in all my wedding was one of the most memorable experiences of my life which I will cherish for eons.