It is not required to wear traditional Indian dresses, but you are more than welcome to do so! If you choose to do so, there’s more information below. If you choose to not wear Indian clothes, you can wear dresses that would be appropriate for a church wedding (covered shoulders, approximately knee-length dresses or longer).

There are different styles of Indian dresses appropriate for weddings: sarees and lehenga cholis (also called 'chaniya cholis'). You might be more familiar with sarees, but I highly recommend going with lehenga cholis for the wedding ceremony, because the sarees are very difficult to put together with the pleating, wrapping of fabric, etc. (it can take 40+ minutes to put together). They are considered just as fancy as sarees and so much easier.

The lehenga choli includes a blouse, skirt, and scarf.

In terms of the fit, the skirt will hit just above your belly button (usually with a draw-string waist). The blouse will hit about an inch below the bust, leaving about 2 inches between the blouse and skirt. If you prefer, you can wrap the scarf so it covers your stomach as well.

Websites
There are websites with some great options.

I've ordered from Mirraw: https://www.mirraw.com/store/lehengas?category_ids=777&sort=bstslr
For women's clothing, you can select 'Wedding' as the occasion, and they will provide options for wedding guest attire. There are some nice options of different price ranges, but you should not need to spend more than $100.My friends have also had good experiences with the quality from Kalki online: https://www.kalkifashion.comOther websites: Indian Wedding Saree: https://www.indianweddingsaree.com/Utsav Fashion: https://www.utsavfashion.com/ Lashkaraa: https://www.lashkaraa.com/

Tailoring/ordering online
If you are ordering online, the skirt will typically have a draw string (one-size-fits-all), so no need to worry about the sizing here.

You will see a few different options for the blouse fitting:

1) Semi-stitched
The top will be semi-constructed, but you will need to get it tailored to your measurements

2) Standard stitching
You will use the size chart on the website to determine the best fit based on your measurements

3) Custom stitching
You will provide your custom measurements

*I would recommend going with standard or custom stitching since it might be difficult finding a tailor who works with Indian clothes. If in doubt, I would just order up, it will be easier to take in the blouses.

Stores
If you prefer to buy in person, the prices will likely be much higher than you would like to pay, but this could be helpful to get an idea of the fit and how everything will look.

Here are stores in the Detroit area I found online (below). I have not been, so I do not have background on the quality, pricing, service, etc.

Sanskriti Fashions in Troy (3656 Rochester Rd, Troy, MI 48083): http://www.sanskritifashions.com Bollywood Fashion in Sterling Heights (38936 Dequindre Rd, Sterling Heights, MI 48310): https://bollywood-fashion-clothing-store.business.site

Here are a couple of stores in the Chicago area on Devon (below), the street with all of the Indian restaurants and shops. There are also many more within 1-2 blocks of the stores listed below.

Chandni Exclusive (2419 W Devon Ave #21, Chicago, IL 60659): http://chandniexclusive.comDulhan's (2635 W Devon Ave, Chicago, IL 60659): no websiteRaaz Inc (2317 W Devon Ave, Chicago, IL 60659): no website

Colors to avoid
-Red and Fuchsia/magenta (these are colors brides wear for ceremonies)
-Black and white

Shoes
Flat sandals or wedges are just fine (you won't really see them anyway).

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