Silk Saree Delivery and Unboxing Checklist: What to Check Before the Wedding

Open it the same day

Most disputes about a saree begin with a parcel that sat unopened for three weeks. Open it the day it arrives, in daylight, on a clean dry surface, and with your phone ready. If the outer packaging is torn, wet or crushed, photograph it before you open it. Almost every seller, ours included, will resolve a genuine issue raised on day one without argument. The same issue raised a month later is a conversation nobody enjoys, because neither side can prove what happened in between.

Film the unboxing if the piece is expensive

For a bridal Kanjivaram or anything above a modest price, a single continuous video from sealed parcel to unfolded saree takes two minutes and settles any question of what arrived. Keep the courier label in frame at the start. You will almost certainly never need it. On the rare occasion you do, it turns a difficult claim into a two message conversation. This applies equally to pieces bought in person and shipped later.

Check the piece is the piece

Compare against the photographs and description you were sent: colour, border width, motif, pallu design and length. Silk photographs differently under different light, so take it to a window before deciding the colour is wrong; a maroon under a shop tube light and the same maroon in daylight can look like two sarees. Check the length, which for a standard six yard should be around five and a half metres plus the blouse piece, and confirm the blouse piece is attached or included as agreed.

Inspect the zari and the border

Run the border between your fingers along its full length, both sides. You are looking for pulled zari threads, flattened patches from folding, and any place where the border has separated from the body. Hold the pallu up to the light and look through it for thin spots. On a Kanjivaram, check the korvai join where border meets body; it should be firm with no gaps. Our note on telling real zari covers how to judge the metal itself if that is your question.

Look for damage from transit and storage

Unfold the whole saree, not just the pallu. Look for hard fold lines, which usually relax after hanging but occasionally mark permanently on heavy zari. Look for water marks, which appear as rings with a darker edge. Look for small holes along the folds, which indicate long storage. Smell it; a strong musty note means damp storage and is worth raising. Check for loose threads on the reverse, which are normal in handloom in small numbers and a problem in large ones.

Check the papers

If the piece was sold as a silk mark or handloom mark saree, the tag should be attached and the number should match any certificate sent to you. Keep the invoice, the tag and any weaver note together, since they matter if you ever insure, resell or pass the saree on. Note the weight if it was stated, particularly for a Kanjivaram, since weight is a rough proxy for silk and zari content and a large discrepancy is worth a question.

How to raise an issue

Message the seller the same day with clear daylight photographs of the specific area, one wide shot of the whole saree, and one line describing the problem. Avoid opinions and describe what you see. Do not attempt to fix a pulled thread yourself; it usually makes the repair harder. Do not wash it, and do not have it pressed before the seller has seen it. A reputable seller will offer repair, replacement or return, and most will decide within a day.

Storing it until the wedding

Once you are satisfied, refold the saree along different lines from the ones it arrived in, wrap it in unbleached cotton or the muslin it came in, and keep it flat in a dark cupboard away from damp. No plastic, no naphthalene against the fabric, no hanging for months on a metal rod. If the wedding is more than a month away, take it out and refold along fresh lines once in between. Our note on storing silk sarees covers the longer term.

Before the day itself

Take the saree out at least a week before, hang it in shade for a few hours to let the folds relax, and have it pressed only if it needs it, on low heat with a cloth between the iron and the zari. Give it to the draper the night before rather than the morning. If a fall or pico needs stitching, that should be done two weeks ahead, not in the last three days when every tailor in the city is busy.

A short checklist

Open the day it arrives, in daylight. Photograph or film from sealed parcel. Match colour, border, motif, pallu and length to what was promised. Run the full border for pulled zari. Hold the pallu to the light. Check the korvai join. Look for water marks, fold marks and holes. Keep tags and invoice. Raise anything the same day with clear photographs. Refold, wrap in cotton, store flat and dark.

How we send ours

Every saree that leaves our studio is unfolded, checked along the full border and photographed before it is packed, and we send that photograph to you before dispatch. If anything arrives not as it should, tell us the same day and we will make it right. Our current pieces sit in the sarees edit, and the begin page reaches us directly.