Bengali Bridal Jewellery | Part Three | Bengali Bride | Wedding Jewellery | Indian Wedding

I am the one who thinks out of the box! And I love being myself. So I ditched the Laal-Benarasi Saree, I ditched the heavily ornamented Mom’s inherited Gold. I invested in a gorgeous Polki and Kundan Set , something that I will treasure for years to come. It will remind me of my special day forever! 

Hi everyone! I have been receiving a lot of requests to come up with a post for what jewellery I wore on each occasion of my wedding. Part One was already dedicated to the Maang-tika/Matha-patti/Tikli/Tiara, while Part Two saw the Brooch and Nath. So here I am with the third and final part, describing about the remaining piece of ornaments that formed a part of my wedding. 

Prior Warning: Please expect this post to be heavily loaded with images for better reference.

Bangles 

For my aai-buro bhaat, I wore a pair of gold bangles that belonged to my granny with a few metal bangles in between. I love them and still wear them for special occassions.

Traditionally, I wore the shankha-polaa (conch shell and red coral bangles) along with a few imitation bangles for my wedding. The same set was repeated for my reception, only difference being that I also wore magenta coloured fiber bangles to match with my reception attire.

I bought a few kundan bangles specially for my wedding. These were bought from Saraf Jewellers, located in the Ground Floor at Mani Square Mall.

Loha/Iron Bangle

Now for the people who are not familiar with what a Loha is, it is an iron bangle that is worn by Bengali Married women on the day she enters her in-laws place for the first time after marriage. It is slipped into the hands of the bride by her mother-in-law. Loha (or Noa, as some women prefer to call it), as the name symbolises, is supposed to ensure the durability of marriage and make it strong! The iron bangle is usually coated with Gold, for ornamental purposes. The iron is supposed to touch the bride’s body all the time. These days, women wear a Loha studded with diamonds, for that sleek and stylish look. (I too have a diamond bracelet in my wish list for long!) We finally began out shopping spree on an auspicious note. Our stop: The lane of Goldsmiths on Fern Road, a little ahead of Gariahat, towards Ballygunge Station, the lane to your left is where we were spotted!

Our first stop was A Sirkar, a well known brand for Jewellery in Kolkata. I had already worked on my research on Loha’s, the kind that i wanted. There was a particular design that really impressed me, but it was slightly out of budget and was too fancy in nature, something that you normally opt for wedding functions and not for daily use. A Sirkar’s designs were fabulous, but their rocket high making charges failed to impress me. I was a little disheartened, since their website showcased wonderful designs of Loha.

Little ahead of A Sirkar was Senco Gold, a brand that my parents invested in when they got married. I’ve heard that even my grandparents bought their wedding jewellery from Senco Gold. My dad convinced me to browse through their designs. Surprisingly, they had an affordable range and i liked quite a few of their designs. I wanted something that was sleek, classy, and had some kind of floral motif! To be honest, my parents finalised a Loha for me, I was not too keen on buying it, but i wanted to respect their wishes. So we settled on the simple-elegant Loha from Senco Gold, Gariahat. Something that can be worn on a daily basis.

Haath Patti

I was never fond of haath patti since it appeared very clumsy to me paired with the bridal mehandi (No offence to the ones who wear it). Besides, it is a one time wear, and we really cannot convert haath-pattis into something more useful. Somehow, I also have a feeling that haath-pattis also make your fingers immobile and uncomfortable. Hence, I ditched the haath-patti and went for a simple cocktail polki ring matching with my necklace. The cocktail polki ring was purchased from Saraf Jewellers, Mani Square Mall. I flaunted it on all the days of my wedding events.

Paayal

My paayal was not at all fancy. Just a simple silver payal that I had once bought ages back when I was in college. It was the only paayal that I possessed, and I still have it with me. It had cost me around Rs.600/- to Rs.800/- then.

Necklace

I had worn a gold necklace that was passed onto my mother by my granny for my aai-buro bhaat. Honestly speaking, it was an impromptu decision and I could not think of pairing my “kaan” (an ornament worn on the ears, covering the ear entirely) with anything better.

For my wedding as well as reception, both of the necklaces were a part of the set that I had purchased for the occassions. The Polki wedding necklace was from Senco Gold’s Gossip Collection, purchased from their Gariahat Store. The reception Kundan necklace was from Saraf Jewellers, located in the Ground Floor at Mani Square Mall.

For my Vidaai, I wore something that my Father-in-law had blessed me with during my Aashirbaad  ceremony. I remember having accompanied my husband to Senco Gold, Bowbazar when he bought this necklace. I definitely wanted something that was simple-elegant, easy on the pocket (considering the sky high price) and was light-weight, yet something that i would treasure 20 years from now. When asked about the lightest-simplest designs for necklace, they came up with 3-4 designs, out of which i instantly liked one, and settled on it. I have worn it quite a couple of times since then, and I really like the design.

Kamarbandh

A kamarbandh adds a lot of definition to the wedding saree. My makeup artist Ujjwal had advised me to pick up two things for my wedding, a matha-patti, that adds definition to the entire face, and a kamarbandh, that adds a definition to your outfit. When my wedding dates were fixed, I was overweight by good 10 kilograms, and to add to my misery, most of my weight was around by belly. However, I had always dreamt of wearing a kamarbandh for my wedding. When I had first tried the kamarbandh, my mother teased me by referring to my “kamar” (waist) as “kamra” (room). Determined, I lost a good eight kilograms before my wedding, and now, the kamarbandh reminded me of this antidote.

For my wedding, I invested in an antique plated coin designed kamarbandh, which is more of a South-Indian bride style. This was done purposefully, so that the kamarbandh could be recycled into a coin-necklace or into anklets later! This one was from Sassaram’s in Treasure Island, New Market and had cost me Rs.600/- in 2012.

Another kamarbandh that I wore for my “bou-bhaat” with my blue dhakai was picked up from Delhi Trade Fair. This is a replica of the silver ones, and cost me Rs.100/- (this was bought in 2009-2010).

Jhumka

The gold-plated “kaan” that I wore for my Aai-buro bhaat was picked from Sassaram’s in Treasure Island, New Market. Unfortunately, I cannot recall it’s cost at the moment. But you do get all sort of imitation jewellery at competitive price. Make sure you bargain a little!

Another pair of double-jhumka’s was very lovingly gifted to me by a virtual turned real sister, Nilanjana di. I had promised to make this a part of my D-day and God willing, I kept my promise.

For my vidaai, I wore a gold Jhumka that was gifted to my grand-mother after her wedding, and was passed on to maa. This was also from Senco Gold 🙂

Wedding Ring

When we were investing in a wedding ring,  we thought of a lot of options including Platinum Love Bands. However, it took some time for me to get the Platinum thing off my head. After a lot of deliberations on the Platinum Ring, we finally decided to call it off. People back in India do not appreciate it, my parents were not too happy about my decision of buying Platinum as a wedding ring. Even the jewellery shops were not much interested when we asked for Platinum rings. My dad insisted on gold, i wanted Platinum, we reached a settlement and settled with diamonds. Our next stop? All the outlets of Senco Gold since my fingers were too thin for any ring to fit in snugly. So from Bowbazar to Lake Market, Gariahat to Moulali, we scanned all their outlets for that single solitaire diamond ring. I did not want anything too fancy or flowery for a ring that I would be wearing throughout my life. A single solitaire would be graceful as well as elegantly called a wedding ring. Finally their Megashop at Dalhousie gave me my perfect fitted wedding ring on Shoshti (6th Day of Durga Puja). Also I liked this design for another special reason, the ring’s pattern resembles the letter A, which is co-incidentially my fiance’s first letter in his name.

Presenting the Single solitaire in 18 Carat Gold.

My husband too has a similar kind of ring, that we picked up from Senco Gold, Bowbazar, only difference being, his band was a little broader.

P.S. I am not at all a toe-ring person. I had once tried them on, but found them to be extremely uncomfortable, hence gave up the idea altogether of wearing one!

So that was all for this post. Are you liking the Bridal Series? Do let me know by dropping a comment. Also, do share this post if it was of some help to you, or if somehow could use this post as a reference for her wedding.

Credits: Photography by Prasanta Singha. Makeup by Ujjwal Debnath.