The Wedding Manual

Indian ethnic wear has always been loved by people. The ethnicity and beauty you find leave everyone in awe. And when it comes to bridal lehengas, every bride wishes to be dressed in the most beautiful way possible. Today’s brides do not want to be dressed in an old fashioned way. They all want an oomph in their attire and want to get dressed smartly. If you are also about to get married soon you should be aware of the styling ideas.

You can style them in any way you want as per your taste and choice of fashion and style statement you carry. The same goes for the bridal lehenga as well. The way you drape the dupatta of your lehenga speaks a lot about a sense of fashion & styling. It can be draped in multiple ways and as a bride-to-be, if you want to rock your wedding or pre/post wedding functions like a diva, you definitely need to know this.

The way a lehenga dupatta is draped depends on the fabric of lehenga, the design and style of lehenga, the jewelry, and of course the tradition.
For example: In terms of cultures, draping a dupatta in Gujarati is different from that of Punjabi style. In terms of the fabric, the way of draping a velvet dupatta and a mesh dupatta is entirely different whereas, in terms of design and style, the way in which a heavily embroidered or embellished dupatta is draped is different from a simple dupatta with borders. The same goes for the jewelry design too. So you need to be quite particular about what style you opt for draping a dupatta.

So, take a chill pill and get ready to go through an exciting phase of informational content about draping styles. Here are some styling ideas which you can choose for your big day so that you look mesmerizing enough to captivate everyone’s attention.

1. Double Drape Dupatta

The trend of double drape dupatta is an evergreen one and started rolling out from one of the best designer’s couture i.e. Sabyasachi Mukherjee. If you have a look at his brides and the collection of outfits, you will find plenty of double drape dupatta styles in his collection. This style actually looks exquisite and is a big hit among the brides.

If you wish to opt for this style, you can go but make sure to carry the heavy dupatta over your lehenga while keeping the lighter one over your head. Also, you can add a pop of color in your lehenga if your lehenga is in a monochromatic look. For this, you need to take a contrasting color so that your overall look turns out to be vibrant and elegant. However, the double drape is not just limited to wearing two dupattas. There are several versions of this royal style.

Simple Style

In this one, the dupatta is used for draping and the other one for covering the head. This keeps the look simple yet classy.

Belted Double Drape

If you want to add an X factor into your lehenga, you can also wear a belt on your waist. One dupatta is worn on the shoulder with nice pleats and the other one is worn on the head. The belted double drape gives a contemporary touch to this otherwise royal look.

If you have a look at the Bollywood brides who looked like absolute divas, you will find that many of them opted for this style. A lot of mixing and matching can be done with fabrics, designs, and colors to get that extraordinary look.

2. The Saree Style Drape

In this style, the dupatta is draped from the front in the same style as a saree. This is one of the classic draping styles and looks regal. Well, there’s a vibe of royalty in this look. All you have to do is to tuck the one end of your dupatta in the corner of your lehenga and take the other end of the dupatta and drape it over your left shoulder just like the ‘pallu’ of a saree. However, you can add pleats also if your dupatta has a heavily embellished or embroidered border. If your entire dupatta has some work on it, you can skip the pleats part as it will look more attractive on it.

3. The Cape Drape

In this draping style, the dupatta of your lehenga is worn over the shoulders just like a cape. It covers your shoulders as well as the back. You can pin up the dupatta on your shoulders to avoid slipping off. Also, it will give an illusion of a jacket over the lehenga. This gives a pretty cool and neat look.

4. Single Dupatta Head Drape

A single dupatta can be draped in multiple styles and one of the styles in which it is worn over the head. It doesn’t comprise of draping over shoulders or front. Just straight and simple classy look.

5. Single Dupatta Gujarati Drape

The single dupatta drape can be worn over in a Gujarati style too. In this, you can tuck the one end in the lehenga and bring the other end from back over the shoulders. Keep it pleated over the shoulders and let it flow in the front. You might have observed that the Ambani family has worn sarees in this style multiple times on various occasions since they belong to Gujarati culture.

6. Single Dupatta styled like double drape

This dupatta style is perfect for the brides who don’t want to carry two dupattas and yet want the royal look in their attire. A single dupatta is draped in the front covering your chest in a flowy style or a diagonal and the same dupatta will cover your head too. This gives an illusion of a double drape style. It is for the brides who find it difficult to carry 2 dupattas. If you’re also one of them but still want that extraordinary look, then this option is a go-to choice for you.

7. Flowy Front Style

The flowy front style is pretty common in Punjabi weddings. However, nowadays many girls opt for their style reason being it enhances the beauty of the outfit. If your choli/blouse is simple then this draping style is a win-win situation for you as it covers the chest in front with a dupatta. All you need to do is to take the dupatta and tuck it across the chest over the other shoulder. This makes up for a pretty exquisite look.

8. Diagonal Drape

The diagonal drape is one of the simple and basic drapes which gives you a simple yet elegant look. If you are one of the brides who want to avoid any fuss or hassle and wants to keep it simple, then the drape is definitely for you. You can keep the dupatta over any shoulder you like. Keep the pleated dupatta over your shoulder and take the entire other end and tuck it into the lehenga and you’re ready to rock without any fuss.

9. The Royal Drape

The name of the style itself implies the style of draping. This style is derived from the ancient culture of royal families. In this style, one end is worn over the shoulder while the other end is worn over the arm. This gives a look like the queens used to wear as depicted in the artistic creations.

10. The U Drape

One of the uber-cool and sexy draping styles that you’ll ever find is the ‘U’ Drape. In this, you have to tuck one end of the dupatta in the lehenga and the other end can be tied to the wrist or shoulders making a flowy ‘U’ at the back. It is a super perfect style for the brides with super gorgeous blouse/choli back designs. The versatility and ravishing look will make sure you stand out.

11. The Arm Drape

This draping style is the girliest and an all-time hit among the brides, bridesmaids, and all the girls out there. Despite being the easiest and simple draping style, it has been carried over by so many girls/women out there for a long time. All you need to do is to hold the dupatta in both the arms from the back (taking from one side to the other side). You can keep the direction of dupatta from inwards to outwards or from outwards to inwards. It’s all up to you.

12. The Right Shoulder Drape

It can be considered somewhat like a combo of saree drape and the Gujarati drape. In this style, one end of the dupatta is brought from the back towards and is pinned at the corner. While the other end of the dupatta is tucked in the lehenga. This style is unusual and has been loved by many brides out there.