what to look for in a bridal gajra

The same object sells for ₹120 on a marketplace and ₹3,700 on Etsy, and in a listing photograph they look almost identical. They stop looking identical at nine in the evening, six hours into the function, under a photographer’s light. If you are buying an artificial bridal gajra online, almost the entire decision comes down to four things nobody puts in the listing.

1. Weight, which is the one that fails

A gajra heavier than the hair holding it migrates down the bun over about forty minutes and then comes out on the stairs. Plastic petals with metal pins are the usual offenders — they photograph beautifully and they do not stay put. Yarn and wire weigh almost nothing, which is the single biggest reason a handmade piece survives a full function.

2. What is inside the petal

Press a petal flat and let go. If it stays flat, there is nothing in it and it will fold the first time someone hugs you. A wire core springs back. It also means a piece crushed in a suitcase on the way to a destination wedding opens back out with your fingers.

3. Colour under light, not colour in daylight

Wedding halls are lit warm and photographers add more. Bright white reads cream, and cheap dyed synthetics go grey at the edges on camera. Ask for a photo of the piece under indoor light before you buy — any real maker has one, because they have been asked before.

4. Whether it can be matched

The lehenga is already bought. A gajra that is nearly the right pink is worse than one in a deliberate contrast. Anyone making by hand can match to a fabric photograph; anyone reselling cannot, and the answer to that one question tells you which you are talking to.

What we make, and what it costs

₹399 for a handmade flower clip, about 9cm across, that holds a full bun — with a stick version for thicker hair. Colours matched to your outfit from a photo in the order notes. Sets for sisters, cousins and bridesmaids in one colour across eight heads.

Ordering around a wedding date

• Single pieces — 2–3 days to make, then 1–2 days across Delhi NCR or 3–5 elsewhere in India.
• Ten or more — about a week. Twenty-five or more, two to three weeks.
• Colour matched from a swatch — add a few days, and send the photo early.

Flat ₹49 shipping anywhere in India. Made in Sector 45, Gurugram.