Lahore · Since 2015
Waqas Shah Official — Pakistani Bridal & Formal Couture, Lahore
A couture house on MM Alam Road, making hand-embellished bridal and formal wear to order for brides in Pakistan and for clients across the USA, UK, UAE, Canada and Australia.
Waqas Shah Official has designed Pakistani bridal and formal wear from Lahore since 2015. Each piece is cut only after it has been ordered, made to the bride's own measurements where she asks for them, and finished in our Lahore studio before it leaves.
What is set by hand and what is machine-worked, which fabric carries which weight, and how long each line takes are all set out further down this page and, garment by garment, on every product page.
Our studio is at 39-A MM Alam Road, Block B1, Gulberg III, Lahore. You are welcome to come and see the fabrics and handwork in person before you commit to a bridal order — photographs carry only so much.
Open Monday to Saturday, 11am to 9pm, and Sunday from 3pm to 9pm. Bridal appointments are worth booking ahead, particularly in wedding season. Call or WhatsApp us on +92 310 0001250.
Many of our brides order from abroad without ever visiting Lahore. They choose online, go through their measurements with our team over WhatsApp, and receive the finished piece by tracked courier.
Import duty and local taxes are paid on arrival and vary from country to country, so we keep a separate guide for each: United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and the UAE.
The Collections
Bridal lehenga and lehenga choli, gharara and sharara, pishwas, long shirts, wedding gowns, saree and luxury formals — cut and made to order in our own atelier, and shipped free worldwide.
A Pakistani wedding is not one outfit. Each function has its own palette and its own weight of work, and we make for all of them — for the bride, and for her sisters, cousins and mother in complementary shades.
Every piece is cut after you order it, so the silhouette is chosen for you rather than pulled off a rail.
Sizes run XXS to XL as standard, and on most designs your own measurements cost nothing extra — sleeve length, neckline depth, waist fit. Here is how it works:
Every product page also carries that garment's own flat measurements in inches and centimetres, plus the model's measurements and the size she is wearing — so you are judging fit against something real rather than a label.
Fabric decides how a piece falls and how much handwork it can carry, so it is chosen design by design rather than by season.
Most pieces are both, and we say which is which on every product page rather than calling everything handmade.
Embroidery that lays a pattern across a lehenga or a large panel — tilla, sequins, resham thread, mirror work — is machine work, and it is what gives a skirt its all-over shimmer.
Hand embellishment is where the eye actually lands: the neckline, the cuffs, the waist belt, the borders. That is where zardozi, dabka, naqshi, gota, pearls and crystals are stitched on piece by piece.
Each product page tells you exactly which panel is which. You are not buying a description; you are buying a specification.
Colour in a Pakistani wedding follows the function more than the fashion of the year.
For Baraat, red remains the traditional choice, with deep maroon and jewel tones close behind. Nikkah leans to ivory, powder and soft gold. Walima and reception are where contemporary shades — dusty rose, midnight blue, champagne — do their best work.
Nothing sits in a warehouse waiting, so the timeline starts when you order:
| Category | Making time |
|---|---|
| Ready to Ship | Dispatched in 24 to 48 hours |
| Luxury Pret | About 4 weeks |
| Luxury Formals | 5 to 6 weeks |
| Bridals | 2 to 3 months |
Shipping is free on every order, in Pakistan and worldwide. Add 2 to 5 days within Pakistan, or 7 to 14 days internationally with DHL or SkyNet, once the piece is finished.
Import duty for the US, UK, Canada, Australia and the UAE is covered in the country guides above. Anything else is answered on our FAQ page.
Mehndi Dresses Mayon Dresses Nikkah Dresses Baraat & Wedding Reception & Walima Engagement Qawali Night Shendi Wedding Couture Bridal Couture Bridal Dresses
Bridal Lehenga & Lehenga Choli Gharara & Sharara Pishwas Wedding Gowns Long Shirts Saree Luxury Formals Luxury Pret
Testimonials
Real experiences from clients who have trusted Waqas Shah for bridal, Mehndi and formal couture.
Real client experiences • Original Google reviews • Waqas Shah Official
What the garments are, which one belongs to which function, how they are made and what they cost. Ordering, sizing and delivery are answered in full on our FAQ page.
Returns: every piece is made to order, so we do not take returns for change of mind, but a defective or incorrect piece reported within 5 days is put right. See our Refund Policy.
A pishwas is a long, open-front Pakistani frock with a fitted bodice and a wide circular flare, worn over a lehenga or straight trouser. It is usually finished with a heavy ghair border at the hem, and because it opens down the front it reads as more dramatic than a closed maxi while staying easier to move in than a full bridal lehenga.
You will see it spelt peshwas and pishwaz as well — all three are the same garment. Ours are in the Pishwas collection.
A lehenga choli is a three-piece skirt set, a pishwas is a long open-front frock, and a gharara is a wide-legged trouser joined at the knee. A lehenga choli pairs a short fitted choli with a full flared skirt and a dupatta, and is the most common bridal shape. A pishwas is worn over a lehenga or trouser. A gharara meets its pleated legs at a decorated knee seam called the gota; a sharara flares from the waist, with no knee seam.
We also make wedding gowns, long shirts and a small saree selection. Anarkali sets we do not make.
The lehenga is both: a subcontinental garment worn at weddings in Pakistan and India alike, though Pakistani bridal lehengas are styled more covered, with heavier hand-worked borders. A Pakistani bridal lehenga usually has a longer choli, a heavy ghair border at the hem and a dupatta draped over the head rather than the shoulder, and it is cut for a particular function — Mehndi, Nikkah, Baraat or Walima.
Everything we make is cut and finished in our own Lahore studio. See the Pakistani bridal dresses.
Wear yellow or marigold for Mayon, bright greens, oranges or yellows for Mehndi, ivory or pastels for Nikkah, a heavy red lehenga for Baraat, and pastels or metallics for Walima. Mayon is deliberately light, in Mayon dresses. Mehndi is the loudest night, so pick shades that photograph under lights, in Mehndi dresses. Nikkah is the quietest and most covered, in Nikkah dresses. Baraat is the heaviest piece a bride owns, in wedding dresses, and Walima moves to ice tones, in reception dresses.
We also cut for engagement, Shendi and Qawali night.
Red is still the classic Pakistani bridal colour for the Baraat, but modern brides now choose a different palette for each of their five or six wedding functions. For Mehndi, green and orange sit alongside fuchsia and deep teal. Nikkah takes ivory, blush and powder blue; Walima takes dove grey, lilac and champagne.
Colour behaves differently under daylight, tent lighting and a photographer's flash. If you are choosing between two shades, message us on WhatsApp and we will tell you how each one has photographed for other brides.
Luxury pret is our lightest, quickest line, luxury formals carry denser handwork, and bridal couture is fully hand-worked and the heaviest, taking two to three months. Luxury pret suits a mehndi you are attending rather than hosting and is ready in around four weeks. Luxury formals are worked across the bodice and hem and take five to six weeks. Bridal couture carries months of embroidery in a single piece.
If you want something in days rather than weeks, the ready to ship pieces leave the studio within 24 to 48 hours.
Waqas Shah pieces combine machine embroidery for the all-over pattern with hand embellishment — zardozi, dabka, naqshi and gota — at the neckline, cuffs, waist and borders. Zardozi is raised metallic work that gives a bridal hem its weight; dabka is fine coiled wire couched down stitch by stitch; naqshi is small faceted metal that catches the light; gota is woven ribbon laid along an edge.
Tilla, sequins, resham thread and mirror work carry the larger panels. Every product page says which part of that garment is hand-set, and in which fabric — raw silk, velvet, organza, net or chiffon.
Waqas Shah luxury pret costs Rs.29,400 to Rs.75,000, luxury formals Rs.66,400 to Rs.175,000, and fully hand-worked bridal couture Rs.375,000 to Rs.850,000.
The exact price of each piece is on its product page, because it follows the fabric and the hours of handwork rather than the category. To see the fabrics first, visit our studio at 39-A MM Alam Road, Gulberg III, Lahore (Monday to Saturday 11am to 9pm, Sunday 3pm to 9pm), or message us on WhatsApp and we will talk you through what fits your budget.
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