What to wear to every wedding function, without buying a thing

An Indian wedding is not one event. It is five, and each has its own dress code, its own light, and its own set of photographs you will look at for the next thirty years. Buying for all of them is how people end up with four garment bags they never open again.

Mehendi — colour, and sleeves you can push up

You will be sitting for two hours with your hands out of action. Choose something you can eat in, that will not crush, and that photographs well against a courtyard. Yellows, parrot greens and fuchsia all work; sleeveless does not, because the henna goes past your elbow.

Sangeet — the one to spend on

This is the function with the dancing and the reels. A lehenga with real movement earns its place here more than anywhere else. If you are renting exactly one piece for the week, rent it for this night.

Haldi — something you do not mind ruining

Turmeric does not come out. We say this plainly because people ask us every season: do not rent for haldi. Wear an old kurta you already own and love slightly less than you used to.

The wedding — read the invitation

If the ceremony is at dawn, you want lighter fabric and a dupatta that stays put through a two-hour ritual. Evening ceremonies allow the heavier work — the tissue, the zardozi, the pieces that catch light.

Reception — modern is allowed

A gown, a saree with a structured blouse, an anarkali: this is the one function where the rules relax. Choose the silhouette you actually like rather than the one you think is expected.

Five functions, five looks, one week. Rented, that is a fraction of what a single bought lehenga costs — and nothing goes into a cupboard afterwards.