Tiara Mehndi

Introduction

Finding henna styles that you like can be quite overwhelming. Unless you’re a bit obsessed with mehndi like I am it can be difficult to tell different styles apart! It may also be difficult to describe the different elements that you would really like included in your henna. This post will take you through the most common styles and elements to help familiarize yourself with bridal henna.

What do you want?!

Before thinking about style and elements it’s important to think about how much henna you actually want. At Tiara mehndi we offer bridal henna to suit all of our bride’s preferences. I have a lot of brides that don’t like mehndi and want to have as little as possible . They almost always ask me if they are getting enough mehndi done and my answer is always the same, your bridal henna is whatever you would like it to be! There is no maximum or minimal amount of henna you can have that makes it bridal.

Heavy henna up to the elbows is seen as traditional for brides, however I like to remind my clients that this is their wedding and they should do what they are comfortable with. By understanding how much coverage you would like, it will not only help you when it comes to looking at designs but also your mehndi artist in understanding your needs.

It is important to remember the level of detail is different to the level of coverage, as that is how intricate/detailed you would like your henna. You can also chose different levels of detail for the insides and outsides of your hands.

I have broken down the different levels of henna below:

Key Elements 

Now that you have decided how much mehndi you’d like, the next stage is deciding if there are any key elements you would like included or be made the focus of your design. I have included a picture below showing some of the most common elements I use in most of my henna designs. A design can be made up exclusively of one element or include all of them! It completely depends on your preference. A henna element can be anything that can be drawn. At Tiara Mehndi we are able to customise your bridal design to include elements that are unique to your relationship, or that may hold a sentimental value. If you have an idea of things you would like to be included in your bridal mehndi then you are halfway to having your design set out!  Also by being able to tell your henna artist exactly what you would like to include in your design, it helps make it easier for them to create your perfect bridal henna.

Finding your style!!

Have you ever wondered why, even though most henna designs are made up of the same elements, they all look completely different? Well the answer is style! Henna is like handwriting. Whilst everyone writes the same letters everyone has their own way of doing so. Now that you have a rough idea of what would like to be included in your bridal henna, by becoming aware of the different styles around you can ensure that the design is executed in the way you envisioned.  Take a paisley for example in traditional Indian bridal henna they will be very intricate with lots of detail filling them in. Whereas with Arabic style bridal mehndi the paisley will have a bold outline and lots of shading. By just looking a different henna designs most brides are able to tell that some are more similar than others. By becoming familiar with the actual styles it not only helps to make the design process more efficient, but also improves communication with your henna artist. At Tiara mehndi we are able to create designs in a whole range of styles to help bring our brides visions to life. I’m going to describe some of the most common different styles of henna below. However please don’t think that you are limited to just one style, some of the most beautiful pieces of henna I have seen are a combination of many different styles.

Arabic Henna

Arabic henna is big, bold and mainly floral. These types of designs create gorgeous deep stains as the lines are typically thicker than most Indian designs. They often include lots of shading rather than intricate fills. They are a lot less structured than Indian style designs and a lot less full.

Indian Henna

Traditional style Indian henna is very intricate with lots of detail. They often include motifs such as bride and grooms, elephants and horses. Traditional Indian bridal designs usually offer lots of full coverage and can even go all the way up to the bride’s elbows/knees.

Indo-Arabic Fusion

This is the most common type of bridal design as it takes the best of both worlds. You can have the detail of Indian henna with the striking bold elements from Arabic style henna. You can mix and match to create what you are looking for!

Contemporary Style

This style is more abstract and a lot of the newer styles emerging can be placed into this category. These styles of designs are often made up of new and interesting layouts that use the hand space in ways never seen before. Although they are made up of the same typical elements it is normally done in a unique way that gives them a whole new look.

Jewellery Style

This is one of my personal favourites, although it is not always suitable for bridal as it tends to be less heavy.  Jewellery style henna is striking as it normally has one main element and uses chains and small bead style designs to highlight it. You could even use your bridal jewellery as inspiration!

Finding your Henna Artist

Now that you know what you are looking for with regards to your bridal henna, you can use that knowledge to help find the henna artist that can create it! Although most henna artists are capable of creating henna in many different styles, they will all have their favorite style. Which is normally their best style too. When looking at different henna artists have a look at their work and see if it matches what you are looking for. Look at if you like how they have drawn the different elements or if you find yourself thinking you would change different parts of their work.

I hope you find this information useful. Feel free to leave any questions!

Jaz