In my post on Tuberose – real flower jewelry, I wrote about how I wanted to learn netting and to make floral hair accessories. I found an excellent tutor, Bhuvana of Bhuvana’s floral venis near my home and after many cancellations and postponements (I am not the easiest student!) I finally attended one of her workshops on January 26th. She was so sweet to customise the workshop for me, as I told her that I already knew some of the techniques she was teaching and wanted to learn other more advanced techniques instead. That was really magnanimous on her part, as it is not easy, to teach different techniques to different, that too in a group setting.
After Flag hoisting at my college ( It was republic day), I came home, took some much needed rest and then went to the workshop around 1PM. It was already in full swing (with the other participants attending a full day workshop) with Side bun clips and Venis being made.
Veni
I had tried to make it one before by myself following a Youtube tutorial by K Sripriya Kanigolla
How to wear veni?
Coming to the arrangement of the veni, it must be tied at the nape of the neck using the threads provided at the end of the flowers. The end cords can be tucked into the plait and hidden from view. Then the veni must be secured on the head using “U” pins or bobby pins at equal intervals or stiched on to the hair using needle and thread. Since venis are lightweight, upto three different ones can be worn on the hair at the same time but when wearing more than one, hair dressers recommend using the needle and thread method as too many pins on the hair can be uncomfortable.
Here is a picture taken during a hair and makeup workshop I organised for my students in late 2015. You can see a student model posing in a simple yet traditional South Indian celebratory hairdo. She is wearing moon beam flower round veni (sprayed gold) and Jada billai (tear drop embellishments) through the length of her braid apart from a Rakodi on her skull, tikka (netti chutti) at her forehead and kunjalam (tassel) at the end of her braid. This is a very simple look meant for smaller functions or for bridesmaids. The bridal hairdo is much more elaborate.
This was not the end of my workshop as I learnt how to make floral nets too, come back in a couple of days to read the part two of this post. In the meanwhile do share your thoughts in the comments.
I hope you found it interesting
Cheers
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