A wedding is an elaborate affair, one that often needs much planning and hustling to get things done. And there are hundreds of things that need to be taken care of. From choosing and printing wedding invitations and deciding on the clothes and jewelries for different functions to finding a photographer and makeup artist and, in today’s times, getting props ready for good photos, they all add up and things can be quite time consuming and bothersome. That’s where MP Luxury Bridal can help. Established to cater to brides, grooms, and their families, this is a one-stop solution for many of your important wedding-related needs.
A humble start
They had only Rs 5000 in hand when they first thought of establishing their own company. The task seemed almost impossible but it was their father who encouraged them and guided them at each step of the way. And that way, it didn’t seem like a herculean task.
“Smart phones and social media platforms were just becoming popular back then. I remember our father gave us Rs 5000 and told us to utilize the online platform to create something of our own,” says Prathana Udaya S. Shrestha who co-founded MP Nepal along with her sister Mahima Udaya S. Shrestha.
That is why these two sisters decided to open an online shop to sell ethnic jewelries in the year 2015. Unfortunately, they soon lost their father to cancer.
“After we lost our father, setting up our own business became a necessity. Prathana was in BBA first year and even I was still pursuing my studies. We had to make our business work in order to pay our tuition fees,” says Mahima, the elder one amongst the two.
Dedication and delight
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The primary idea behind MP Nepal was to bring in luxury, excitement and fashion into Nepali weddings. They first began by selling only ethnic jewelries and then slowly expanded to clothing and much more.
“For a year, we only had an online store. Then we gradually opened our own showroom after taking out a loan. We wanted to experiment with different products and make MP Nepal a complete package,” says Prathana.
That is how MP Luxury Bridal, which is a part of MP Nepal, came into form. MP Luxury Bridal aims to be a one-stop solution for all bridal necessities. They also provide packages for skin care, hair, makeup, photography, designer invitations, wedding props, readymade wedding wears and custom designed ethnic clothing.
Their primary motive is to help the bride and groom plan their entire wedding extremely smoothly. “When a bride comes to us, we take into consideration her feelings, her choices, her body type and most importantly her happiness and then create an outfit keeping all that in mind,” says Mahima adding that planning a wedding is often a challenging task and MP Luxury Bridal aims to turn that challenge into an experience.
This company wants Nepali brides to experiment on their wedding and enjoy the process as well. You don’t have to stick to traditional idea of a wedding with MP Luxury Bridal planning it for you. However, according to Mahima, if a bride wants traditional saree or lehenga at her wedding, then MP Luxury Bridal can very easily provide that too. But they are all up for experiments and unique designs to create designer outfits. In fact, they actually encourage their clients to try something different and they confess that though many are initially hesitant everybody seems to like the end result.
“We believe in lessening the burden of little things at your wedding. Most of the time brides are all around the place because they need to take care of every little detail,” says Mahima adding that her company helps the brides, grooms and their families to smoothly plan their outfits for their dream wedding.
Motivated by their own individual talents
Prathana is a BBA student at Kathmandu University and she is currently specializing in marketing. “I was studying marketing exactly at the time when it was easy for me to implement it at MP Nepal,” says Prathana. So she primarily takes care of the media marketing and finances of the company.
Mahima, on the other hand, is more inclined towards the creative side of their business. She had always been interested in wedding clothing, jewelries, designs, collections and photography. So Mahima conceptualizes the ideas and takes care of the artistic part of their job.
“It is both fun and difficult to be a part of a creative job. Brides, grooms, their families and friends sometimes have so many expectations from us that it can get extremely pressurizing. But, at the same time, bringing out our creative side by working under pressure is also something that we enjoy,” says Mahima adding that the two of them working together perfectly balances out things, and since they complement each other so beautifully running a business doesn’t seem all that taxing anymore.
Sisters as partners
According to Mahima and Prathana, the best part of sisters working together as a team is that they can discuss ideas as soon as it comes to them. “We do not have to arrange for meetings to discuss and deliberate upon things. We can just wake each other up at 1:00 am in the morning and share our ideas. That saves a lot of time,” says Prathana. Also their strong bond and trust for each other helps them accomplish any task with ease.
In their next project, they intend to include more Nepal inspired designs and Nepali authenticity in their products. And their future plan is to establish themselves as complete wedding planners. “We want to create a company that takes care of each and every thing at your wedding. Also, in the long run, our aim is to open a mall exclusively for wedding shopping,” says Mahima.
The best part is that even their customers seem extremely satisfied with their products. “One of our customers from the UK was so impressed by our products that she said that she wanted us to branch out in the UK as well,” says Mahima confessing that she was extremely delighted by the compliment. They were also flattered when, at a wedding, a 17-year-old girl told them that she wanted to grow up fast so that she could let MP Luxury Bridal design her bridal clothes.
It is these little things that keep the sister duo going and giving their business everything they have got. And they feel they have ventured into a business that can only grow with time as weddings are becoming bigger, better, and fancier than ever before.
Here’s a sneak peek at some of their wedding ensembles
Regal all the way
This bridal look was inspired by traditional Nepali jewelries and bridal colors such as red and green. There is also a royal vibe to this look as emeralds were usually only worn by kings and queens in Nepal. The look also derives influence from the royal crown of the once Nepali kings. This entire costume is a beautiful amalgamation of royal jewelries and basic Nepali red outfit worn by commoners.
Modern bride
This look was designed especially for a bride who wanted an outfit slightly different from the regular one. She was not really happy with the conventional red clothing worn by most Nepali brides and wanted to be slightly experimental.
The bride chose to wear a pink Banarasi saree with slight tinge of green. Her green blouse was heavily and beautifully embroidered. She also wore a light colored veil to glam up her look. Overall the color combination was perfect for a garden, daytime, outdoor wedding.
Kumari inspired
Inspired by the living goddess Kumari, this look was designed to give a dramatic appearance. A simple blouse is paired with good, heavy jewelry and Banarasi saree and the result is a bold yet elegant look. Also the saree is draped in a unique fashion. It almost looks like the bride is wearing a lehenga and draping it so also makes it easy for the bride to manage the heavy garment as well.
