Bridal Trousseau Checklist, What to Pack for Your New Home

A bridal trousseau checklist covers everything the bride takes to her new home. That means clothes for daily wear, visits and festivals, toiletries and a health kit, a folder of her documents, and her jewellery with a written record of it. Plan for about the first two or three months. Anything else can be fetched on the first visit home.

In many families the trousseau is still packed in the old steel trunk or a set of new suitcases, and the women of the house help. The list below works for either.

What a Trousseau Is Today

A trousseau is the set of clothes, jewellery and personal things a bride takes with her after the wedding. In Hindi homes it is often called the dulhan ka saaman, and in many North Indian homes the bride's sasural bag.

The old idea was a lifetime of sarees in one go. Few brides do that now. A working bride in Pune who will be back at her desk in two weeks needs office clothes more than her twentieth silk saree. Clothes go out of fashion, and blouses stop fitting.

The trousseau belongs to the bride. Gifts made to her are hers, and that includes the jewellery from both families.

Clothing by Occasion

Count the outfits by what the first months will really hold. A simple split:

Also pack the blouse pieces that are not yet stitched, with the measurements written on a slip. A new tailor in a new town takes time to find.

Daily Essentials and Toiletries

The first week in a new house is not the time to borrow a comb.

• Toothbrush, toothpaste, soap or body wash, shampoo and conditioner
• Hair oil, comb, hair ties and clips
• Face wash, moisturiser, sunscreen and lip balm
• Deodorant and a perfume
• Kajal, a few lipsticks, bindis, sindoor or kumkum
• Nail cutter and a small sewing kit with safety pins
• Two towels and a few handkerchiefs
• A phone charger, a power bank and earphones
• A small mirror and a hand fan for summer weddings

Health and Hygiene Kit

Pack one pouch that only she uses.

• Sanitary pads, a menstrual cup or tampons, whatever she uses, for two cycles
• Pain relief medicine that her own doctor has suggested
• Any regular medicines, with a copy of the prescription
• Antacid, ORS packets and a basic first-aid set
• Her spectacles or contact lenses, with a spare pair
• A list of her allergies and her blood group, kept in the documents folder too

The first days have long rituals, travel and new food. Carry enough of every regular medicine for at least a month, so nobody has to rush to a chemist on the first night.

Documents Folder

Keep one zip folder with the originals, and a set of photocopies. Many brides also keep scans in their own email or phone.

The marriage certificate comes after the wedding. Our list of documents required for marriage registration shows what the registrar will ask for. If she chooses to change her surname, our guide to name change after marriage gives the order for Aadhaar, PAN and the passport. For Aadhaar, UIDAI keeps the list of accepted documents on its enrolment and update page.

Keep her own bank account in her own name. A joint account can be opened later.

Jewellery and Stridhan Record

Stridhan is the property a woman receives as gifts, before and at the wedding and after it: jewellery, money, sarees and other gifts. It remains hers.

Write it down. Make a list of every piece of jewellery and every large gift, with these columns:

1. Item and a short description (for example, "22K gold haram with ruby stones")
2. Weight in grams, and the HUID number for hallmarked gold
3. Who gave it, and their relationship to the bride
4. Approximate value and the bill number, if there is a bill
5. A photo of the piece

Make two copies. The bride keeps one, and her parents keep the other. It is also sensible to have the list seen and signed by both families.

The law supports this. Under the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961, presents given at the wedding without any demand are not dowry, provided they are entered in a list kept as the rules under the Act require. The rules ask for a short description of each present, its approximate value, the giver's name and relationship. Both the bride and the groom sign the list.

For hallmarked gold, the six-digit HUID on each piece can be checked in the BIS Care app, as the Bureau of Indian Standards explains. Record it in the list.

Heavy jewellery is often safer in a bank locker in the bride's name, or a joint locker she can open herself, than in a cupboard. Keep the locker key with the bride.

Packing Tips

• Pack in two lots: a small bag for the first three days and the bigger trunk or suitcases for later.
• Put the first-week bag on top: two sets of clothes, toiletries, medicines, the charger and the documents folder.
• Roll cotton sarees and fold silk sarees in muslin cloth or old cotton dhotis, never in plastic. Silk needs to breathe.
• Keep silk sarees with a few neem leaves or a cloth bag of cloves, and away from naphthalene balls touching the zari.
• Label each suitcase with what is inside, so she does not open five to find a nightie.
• Carry the jewellery and documents in hand luggage, never in the checked-in bag or the luggage van.
• Keep a printed copy of this list taped inside the trunk lid, and tick items as they go in.

Printable List

1. Daily wear: 6 to 8 sets
2. Office or college clothes for one week
3. Visit clothes: 4 or 5 sarees or suits
4. Festival clothes: 2 or 3 silk sarees or lehengas
5. Night wear: 4 or 5 sets
6. Shawl, sweater or raincoat for the season
7. Footwear: daily, formal and slippers
8. Toiletries and makeup
9. Health and hygiene pouch, with two cycles of sanitary products
10. Regular medicines for one month, with prescriptions
11. Documents folder: originals and photocopies
12. Bank passbook, cheque book and debit card
13. Jewellery, with the written list and photos
14. Phone charger, power bank and earphones
15. Small sewing kit and safety pins

The shopping that comes before all of this is in our wedding shopping list for the bride. If a younger sister or cousin is next in the family, you can make her biodata here. More guides are in the wedding planning section.