5 Mehndi Trends That Will Be Everywhere This Wedding Season

Mehndi is an important part of our culture, especially when it comes to weddings. Whether it is the bride or the wedding attendees, adorning hands and feet with henna is an age-old yet ever-evolving ritual.

From intricate and minimalistic designs rendered using white pigment to classic designs that transform the skin into artwork worthy of hanging in a gallery, there’s something for everyone. If you’re a henna enthusiast, there’s a good chance you have exhausted your phone’s memory with inspiration screenshots from Instagram and Pinterest for the upcoming wedding season. It’s serious business, after all!

Mehndi Design Trends

To make the process smoother this time, we reached out to some of thebest celebrity henna artiststo narrow down the mehendi trends we’ll be seeing everywhere in the coming months. Be prepared to update your inspiration mood boards…

Minimal Mehndi

While there’s no denying that the whole hand covered in intricate henna patterns has an appeal of its own, minimal designs will always have our hearts. Remember Alia Bhatt’s trend-setting bridal mehendi for her wedding? Jyoti Chedda, who designed Alia’s mehndi says that the minimalistic mehndi trend is going nowhere. “Alia wanted a delicate design that complemented the simple, intimate theme of her wedding which took place at her home,” she says.

Portraits In Henna

Brides who love adding personalised touches to their wedding ensembles, pay attention to this one. Jyoti believes that including portraits in the mehndi design is going to be a trend to look out for this season. “It is a great way to add personal touches to your mehndi by adding portraits of your spouse or even your pets,” she says, “Although it is a highly time-consuming and intricate process, the result is worth the wait.”

Redefined Florals

Florals are an evergreen trend, especially when it comes to henna. Usha Shah, the mehndi artist to celebrities like Isha Ambani and Ira Khan, reaffirms this and adds that experimenting with negative space and floral motifs is the way to go. “Floral designs let out a balance of femininity and elegance and provide an Indo-western look. Therefore, incorporating elements like peacocks and flowers like lotuses, roses, and lilies provides enough space between the drawings, thus allowing the viewer to decipher the design easily without being too complicated.”

Hand Jewellery Patterns

The hand jewellery mehndi pattern is an emerging trend and can serve the dual purpose of complementing your jewellery and adorning your hand with beautiful henna designs.  A Srinivasan, who designed Parineeti Chopra’s mehndi, says, “The hand jewellery pattern is unique because it arrests the viewer's attention almost instantaneously. When paired with the proper nail art, this design can create a gorgeous, jaw-dropping effect.”

Design That Tells A Story

What better way to revisit your love story than incorporating it into an intricate design that stains your skin semi-permanently? Usha Shah says “Brides and even married women on festivals like Teej and Karwa Chauth have been articulating a timeline of their relationship into their mehndi to surprise their loved ones. So, for anyone who wishes to add an element of nostalgia to their romance, the story-based mehndi design is a great pick.”