Mehendi artists giving the traditional practice a modern twist
Proving that mehendi truly is an art
Gone are the days of beige Bollywood weddings; while we love a good pastel colour scheme to tone down our desi maximalist weddings, we do miss the drama of it all. The tides are finally shifting — with every celeb wedding photo-shoot drop on social media as proof — as we return to more colour while seamlessly blending traditional and contemporary aesthetics.
Aditi Rao Hydari is the latest one to give us some serious wedding inspo, with her choice of minimal mehendi – a simple, elegant design featuring a crescent moon drawn with alta– that has captured social media’s imagination. Unlike the intricate, full-handed henna the bride usually favours, her design choice is a nod towards a growing trend of the modern-meets-traditional Indian bridal aesthetic.
As more brides embrace “less is more,” mehendi artistry is also evolving, showcasing more clean lines, negative space, and subtle patterns. Inspired by her style, here’s a curated list of mehendi artists who specialise in this refined approach to serve as inspiration for upcoming events. After all, wedding season is around the corner. Did you even attend a desi wedding without the deep red of henna staining your palms and feet?
Let these mehendi artists be your unconventional wedding mehendi inspiration
Known to many online as Dr Azra, Khamissa’s striking minimalist designs have a fan following of their own. Her artistry ranges from traditional motifs and delicate florals to shocking blocks, which she describes as her ‘more goth’ designs. If you want to be the rebel at the wedding, take inspiration from one of Khamissa’s bold designs. And if you’re a couple that bonds over anime, then you’ll love this one in particular.
All hail the queen of wedding mehendi artists because Sona Mistry will literally paint your palms with your entire love story. While not minimal in any way, her work is so detailed and fine that it looks like it’s been digitally printed. You have to see it to believe her talent, especially her portrait work that resembles a painting.
In the words of Miley Cyrus, you can buy yourself flowers. Or, with a balance of negative space and delicate blooms that twist and twirl around your arms, become the bouquet yourself like one of Wahid’s floral designs.
Who says wedding henna needs to be limited to your hands and feet? You could try mehendi as your body adornments rather than risking neck and back pain with heavy jewellery. If you want to accessorise with henna jewellery, then make note of Sabreena Haque’s geometric patterns that combine traditional details from South Asian, Moroccan and Arabic patterns.
She goes by l’Artista on Instagram, and we love the mystery as much as her minimalist henna designs, especially for the feet. These delicate tendrils look elegant, mixing delicate floral motifs with geometric precision. The strategic use of negative space highlights its minimalist charm, perfect for brides who wish to embrace the less-is-more aesthetic.
Maybe you find l’Artista’s design a little too minimal, or maybe your choice of footwear wouldn’t let you show off even an inch of it. In that case, you could go a tad heavier, and more intricate with Qureshi’s design which keeps things delicate, embraces negative space without filling up the canvas just for the sake of it.
Get a royal design to fit your fairytale wedding without having to sit for hours to get a large intricate pattern to be laid out. Kajee’s designs look like something you’d spot on a Mughal monument’s wall, the jaali windows or in miniature painting. They’re delicate and ornate, perfect for the Mughal royalty-themed wedding event, always with a kooky name like Persian Darbar (can we stop with the super specific dress codes, please?).
The festivities are over, and you’re back to sitting at your desk, click-clacking away at your computer, trying to make some coin in a concrete jungle. With Amjid’s design, you get to carry around a piece of nature in the palms of your hand for a little while longer.
