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Indian Brides Turn Into Disney Princesses In B.C. Store's Ad Campaign (PHOTOS)

LOOK: Indian Brides As Disney Princesses

A South Asian couture shop in Surrey, B.C. has combined the traditional with the whimsical in a new photo series that imagines Disney princesses as Indian brides.

Well Groomed sells high-end Indian outfits and bridal wear. Creative director Jasmine Nijjar, who was the marketing manager, thought it would be effective to showcase the company's product by adding a level of fairytale.

As she explained to The Huffington Post B.C. in an email:

Growing up, girls were told the stories of the beautiful princesses in the Disney movies and books. It's a part of a childhood and the memories that you shared while listening to stories. In the Indian culture, weddings are looked at as the beginning of new book in your life, so clinging to childhood memories is an emotional process.

Transitioning into married life, a bride often chooses to emulate a princess because of those memories from her childhood. The connection/transition is truly beautiful on a deeper level.

It was important to show how Disney could translate into the traditional Indian aesthetic because of the differences between mainstream wedding styles and Indian weddings. Indian weddings are extremely extravagant and ornate and outfits are extremely bedazzled, whereas mainstream weddings are more simple, sleek, and polished. It was important to be able to marry the two styles and it was perfectly executed with the use of Disney!

The stunning images in "Once Upon A Dress" are featured in South Asian Bride Magazine's current issue.

According to the campaign's photographer Amrit Grewal, Disney princesses are a common theme for weddings in the Lower Mainland. The response to the campaign has been extremely positive, he said.

"There was finally a look that Indian brides could aspire to that worked with their ethnicity," Grewal told HuffPost B.C. in an email. "And as a team, we were extremely proud to have been able to provide that joy to them."

Snow White
Amrit Grewal Photography
"We built Snow White's set with a giant cherry tree that hung crystallized apples," said photographer Amrit Grewal.
Jasmine
Amrit Grewal Photography
"Princess Jasmine's shot was inspired by the Sultan's palace, so we accentuated the golds in her set."
Sleeping Beauty
Amrit Grewal Photography
"Sleeping Beauty's shot was inspired by the Harrods window displays in London, and we used thousands of leaves and pink flowers around a real bed to achieve the look. The dress that Sleeping Beauty wears is designed by Wellgroomed Designs Inc. and will set a bride back a whopping $10,000!"
Mulan
Amrit Grewal Photography
"For Mulan's shot, we used real swords and green turf to the emulate mountains from the movie."
Belle
Amrit Grewal Photography
"Belle's shot focused on her table setting that was created by Duri Khan from Universal Decor, who personally loved this look."
Rapunzel
Amrit Grewal Photography
"Inspired by Kim Kardashian's flower wall, we created a white rose wall that really offset the baby pink from Rupanzel's sari. To create her braid, we rolled hay (yes, hay) for about six feet with zap straps and wrapped the thick rope-like hay with matching blonde extensions. We adorned the braid with tens of thousands of dollars worth of jewellery and perched her on top of brick pillars."
Pocahontas
Amrit Grewal Photography
"We were really concerned about Pocahontas. We knew that we definitely wanted to include her, but were unsure of how we were going to portray her headdress without being offensive. (At that time, there was a large uproar from the Native community about Pharrell's headdress on the cover of a magazine.) So we opted to do a simple bejewelled headpiece with three single feathers."
Ariel
Amrit Grewal Photography
"Ariel was definitely the most detailed one, but one of my personal favourites. We really wanted to show off a tail look, so we clipped the sari at the knees and really accentuated the hips and tail fin. We used an aqua backdrop and built a rock-like platform so Ariel could stand on it. To give her a more sexy look, we used a short, strapless crop top."
Cinderella
Amrit Grewal Photography
"The vision behind Cinderella was Annie Leibovitz's shot. We went on location to the local [Vancouver] Hycroft Manor and used the outdoor stairs as her running point."

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