Notes from the studio.

The lehenga is bought. The jewellery has to happen anyway. This is the order we use when a bride gives us five minutes and a photo.

Start with the choker. It's the one piece every guest will meet face-on, so it does the most work per gram of metal. Match its metal to the zari — warm gold embroidery wants warm gold; cool silver embroidery should never meet a rosy pink. If the blouse is heavily embellished, a clean, smooth choker; if the blouse is quiet, you can afford detail.

Earrings come second, and they follow the choker's lead. If the choker already has a big focal stone at the throat, let the earrings be the small honest pair — big choker and big jhumkas together turn a face into a jewellery counter. One statement, one support, always.

Then the maang tikka, but only if the hairstyle has somewhere for it to live. A sleek middle parting can take it; a low bun in front of it, usually not. We have talked brides out of the maang tikka as often as into it. That's the job.

Bangles and the clutch ring finish the set, and here we break our own rule once: the hand gets to be loud, because hands move, and motion is what photographs. Two to four bangles on one wrist — never a full stack unless the sleeve covers them anyway.

The set isn't "done" when every box is checked. It's done when the whole thing makes a sentence you can say out loud.

Send us the photo and the date. We'll send back the sentence.

Four functions, one suitcase, and a small honest fear of the chain necklace coming back from the trip as a chain knot.

First rule: every piece travels in its own pouch, necklaces clasped before they go in. A clasped necklace cannot tangle — it can only tangle the chain, and a chain with its clasp shut has nowhere to start. That one habit saves more jewellery than anything we sell.

Second: pack for the outfit order, not the day order. The choker for the haldi, the bangles for the mehndi, the jhumkas for the pheras — pin each piece to its function with a mental tag, and dress in the same order the week has. The piece that gets left behind is always the one that had no job.

Third: keep metal off metal. Between functions, a necklace and bangles in the same pouch will politely file each other down. If you're out of pouches — and you will be — a cotton sock does the job. We say this with love, and a little shame, because we have all done it.

And fourth, the rule nobody packs for: the last function is the one where you'll be most tired and most photographed. Save the set you love most for it. Wear the confident new thing early, and bring the old favourite as the closer.

Packing is just staging. The performance is the week itself.

Need a set per function, without buying four sets? Message us with the four outfits — we'll build you four looks out of two sets and honest advice.