Bridal lehengas from India, made for brides abroad
Hand-embroidered bridal and festive wear, ordered from abroad and fitted without you crossing an ocean to be measured. The same studio, the same twelve weeks, the same one designer.
Looking for Navratri rather than a wedding?
Chaniya cholis for garba, shipped abroad →
In India but outside Vadodara?
How it works if you are travelling in →
Rather just ask?
Tell us your city and your date →
Vadodara to your door. A wedding in New Jersey, a mehendi in Leicester, a reception in Toronto — the cloth still begins on a frame on Old Padra Road.
Distance changes the logistics, not the work. There are two ways this usually goes, and the first is far simpler than people expect.
The wedding is in India
You live abroad but you are marrying at home. Everything is settled on WhatsApp before you fly, fittings happen during your trip, and you collect the finished piece in person. No courier, no customs, no duty at all.
How to plan it around your tripThe wedding is where you live
The garment travels instead of you. Measurements are taken where you are, checked before anything is cut, and the finished piece is couriered — with the customs position for your country set out plainly below.
How remote fitting worksPlenty of families do a bit of both. Tell us which you are and we will build the calendar around it. Where a figure depends on your country, we have said so rather than guessing at it.
If the wedding is in India
This is the version we do most, and the one with the fewest moving parts. A family in New Jersey or Leicester is marrying in Vadodara or Ahmedabad, flying in a few weeks before, and there is a great deal to fit into that trip.
- Message months before you fly
Four to six months out, on WhatsApp. We settle the design, the colours and the embroidery while you are still abroad, so none of that eats into your trip.
- Measurements on a WhatsApp video call
Twenty minutes on a WhatsApp video call, weeks before you fly. The cloth goes on the frame before you land — that is what buys the time.
- Fittings during your visit
Usually one, sometimes two, arranged around everything else your family has booked. The studio is on Old Padra Road, ten minutes from most of the city.
- Collect it, finished
Boxed and ready before the functions begin. Nothing shipped, nothing declared, nothing to pay at any border.
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If your trip is short, say so early. We have built plenty of bridal pieces around a two-week visit — but only when the conversation started months before the flight.
If the garment travels instead
On WhatsApp, by message or video call, arranged around your timezone rather than ours. We ask about the functions, the venue, the jewellery you have inherited and the colours you actually wear. Photographs help; so does telling us what you do not want.
On a WhatsApp video call — the same thread you have been messaging on, so there is nothing to install and no appointment system to navigate. About twenty minutes, a tape measure and someone to hold the other end.
Nirali does the rest, watching where the tape sits and correcting it as you go. A local tailor can take them instead if you would rather, and we will still check them on the call. This is the step that decides the fit, so nothing is cut until it is right.
What to have ready, and what gets taken →Your lehenga goes on the adda frame and the karigars begin. We send photographs as it grows — many brides say watching it appear stitch by stitch becomes their favourite part of the whole wedding.
The finished piece travels to you, with time built in for a final adjustment if it is needed. Most NRI brides make a single visit to the studio. Some make none at all.
Counted backwards from your date.
The twelve weeks are the making. Overseas orders need a little air around them — for the measurement round at the start and the courier at the end.
- The conversation & the design5–6 months out
- Measurements checked, cloth cut4 months out
- On the frame, photographs as it grows3–1 months out
- Courier, and any final adjustment3–4 weeks out
Where the work travels
In the United States, most often New Jersey, Chicago, Atlanta, Houston and the San Francisco Bay Area — the cities where Gujarati families have settled thickest, and where a good part of the studio's American work goes.
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Beyond that: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and across Europe, as well as the Gulf — Dubai, Doha, Muscat — and East Africa. If your city is not on that list it almost certainly is not a problem; ask.
- Priyanka PatelAtlanta
- Khushi ShahSan Francisco
- Komal PatelNew Jersey
- Ruby GehaniTexas
Brides the studio has dressed in America, with their kind permission.
Ready before you need it
Pieces leave this studio on the date agreed, and more often than not before it. That is the whole discipline behind the twelve-week calendar: it is counted so there is room in it, not so it is only just enough.
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For a bride ordering from another country, the real fear is not the fit or the colour. It is the phone call three weeks out that begins "madam, there is a small delay" — when the flights are booked, the functions are printed and there is no second chance.
When a garment has to clear customs and reach another continent, finishing early is not a courtesy — it is the margin that makes the date safe.
If your timing is tight, say so at the start. We will tell you plainly what can be done properly in the weeks available, and what cannot.
Customs, country by country
A bridal order sits well above every country's duty-free limit, so the question is not whether there is a charge but how much — and the rules differ more than people expect. The United States no longer allows anything duty-free, Canada stops at CAD $20, the UK charges VAT above £135, and Australia allows AUD $1,000. All four are set out side by side, with what we will and will not tell you, on shipping & customs.
What brides abroad ask
I live in the USA but the wedding is in Gujarat. How does that work?
This is the most common version, and the easiest. Start on WhatsApp four to six months before you fly — the design, colours and embroidery are all settled while you are still abroad. Send measurements ahead so the cloth is already on the frame when you land, then come to the studio for a fitting during your trip and collect the finished piece before the functions begin. Nothing is shipped and there is no customs charge at all.
Can I do my fittings while visiting India?
Yes, and most brides flying in do exactly that. Usually one fitting is enough, occasionally two, and we arrange them around everything else your family has booked. The studio is on Old Padra Road in Vadodara, Monday to Saturday, 2 to 7 pm, by appointment.
How early should I contact you if I am flying in for the wedding?
Four to six months before the flight, not before the wedding. The making takes about twelve weeks, and it should be well underway by the time you land so your trip is spent on fittings rather than decisions. We have built bridal pieces around a two-week visit, but only where the conversation began months earlier.
Can I order a bridal lehenga from India if I live abroad?
Yes. A good share of the studio’s work now travels to families in the US — New Jersey, Chicago, Atlanta, Houston and the Bay Area most often — as well as the UK, Canada, Australia and Europe. The order runs the same twelve-week calendar as it does for a bride in Vadodara — the difference is that your measurements are taken with you on a video call, and the finished piece travels by courier.
How does a virtual consultation work — can you fit a lehenga without me being there?
On a WhatsApp video call, in about twenty minutes. Nirali takes the measurements with you rather than sending a sheet and hoping — she watches where the tape sits, corrects it as you go, and asks you to repeat any that look off. All you need is a tape measure and someone to hold the other end; there is no app to download and no appointment system, just the thread you are already on. Hand-embroidered pieces are also built with seam allowance for adjustment, which is the second reason remote fitting works. Between the two, overseas brides get the same fit as anyone who walks into the studio.
When should an overseas bride start?
Four to six months before the wedding. The making itself is about twelve weeks; the rest is the conversation, the measurements and the courier. If your date is closer than that, tell us honestly and we will tell you honestly what is still possible.
Will I pay customs duty or import VAT?
Yes, in every market we ship to, and the amounts differ sharply — the United States no longer has a duty-free allowance at all, Canada’s is CAD $20, Australia’s is AUD $1,000, and the UK charges VAT rather than duty. Those four answers have a page of their own, with the thresholds and rates set out side by side. What we do at our end is the same wherever you are: declare the parcel accurately, and tell you the declared value before it ships so your courier can confirm what you will owe.
What about shipping cost itself?
Shipping is quoted per order, since it depends on the weight of the piece and the destination. Ask on WhatsApp with your city and we will give you the real figure before you commit to anything. Families ordering several pieces together usually find one parcel works out better than three.
Do you make for the whole wedding, not just the bride?
Yes — sangeet, mehendi, haldi and reception pieces, family outfits, and menswear including boys’ kurtas. Families ordering several pieces together usually find the courier works out better that way too.
Can you remake my mother’s lehenga if I am not in India?
Yes, and it is some of the studio’s favourite work. The garment travels to Vadodara, the original hand embroidery is kept at the heart of it, and it is rebuilt to your body. Talk to us first so we can tell you what is possible before you post anything.
Duty, VAT and GST country by country: shipping & customs.
Begin with a message.
Tell us your date and your city. We reply personally — usually the same day, and we will work to your hours, not ours.