I asked you guys how much you spent on specific items that make up the Asian/Indian wedding day look. I was pretty surprised to find out the average cost of the wedding day look. Keep on reading to help you budget your wedding day look and create a realistic impression when it comes to taking these items through with the bank of mum & dad! Please remember that you can spend unlimited amounts and can also go with spending the least amount, these averages are based of my audience and I would say 100% realistic.

Bridal Hair & Makeup costs

One of the first things in the UK for sure is to go and book your hair and makeup artist asap. Their diaries get booked up pretty quickly and if you are dying to have a particular MUA for your big day then you would want to contact them as soon as you know your wedding date.

When it comes to the cost of this service it can vary drastically as you could opt for having celebrity hair & makeup artists such as Naveeda, Ambreen or even Dil Matharu. With the top end HMUA’s you can imagine that the cost would be a pretty penny too. So, when it came to the highest spend we had a result of £1,600 for the wedding day hair and makeup.

We obviously don’t have to spend as much as £1,600 and may opt for something more reasonable and easier on the pocket. When it came to the lowest spend we had a result of £110.

Average Spend: £761

Wedding Day Outfit

I have seen some crazy figures when it comes to wedding day outfits, but it also does make up the bulk of your wedding day look, or does it?! I do think every element of your bridal day look brings your whole look together and not just one item on it’s own.

Now if you have dreamt of being a Sabyasachi bride then the price of a Sabbya lengha must be pretty costly right? Especially if he has dressed the top A-Listers of Bollywood such as Anushka Sharma, Deepika Padukone, and Priyanka Chopra. The average starting price of a lightweight lengha is around £4,000! And if the typical super-heavy red lehenga couture collection is what you’re after, then the cost ranges from £8,000.

Not everyone can afford that price tag and we can still be spending a large amount when it comes to wedding lenghas. In the UK we have a lot of Bridal boutiques such as Monga’s and Frontier and even between these 2 stores the prices can vary greatly.

Our results with the lowest spend came in at £200 and the highest amount spent was £6,000.

Average: £2,074

Bridal Mendhi/Henna Costs

Bridal mehndi prices very depending on the amount of mendhi you will have done and also taking into account the time it takes. The results we had come in showing that prices can start from £0! You may have someone that would do it for free for you, a good friend maybe. With the highest coming out at £900.

Average: £360

Wedding Shoes Cost

Interesting when it comes to wedding shoes as you can get away with wearing a pair that you already have resulting in a cost of £0. However would you not want that special pair of wedding day shoes for the once in a lifetime event? I certainly did and a lot of you guys did too! Our minimum resulted in £5 spend on shoes with the highest being £600. Makes sense if you are to go with a designer pair that will easily set you back at a starting price of £300.

Average: £154

Wedding handbag Cost

This was also a very interesting element to receive feedback for! We had comments such as “Wearing a handbag that was previously her Grandmother” this is very touching and a great way to incorporate loved ones memories that are no longer here into your wedding day. We also had many that came back and mentioned that actually they received a complementary Handbag, I am guessing this is to match their wedding day outfits and this is a great idea. Handbag for the wedding day is also something that not everyone had because you will not be actually holding it at any point in the day, more like your Maid of Honour will be (would you consider matching your wedding day handbag to her outfit instead?). the prices we received back ranged from £5 - £300.

Average: £62

Choora & Kalirey Cost

Choora & Kalirey is one really lovely element of the Punjabi bride and other areas of India. I would say this along with the mendhi really is something that pulls together the “Indian” Bridal look. Now both choora & kalirey shouldn’t be a drastic cost unless you are looking to incorporate real gold/diamonds. To all my brides that come to me for the bespoke choora service I say budget around £150 for your choora, the price can come down depending on the amount of karay that go into the choora itself. With kalirey they can range starting from £50 - £200+, with the results we received the combined lowest cost came to £50 and the highest being £900.

Average: £237

Wedding Day jewellery Cost

Wedding Jewellery can go many ways! You can end up wearing something that is created from real gold & diamonds to something that is artificial. Either way you look at it this is one area I would set a slightly higher budget in mind than the one you have. There are also many styles of jewellery when it comes to picking the perfect look and you may have no idea until you start trying items on. The lowest jewellery cost spend came in at £150 and the highest being £20,000.

Average: £1617

 Image via @kiaraaliaadvani

Final elements

I did add a few more items that could add to your wedding day look, these items were Perfume and hair accessories. I didn’t ask the audience how much they spent on these but rather what I had on average spent on these items.

Perfume: £80

Hair Accessories: £35

Conclusion

All in all, the total average price came to £5,381. You may also choose to add or remove some of these items from your look which may increase or decrease your spend also. Please note that this is a guide to help you understand and budget for your up-and-coming wedding, these are not set prices and what you decide to go with may vary compared to what is listed here. You may also have another event such a reception on the next day if so you may need to think about doubling some of the costs (not all of them).

Hope this guide will help you when it comes to the wedding day look and have a realistic outlook of what some of the elements average out at.

Average total: £5,381