Lehenga Designer in Gurgaon: What Working With an In-House Designer Is Really Like

Search for a lehenga designer in Gurgaon and you'll find two kinds of places: shops that sell lehengas by designers, and studios where a designer sits down with you and makes one. Both are good choices for different brides. This guide explains the difference, what an in-house designer actually does, and what to ask before you choose one.

Designer lehenga shop or lehenga designer?

A designer lehenga shop sells finished pieces. You try them on, choose one, and it may be altered to fit. It is quicker, and you see exactly what you are getting.

A lehenga designer designs the piece with you: the silhouette, the colour, the fabric, the embroidery and the blouse, around your day and your measurements. It takes longer, and the result exists only for you.

House of Daisy does both. Our showroom has ready lehengas you can try today, and our designers create customised pieces made by our own karigars, in the same atelier as the designer label Bhumika Sehgal.

What an in-house designer does for you

• Listens first. Your functions, your venue, the time of day, your jewellery, what you love and what you never want to wear.

• Sketches with you. Ideas become a drawing you can change before anything is made.

• Chooses fabric and work with you. Swatches and embroidery samples, so you can see and feel them.

• Plans the whole look. Blouse, dupatta, latkans, and how the outfit moves when you walk, sit and dance.

• Talks honestly about budget. Where the work shows most in photographs, and where you can save. See what decides the cost of a customised lehenga.

• Stays with it until the fitting. With an in-house atelier, the person you designed it with can see the work as it's made.

Questions to ask any lehenga designer

1. Who makes the outfit? Their own karigars, or an outside workshop?

2. Will I see a sketch and a price before anything is cut?

3. How are my measurements taken and checked?

4. Will I see the work in progress? Photos, or visits?

5. How long will it take, and when is the final fitting?

6. Can I see pieces you've made before?

7. Do you do personal touches? Names, family fabric, latkans.

Our answers: our own karigars make it; you see the sketch and the price first; measurements are checked with you on a short video call before cutting; you get photographs at every stage; a customised piece takes about eight weeks from design approval, with a final fitting before your day. And yes, we do personal touches, from names on the dupatta to turning your mother's saree into your lehenga.

More than bridal lehengas

Our designers also make pieces for every other function and for the family: haldi outfits, sharara sets for the mehendi, reception gowns, anarkalis, and outfits for the mother of the groom.

Meet a designer

Bring your screenshots, your colours and the people whose opinion you trust to our showroom on Golf Course Road. The consultation is free, whether you buy or not. If you can't come to Gurugram, a free 30-minute video call works just as well. For the full design process, read how to design your own bridal lehenga.