I'm off to an Indian wedding

The beautiful Aishwarya Rai

Firstly I'd like to apologise for being such a terrible blogger of late.  I've been finding it difficult to apply myself at the moment and time seems to be flying by.  I desperately want to catch up with everyone but it's taking me forever, not helped by the fact that I like to read everything properly.  I will get there and I really appreciate all your fantastic comments, thank you xxx

The Actor and I are off to our friends Nav and Charlie's wedding tonight.  I should say Navin and Charlotte but it sounds so formal.  Nav is Indian, he's gorgeous and has pale green eyes and Charlie is absolutely stunning, they make a lovely couple.  

The wedding is at a manor house in Somerset and The Actor is giving a speech.  There's an English ceremony and dinner on Friday.  We've all been told to keep a lid on things because there's a full-on Sikh wedding on Saturday until 3am followed by a picnic and cricket match on Sunday.  Hmmm... Good luck with that one!  I can't imagine what condition the boys will be in by that time.

I'm wearing this Antik Batik kaftan dress for the English wedding.  I'd take a new picture but I only remembered to put it in the dry cleaners at 5pm today so it's still there.  I bought it for £35 on Ebay.  I've also revived my favourite pair of wedges from a few years ago with some silk ankle ribbons.  I bought them for £15 from a mental shoe shop in Dalston that sells those faux-crocodile men's pimp shoes.

I was going to do the whole Indian thing on the Saturday but it's proving more difficult than I thought.  The Actor wanted to wear an embroidered jacket and turban but you can't hire and they cost a fortune.  I wouldn't have been able to keep a straight face if he wore a turban as he'd be camping it right up.

I started looking at pictures like this one of Liz Hurley for ideas

She looks pretty amazing.

Vix sent me a link to a brilliant site but I faffed around for so long nothing would have got here on time.  Unfortunately a lot of the Indian clothes I looked at locally were a bit too polyester for me and I don't have the budget to have something made to measure in silk so I decided to try and adapt something from my overstuffed wardrobe.  And of course I've left everything until the eleventh hour as per usual.

The brief is English or Indian, bright colours, nothing too revealing or short as we'll be sitting on the floor for the ceremony and definitely no black or white which is considered bad luck.  Sikh brides often wear red so I thought I'd better check what Charlie's wearing first.  She's chosen a variety of colours (although I'm sworn to secrecy at the moment) so we can wear whatever we like.  As my favourite colour is red I'm very happy to be able to wear it and it's good for me to have a ban on black.

I thought about this 70's Halston dress but the invitation says to keep your shoulders covered.  I didn't know this when The Actor and I were in Sri Lanka, apparently it's the equivalent of getting your boobs out.  I wondered why I was getting funny looks.  I had to buy a scarf sharpish.

Then I remembered a couple of Antik Batik kaftans that I was going to dye a while back.  I like this peachy/apricot colour but it's a bit wishy woshy on my pasty skin.

£3 for some Dylon at the chemist

And voila!  Having never dyed anything before I tested it out on the short kaftan as it's my least favourite.  I had no idea what I was doing.  Both kaftans are dry clean only and I wasn't sure how the mirror and sequins were going to hold up.  I sat in front of the TV with a bucket on a tray stirring it constantly for fifteen minutes.  Amazingly it's worked and it's VERY red!

Next I did the long kaftan.  I wanted a slightly lighter colour so I added two more litres of water and left it in for half the time

No bloody difference at all.  It looks EXACTLY the same, oh well.  I can't put this on Tallulah yet as it's not dry.  I hope the door doesn't go red.

What do you think?  Are they better in red?  Or do you prefer the apricot?

I also found a few metres of red silk georgette that I've had for a while so as a backup I've asked the tailor at the top of my road to copy an angel-sleeved kaftan mini dress and make it into a long version.  I haven't actually seen it yet as it's not ready until tomorrow.  That might be more glam than the kaftan and it's only cost me £30, a bargain if it's good.

I bought a large piece of red lurex fabric at Dalston Mill for £5 to wear on my head - any excuse.

A bit like this snood.  I'm such a one trick pony.

I shall paint my nails with OPI's Thrill of Brazil, slightly brighter than my usual choice Big Apple Red

After seeing these pictures I need to do some extra special make-up

I'm seriously lacking in jewellery - isn't this blue's gorgeous?

I wouldn't mind some of those head jewels but I've left it too late and don't have any budget left

I nearly had kittens when I saw this picture on Penny Dreadful Vintage.  How amazing is Sophia Loren's outfit?  It's something else!  I would LOVE it!

I shall try and catch up with as many blogs as I can today.

I'll take lots of pictures at the wedding.  Wishing you all a fabulous weekend.  Love, Christina xxx