The bride with a stylist on speed-dial

SAMEEHA SHAIKH

Grazia’s beauty writer

With not one, not two, but six outfits to source for her nuptials, Sameeha decided to enlist the help of Zahra Sarfraz. The stylist, who has worked on editorials for South Asian bridal magazine Khush, is based between Karachi, Pakistan and London, which meant she was instrumental in helping the bride source two of her most important looks from Pakistan, for the Mehndi (a pre-wedding celebration) and the reception. ‘I wanted to celebrate Pakistani designers. They should be on the world stage,’ says Sameeha. ‘It’s not just the designers. It’s people working in the studios with nothing but their hands. I wanted to celebrate that and my culture as much as possible.’

Sameeha knew exactly what silhouette she wanted for her reception, ‘A long top, a skirt with a fishtail and a big veil. I was very specific. Zahra put together really considered mood boards then suggested designers, who she completely trusts, to me and set up appointments with them.’

Sameeha’s Mehndi outfit, created by Hussain Rehar, was a burnt orange dress with sharara (wide pants). Sameeha knew it was The One straight away. ‘It was the most divine thing.’ As a friend of the house, Zahra made the process as seamless as possible and also provided invaluable assistance when it came to the suite of jewellery for the Mehndi (a necklace, earrings, bangles, as well as the tikka and jhumar to form a headpiece). After not finding the jewellery she wanted in Pakistan, Sameeha ended up in Southall, video-calling Zahra. ‘I went by myself. I just had to to get things done. I couldn’t have my best friend or my mum, so Zahra functioned as that for me,’ she says. Zahra issued her instructions down the phone. ‘She was so calm: “No, you don’t need that. Take that off. Can you put that here? No, it’s supposed to fall there.”’

When Sameeha sent pictures from the make-up chair, Zahra was thrilled. ‘She was like, “Wow, Sammy, amazing, obsessed.’’’ Sameeha perhaps didn’t need as much hand-holding as other brides, but having the stylist by her side, or at the other end of the phone, was still invaluable. ‘She was very much a cheerleader.’