#First Person: I Got A Part Of My Father's Letter Embroidered On My Veil...
BY Anupriya | 09 Feb, 2022 | 2121 views | 5 min read
Bespoke tailoring is no alien concept these days, and we've seen a fair share of brides pull of 'em permutations & combinations to achieve the desired look. But there's just something about brides who go an extra mile to weave their thoughts & emotions into their wedding lehenga, to add the essence of a loved one to it. One such bride is Suvanya, who got her bridal veil embroidered with a part of a heartfelt letter by her daddy. Sadly, she lost her father to Cancer before the wedding day, and the emotional turmoil of not having him around gets her teary-eyed even today! However, she made sure his presence was felt throughout the wedding. How you ask? Scroll down to read it in her own words!
Her Personalised Veil Story & The Idea Behind It
The idea behind the personalised bridal veil was quite simple...While there wasn't something that I had pre-planned, there were two things to it: We knew my father hadn't kept well for the longest time and we were spending one day at a time with him after we found out that he was battling cancer. Last year on my birthday, he asked me if he can write me a letter and it would be a handwritten one, and I said, of course, to have something as special from him, would mean everything to me. The interesting part was that he wrote the same letter three different times, just to make sure there was no error. I liked the colour of the ink he was using... one letter he wrote in black ink, one he wrote in blue ink, and every time there was even a single spelling mistake he'd sort of cut out the entire letter and re-write it. He spent almost 3-4 hours in our study room in the house, alone at night, writing it. And the moment he handed it over, while I was reading it out to him-I was crying and so was he. That moment became very special. I kept the letter very very close to me. I got it framed and it was always there on my bed's stand.
The Journey/Process Of Getting Her Veil Customised
In terms of the lehenga, I went ahead with it because of how simple it was and the personalised element of it was why I chose... because it did not need anything else but emotions and the colour red in itself evokes the right emotion for a bride & the moment one goes for. So when I was deciding on what I wanted on the veil, couldn't think of anybody else beyond papa and the words that he chose to write to me. I always, always went back to that letter, whenever I could. I wanted a part of that letter with me forever and nothing made more sense than having his words etched into it. The journey of getting it done was quite simple. In passing I told Sunaina what I wanted for my veil and asked if it was possible. She said it's really sweet and we easily got it together. The next thing I know, it was beautifully embroidered, and not just in one part, it was embroidered in both the dupattas, that Sunaina created for me which made it even richer, in terms of how the dupatta felt. The lehenga in itself was a valuable input to my wardrobe, it became so much more of value because of the words that were carried with me.
Other Special Details/Moments
Another element on the dupatta, that not everyone knows of, even today, is that- while it had the words from his letter, it also had my parents' anniversary date. I sort of thank everything that we have as a family because of them coming together & their marriage. So it was an ode to that date as well.
I, of course, missed my father a lot at my wedding. I couldn't imagine that I am going through the day, without him. And there were a couple of things that I wanted to take care of first, to have his presence around me. So one was the dupatta, the other was that we kept a picture of him, next to my mom at the phera mandap. I wanted to feel his presence in any way, it could be in thought or his photo, so that was one. People generally, on their Mehendi, get their hands etched with their husband's name, and it's really cute, which is something I also did. But the center of my Mehendi was my father's name. While those two days were about me and Aman, there was a huge part of my heart missing, and I wanted to keep him with me for as much & in-depth as possible.
Loved the idea? Tell us how would you personalise your wedding look in the comment box. We're reading...
