Lehengas in Ottawa

A lehenga choli is three pieces — the flared skirt, the fitted blouse and the dupatta — and the balance between them is what makes or breaks it. Guests get an easier job than brides here: you want something that photographs beautifully, stays comfortable through a long evening, and does not compete with the bride. That narrows the field usefully.

Weight is the decision

A heavily worked skirt is stunning and is genuinely heavy after five hours. Most guests are better served by organza or chinon, which flare properly without the weight, or a lightly panelled dola silk that keeps some structure. If there is dancing — and at a Punjabi wedding there is dancing — this is the difference between a good night and a long one.

Colour, and the one rule

The rule is simple: not the bride's colour, and generally not red at a Punjabi ceremony. Beyond that, emerald, teal, wine, dusty rose, powder blue and mustard all photograph well and are not what everyone else will be wearing. If you know the bride's palette, say so — matching the wedding without matching the bride is a five-minute conversation in the showroom.

Fit and hem

The choli through the bust and back is the piece that needs to be right, and the hem needs to be cut for the shoes you will actually wear. Bring them. A lehnga hemmed for flats and worn with a heel reads as too short in every photograph taken that night, and there will be a lot of photographs.

Ottawa venues are also worth thinking about — a January reception and an August mehendi ask for different fabrics, and a long dupatta is a genuinely different proposition in a crowded hall than in a garden.