Getting married in November? The five-week plan
If the wedding is on 24, 25 or 26 November, there are four weeks left. Every function from haldi to reception, what grooms wear to each, and how to plan it all at one appointment this week.
Wedding on 21 to 26 November? Order by 7 November. Rush delivery takes seven days.
Book a fitting
Five weeks is plenty. Four is brave. Three is a phone call to the cutter.
Plenty of grooms sort the wedding-night outfit early and leave the rest late. The ones who look good all week plan every function at the same time: the haldi, the mehendi, the sangeet, the wedding night (baraat, jaimala and pheras) and the reception. If the wedding is on 24, 25 or 26 November, this is the plan, and it starts this week.
The calendar, counted back
| When | What happens |
|---|---|
| This week | One appointment at home or at the office. Measurements, cloth, cut, and the date of every function. Everything you are having made is ordered at once. |
| About a week later | The fitting. Sit cross-legged, stand, raise your arms. Choose the safa, the stole and the juttis to go with the coat, and book the safa-tier. |
| November | Pieces are finished in order of the functions, earliest first. |
| The week before | Everything hanging in the wardrobe, with time in hand for a last adjustment. |
Count back two weeks from the first function, not the wedding night.
Function by function
| Function | What grooms usually wear | From SALVE |
|---|---|---|
| Haldi | A new, inexpensive white or yellow cotton set you can throw away afterwards | Not from SALVE |
| Mehendi, if your family holds one | A colourful kurta, often with a Nehru jacket. A heavier jacket if it is in the evening. | The Lumen, ₹12,500, for a day mehendi |
| Sangeet | An Indo-western, an embroidered Nehru jacket over a kurta, or a jodhpuri suit | The Jodhpur Neo, ₹37,500 |
| Wedding night (baraat, jaimala, pheras) | A sherwani or an achkan, with safa, stole and juttis | The Marwar achkan, ₹39,500 |
| Reception | A tuxedo, a bandhgala suit or a sharp suit | The Vesper or the Jaipur, ₹37,500 |
The wedding night: sherwani or achkan
Knee length, standing collar.Lighter and shorter than a sherwani, and cleaner in line.
No heavy embroidery.The safa, the stole and the jewellery do the decorating.
Sit cross-legged in it at the fitting.Much of the pheras is spent on a low seat.
Off-white or wine red.Ask the bride for her colours, or a swatch, before the appointment.
Most grooms wear a sherwani. The achkan suits the groom who wants a lighter, cleaner coat and lets the safa and the jewellery carry the night. Either is correct. Most families avoid black for the groom. At an Anand Karaj the ceremony is in the morning at the gurdwara, so ask the family about colours and the head covering.
Good and don't
-
Good.
Telling the cutter every date.
Sangeet, wedding night, reception. The order you need them in is the order they are made in.
-
Good.
Coordinating with the bride.
Sit beside her colours rather than copying them exactly.
-
Depends.
Embroidery every night.
If the wedding night is heavy, a plain, sharp reception look makes both stronger.
-
Don't.
The first try-on the night before.
Wear each piece for an hour at home in the week before. Walk, sit cross-legged, raise your arms.
Booking now?
There is still time. Each piece takes two weeks, and rush delivery takes seven days for a single piece. If time is short, still get it fitted. Send us the date on WhatsApp. With less than two weeks to go, a single piece in a cloth we hold in stock is usually still possible. Start with the wedding night.
For the full list, read the groom's wardrobe guide. For December dates, see the season's order-by dates.
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