Trosseau shopping in South Asia

In South Asian culture, it’s not unheard of to go back home to shop for your wedding, whether that be India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, etc. In fact, many brides do just that in order to save time, money, and have a larger selection of choices for wedding fashion. I did my own Reception shopping in Dhaka, Bangladesh and recently completed wedding shopping for my brother’s upcoming wedding in Dubai, Dhaka, and Kolkata.

Here are some important things to keep in mind when shopping abroad;

DO:

• Plan far in advance. -Make sure you have adequate time for you each city or area of a city you plan to shop in.
• Try to take a local wherever you go as you will get ripped off if anyone senses you are a tourist .
• Do go to popular stores/stores that carry a high volume of wedding attire.
• Research fashion trends so you know what is out there and recent.
• Act like you are willing to buy–show interest in everything whether or not you like it. Once the sales person has gotten a grasp of your taste, he will show you more of what you want.  If you act uninterested in even the “uglier” items, he will get frustrated and think you are not there to buy anything.

DON’T:

• Buy the first thing you see! There will be plenty of other options for better deals and perhaps even quality.
• Share too much about where you are from–sales people can be shady and will sell you older designs if they sense aren’t a local.
• settle for anything. Bargain, bargain, bargain!