When content strategist Anusha Jain's from Mumbai shared her bridal mehendi photos from the ceremony in Jaipur on Instagram, it wasn't just the intricate artwork that caught people's attention.
It was her personalised henna, featuring everything from skyline motifs to a family crossword had been designed with the help of ChatGPT after a last-minute wedding panic left her without a design.
When it comes to big fat Indian weddings, chaos is pretty much guaranteed. For Anusha, the panic moment struck right as she sat down for her ghar ki mehendi ceremony.
With guests pouring into the house and the clock ticking, she realised she had forgotten one major detail: she hadn't picked out a design for her bridal mehendi.
"It was very chaotic because a lot of guests were coming in," Anusha recalls. "I sat down for mehendi knowing we had to finish before everyone arrived."
Wanting to actually enjoy her wedding festivities instead of spending hours waiting for her henna to dry, Anusha had deliberately scheduled her mehendi a day early. But when the local mehendi artist, Teena Tomer arrived and asked for design references, the bride drew a blank.
"I didn't want a conventional mehendi design, but I never got the time to shortlist references. It was all so last minute," she says. "She asked, 'What should I make?' and I was like, 'Shit, main kya karoon?' I was literally not prepared."
{{/usCountry}}"I didn't want a conventional mehendi design, but I never got the time to shortlist references. It was all so last minute," she says. "She asked, 'What should I make?' and I was like, 'Shit, main kya karoon?' I was literally not prepared."
{{/usCountry}}That's when her brother, Anant Jain, offered an unexpected solution: AI!
"My brother said, 'Didi, why don't you use ChatGPT?' And I was like, 'What?'" Anusha laughs. "He brought the phone near my face and entered a prompt with little details about me and my husband."
The siblings fed the AI tool details about the couple - the bride from Mumbai, the groom from Jaipur, their shared love for food, and their wedding theme, Around the World.
Within seconds, ChatGPT suggested motifs that reflected their story: an auto-rickshaw representing Mumbai, an elephant symbolising Jaipur, Mumbai airport to capture their constant travel between cities, and even a custom family crossword featuring the names of both families at the centre of her palms.
"It had my name, my mom and dad's names, Anant's name, and Dikshant's name in it," she says.
While ChatGPT suggested the concepts, it was Jaipur-based mehendi artist Teena who transformed them into an intricate bridal design.
"I should give her credit because she improvised it well," says Anusha. "Instead of just copying, she improvised the structure."
The bride paid around ₹10,000– ₹12,000 for the final mehendi.
The story didn't end with the wedding. After a friend who attended the celebrations helped share it on social media, the unique AI-assisted mehendi caught attention online and eventually led to an official collaboration post with ChatGPT on Instagram, where it has continued to receive love from users.
Looking back, Anusha is simply grateful technology came to her rescue.
"At that moment, I had no backup plan," she says with a laugh. "Otherwise, I would've had to settle for a regular traditional mehendi design."