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Quick answer
A bridal gift hamper used to mean a basket of cosmetics and a box of mithai. More families now send dry fruit instead, because it keeps through a week of functions, suits every side of the family and looks right on a shagun thaal. With the November to February wedding season starting, here is how to plan one.
Who are bridal hampers actually given to?
Rarely just the bride. A wedding produces a whole chain of small exchanges, and dry fruit fits most of them:
- The bride herself: from the groom’s family at the roka or engagement, or from a close friend in the week before.
- Her sisters, cousins and bridesmaids: a thank-you from the bride for the months of planning, dancing and running about.
- The roka and sagai trays: exchanged between the two families, with the contents on show.
- Shagun to elders: a tray sent with cash or a gift, to the grandparents and senior relatives on each side.
- The mehendi and haldi guests: small favours for the women who come to the smaller functions.
Each needs a different size. The roka tray must look generous and open; a bridesmaid gift must be small and personal; the bride’s own hamper should be something she keeps in her new home.
Mughal Peacock is a printed gift basket holding five tied pouches under gold net, five kinds of dry fruit in one gift. It is the one families choose for the bride from the groom’s side at the roka, or as the main shagun hamper, because it looks festive and generous in photographs and holds enough for a large family to share.
How do you match a hamper to the wedding colours?
Many brides now plan each function around a colour: yellow for haldi, green for mehendi, pastels for the sangeet, deep red or pink for the wedding. A dry fruit box that sits well with those colours ends up in the photographs instead of hidden under a table. This is how our boxes line up.
| Function or palette | Box that sits well | Suggested fill |
|---|---|---|
| Roka, gold and red | Mughal Peacock | Kaju, Mamra badam, pista, anjeer, kishmish |
| Engagement, ivory and gold | Ivory Damask | Jumbo kaju and Mamra badam |
| Mehendi, green | Golden Heritage | Five kinds with pista prominent |
| Sangeet, pastel pink | Blush Leaf | Kaju, badam, apricots, kali dakh, pista |
| Haldi or a white and blue theme | Porcelain Bloom | Six kinds including seeds and kishmish |
| A keepsake for the bride, pink | Peacock Mahal | Medjool dates and pista |
None of this is a rule.
What makes a good gift for the bridesmaids and sisters?
Something identical for all of them, small enough to carry home from the venue, and good enough that nobody leaves it behind. Two jars is the right size. Put a short card inside in the bride’s own words, with each friend’s name, and it becomes the gift they remember from the wedding.
Ivory Damask is a twin window box in ivory and gold, with a ribbon handle and two jars. It suits bridesmaids, sisters and cousins: it looks bridal without being loud, the handle means it can be carried from the venue in one hand, and it works when you need fifteen or twenty identical gifts.
How much dry fruit goes on a roka or shagun tray?
The tray is about appearance first, so five or six kinds in moderate amounts look better than two kinds piled high. Kaju, badam, pista, anjeer and kishmish are the usual five, and for the elders’ tray it is worth choosing Mamra over Californian badam; add apricots or seeds if the tray has a sixth section. Our wedding tray planning guide covers how to set the budget across the trays, and families from Rajasthan will find the customs in our Rajasthani wedding gifting note.
Porcelain Bloom is a six-compartment cream tray edged in blue and white flowers. With room for kishmish and seeds as well as the five nuts, it is the one for a shagun tray sent to elders or for a haldi function in a pale theme.
When should a winter wedding order be placed?
For weddings in the first half of November, which overlaps with Diwali, order earlier still.
More wedding ideas are on our wedding dry fruits page.
Questions people ask
Will the dry fruit stay fresh through a week of functions?
Each item is weighed and sealed the day it is packed, so it keeps well through a week of functions if kept cool and closed.
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Written at our counter, where these questions get asked every week.
