Best Indian Bridal Designers 2022-2023 | Wedding Fashion
Updated: Sep 8, 2022
Mehendi, Sangeet, Ceremony or Reception designers, we got you covered.
Indian bridal fashion can be an intimidating experience.
There are:
hundreds of designers,
various Bollywood favorites,
celebrity models and endorsements
uneducated consumers who are psychological prey for merchants
fabrics, latest styles and trends to know (minimal, traditional, elegant) that can change overnight
some of the highest costs in bridal across any wedding industry
and even Instagram handles dedicated to calling out copycats in the Indian fashion industry.
Mumbai and Delhi have some of the top fashion designers in India, and other cities are also dominating the international bridal market.
It may even make sense for an NRI bride or groom to simply pay extra to buy their outfit in Beverly Hills, Hong Kong, Singapore or New York given the lead times and travel to secure a designer saree by Manish Malhotra or whoever.
Combine that with the stress of planning your big fat Indian wedding, social media, Instagram and Pinterest...what’s a dulhan to do?
I decided to simplify it for you.
Who are the most popular Indian fashion designers? The best Indian bridal designers for weddings are:
Anita Dongre
Sabyasachi
Manish Malhotra
Gaurav Gupta
Ridhi Mehra
Jinashili
Anamika Khanna
Amit Aggarwal
Suneet Varma
Tarun Tahiliani
Arpita Mehta
Shantanu Nikhil
Falguni shane peacock
Abujani sandeep Khosla
Rohit Bal
Every Indian fashion brand has their own unique style and flare for looks they’re known for, and each has high end collections and mid-range collections.
Some are massive with locations in any major city, some are strictly on Instagram and custom order only. Shopping in India for wedding outfits can also be it's own adventure!
Some are bridal designers for women, some do both men and women, and some say they do wedding designs yet have just ten percent for the men.
They’re so many tips and tricks for looking unique and gorgeous during your big day (HINT: more money doesn’t mean you’ll look better) that I’ve decided to explain all the factors that make each designer stand out.
Remember: Just because a designer is expensive does not mean they’re better! Do a blind test with your friends (e.g. send them images without designer names on them) and see which ones they like! You’d be surprised how your mind biases your senses based on supermodels, photoshop, makeup and Instagram likes!
What To Wear to an Indian Wedding?
If you’re an Indian bride from Delhi or Bangalore or Mumbai, chances are you already know about anarkalis, kurtas, lehengas, sherwanis, jodhpuris and all of the usual Indian wedding clothes.
We have a full guide on what to wear to an Indian wedding for first time guests, including your Mehendi and Sangeet with reference outfits in all ranges.
We also have a full guide on how much Sabyasachi Outfits cost in dollars.
However, if for example you’re an NRI bride or not familiar due to background with Indian tailoring and textiles, go ahead and also get up to speed reading that and come back here.
It’s very important you’re up to speed and the basics of Indian fashion so when you do go into these shops you aren’t intimidated and get caught up and make a costly mistake!
You know how when you’re buying a car the dealer might sneakily ask you about a $1200 sound system at the end, and because you’re caught up in the moment you’ll say yes? Then you’ll get home and realize you just wasted that money because it was totally not required and also super overpriced?
Indian luxury designers are known for doing the same thing! So get educated!
Amazon USA Kurta outfit for a Mehendi for a guy who's 5'8 and 165-175 pounds
Amazon USA Sangeet Outfit for a guy 5'8 who is also 165-175 pounds.
Amazon USA: Simple Ladies outfit for Mehendi
Amazon USA: Beautiful Outfit for Sangeet or Reception for Female Guests
Top Indian Fashion Designers for Bridal Attire
Here are 15 of our favorite (and some very famous) fashion designers from Mumbai and Bollywood, Delhi, Hong Kong, Calcutta and everywhere in between.
REMEMBER: EACH DESIGNER IS GREAT AND NOBODY WILL KNOW "WHO YOU'RE WEARING" EXCEPT YOU!
1. Anita Dongre
Every mall and major shopping area in India has an Anita Dongre showroom. As a result, she’s moved beyond super high end designs to the mid-range market as well including frocks and gowns. Her stuff is for upper middle class Indian brides who want something gorgeous but not crazy over the top.
A step above minimal and a few steps down from insanely royal and heavy, she’s a great choice depending on the lehenga or sari you choose.
A fan of pastels (who isn’t?) and breezy outfits is one way to describe her lines. They do have an elegant Jaipur line thats looking like all the Sabya rage these days as well.
Great For: Wedding ceremonies and mehendis or just a nice cocktail function. Also has many casual everyday wear options like jumpsuits dresses.
Costs: Bridal Lehengas are between 70,000 INR (around $1,000 USD) up to 350,000 INR ($5,000) USD and their website says it takes about 8 weeks. Although if you’re in NYC or nearby I’d suggest you just go to their shop there because who buys a $5,000 dress by mail?
2. Sabyasachi
When it comes to the epitome of luxurious high end weddings, Sabyasachi is the Vera Wang (or maybe higher?) of Indian bridal. Extremely royal lehengas with palace vibes, one look at the classic Sabyasachi lehengas and gowns and you know it’s not going to be cheap.
Sabysachi is easily the best wedding dress designer in India.
Famous clients include:
Kim Kardashian,
Beyonce,
Priyanka Chopra,
Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh
the Ambanis
and pretty much any other famous multi-millionaire or billionaire seen at Indian weddings have rocked Sabyasachi dresses at one or all of their functions.
Even the wedding dresses for men they have include hodhpuris, Sherwanis and some Kurtas which are all insanely priced. They look great, the models Sabyasachi chooses are impeccable (along with their photographers) but make sure you go visit a store and try it on properly.
Almost everybody I know goes into a Sabya store in Mumbai or Delhi and gets caught up with the “urgency” even though everyday bride and grooms are coming in.
No bride or grooms regret buying a Sabyasachi, but most agree if they bought something even at half the cost it would have been more than fine. You will look elegant and royal in almost any Indian wedding outfit since there is insane embroidery, jewelry, bridal hairstyles, makeup and a lot more that goes into your look.
Here’s a hint...there is no busy season when you have bride and grooms coming in your showroom everyday, it’s just business as usual.
We have a full guide on Sabyasachi prices. However, he is one of the top designers in the world for Indian wedding outfits and the first name that comes to the world’s mind when they think “Indian fashion.”
A typical Sabyasachi sari takes around three to four months to make. So if you can easily afford it and have the time for a few India trips (Yes, you need to go there to see what you’re getting in real life), go ahead and pick one up!
Great For: Your big fat wedding ceremony. Also nice choices for Mehendi functions. Women’s line is much more exhaustive than mens.
Costs: Bridal Lehengas are between 300,000 INR (for something in the lower to middle range) all the way up to 1400,000 INR. That means $4500 for the basic Indian wedding dress they offer up to $15,000. And you’ll wear it once.