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Frequent supplier to Meridian Grand and well-known hair stylist Shamalah and her husband Raju had their wedding at Meridian Grand this Autumn. Having worked with Shamalah in the venue many of times, it was an honour to host her magnificent wedding and help her plan the details of her special day.

Shamalah looked simply resplendent, arriving at Meridian Grand in a vintage car. She made her way upstairs to the VIP bridal suite to relax, allowing her to spend time with her close friends and family before her grand entrance.

Shamalah mentioned ‘’The look of Meridian Grand venue stood out from all the others to me and I knew this was the perfect one to get married in’’.

Guests started to arrive in the Entrance Foyer with welcome drinks flowing in the luxury ambience for the stunning wedding. Shamalah had chosen an enchanted theme, with decor by Enchanted by Syma’ and a range of other suppliers, coordinated by Meridian Grand, including a tuk tuk photo booth. The show-stopper in the entrance foyer was a romantic floral display of two swans in pink. This perfectly enhanced the elegance of Meridian Grand’s entrance foyer. There was a welcome message on the venue’s TV screens, designed and created by Shamalah’s event manager at Meridian Grand. As Raju arrived in a red Bentley, the Groom’s side were welcomed into the venue by the bride’s side, as they celebrated a union of two families within the spacious entrance foyer.

Guests made their way into ‘Emerald Paradise’ that had transformed the Meridian Grand Ballroom.

The decorator, Enchanted by Syma, worked with Meridian Grand’s team to set the ballroom beautifully for 650 guests. Emerald crushed velvet table linen, combined with oversized enchanted woodland floral arrangements created a stunning look for Shamalah’s wedding. The decor was perfectly complimented by a huge LED screen featuring a forest and waterfall, with a bespoke printed Dancefloor. Pops of burgundy, lilac and mauve further enhanced the magical element of the forest-like setting. Meridian Grand’s crystal chandeliers tied in perfectly and took the whole design concept to a new level.

Décor designer of the day, Syma mentioned ‘I always love working at Meridian Grand, I find it such a beautiful venue to showcase my décor and create magical themes within’

Shamalah said ‘’The day was a dream come true, it was even better than my expectations and the décor complimented the venue perfectly’’.

Thanks to all the amazing suppliers:

CATERERS: Friends Corner

DÉCOR: Enchanted by Syma

DJ: Royale Events

CAKE: Asian Wedding Cakes

PHOTOGRAPHER & VIDEOGRAPHER: PicturThat

After a fun filled week full of wedding festivities including their Traditional Wedding and Civil Ceremony, Deji & Ona ended their wedding festivities in style by holding their spectacular Wedding Reception at the beautiful Meridian Grand. They fell in love with Meridian Grand as soon as they set their eyes on the venue and they just knew they wanted to hold their final celebrations here.

Guests started arriving at Meridian Grand at around 3.30pm, straight after the Ceremony finished at their local Church. As guests entered the luxurious foyer area, they were greeted with prosecco, juice and a variety of tasty canapes provided by Jemmy’s Catering.

With the 4m Swarovski chandelier glistening in the foyer area, amused guests talking and taking pictures on the marble staircase whilst jazz classics were playing in the background through Meridian Grands sound system, it was the perfect ambience before the party started!

During this time, Deji & Ona arrived at the venue and went to the VIP Bridal Suites through the main entrance, greeting all the guests as they walked in. The hostess helped them to settle down and provided them with food and drinks whilst they freshened up before their big entrance.

At 5pm, the Grand Ballroom doors opened for the guests. Guests were amazed by how wonderful the Grand Ballroom looked. A mixture of extravagant pink floral centre pieces and gold candelabras centred the tables – matching perfectly with the big gold mirrors. The white sweetheart table was decorated beautifully with pink flower garlands, candles and big floral arrangements which were provided by Beverley Wilson & Adivah’s Hire. Meridian Grands mood lighting was set to tones of pink and purple complementing the décor perfectly. Guests were left reminiscing whilst the slideshow of pictures were playing on Meridian Grand’s in-built projection screens.

At around 5.30pm, The Families, Bridal Party, Groomsmen and the Bride & Groom gathered in the Meridian Ballroom ready to make their entrance. The room was bursting with energy and excitement whilst the Event Planners helped to get everyone in order. At the drop of the beat, the Meridian Grand team opened the doors for the Bride’s family, and in true Nigerian style, the family danced into the Grand Ballroom. Next, it was the Groom’s families’ turn followed by the Bridesmaids & Grooms Men. It was the perfect way of hyping up all the guests for the Bride & Groom’s entrance.

As the MC announced the entrance of the newly wedded couple, guests were praising and applauding, whilst the Bride & Groom made their way into the Grand Ballroom, joyful, dancing and having the time of their lives!

As Deji & Ona took to their seats, all eyes were on the Bride & Groom as they sat on their throne. Dinner was then served.

It was then time for speeches – some emotional, some funny and entertaining! The Bride & Groom then took to the centre of the dance floor where they played the famous Mr & Mrs Shoe Game, leaving guests laughing away!

Cake cutting was next on the agenda. Guests gathered around the dancefloor whilst Deji and Ona cut their exquisite cake handmade by Ona’s Auntie.

Shortly after, Deji and his mum took to the dancefloor for the Mother & Son dance, followed by the Father & Daughter dance. The gorgeous newly married couple were called up to do their first dance. It was a perfect moment. Love filled the room as they danced to Samm Henshaw - Only Wanna Be With You.

At around 8.30pm, the dancefloor opened for guests to join in. During this time, Deji & Ona went up to the Bridal Suites to change their outfits and take pictures around the venue in their new garments. They surprised guests with a special balcony appearance before they joined in on the party!

MC Tolu (A Comedian by the name of Don’t Jealous Me) & DJ Tallest created the perfect party atmosphere and everyone was dancing until 12am! Everyone clearly had a wonderful time on this joyous occasion.

Deji & Ona shared their happiness and appreciation with the Meridian Grand Team ‘It was an unbelievable day. You and the team at Meridian Grand were superb in helping out and making sure everything was right! Thank you so much for all your help and I’m sure you can be proud of another Nigerian wedding delivered!’

Deji & Ona it was a pleasure helping to create your dream wedding day and we wish you both all the happiness in the world.

A big thank you to all the suppliers that turned Deji & Ona’s dream wedding into a reality:

Event Planners: JB Wedding Planners

Caterers: Jemmy’s Catering

Décor: Adivah’s Hire

Florist: Beverly Wilson

DJ: DJ Tallest

MC: Tolu

CAKE: Loretta (Ona’s Auntie)

PHOTOGRAPHY: Helen Abraham Photography

VIDEOGRAPHY: Wedding Film Makers

PHOTOBOOTH: Heavenly Photobooths

Harpreet and Manjinder had the Wedding Reception at Meridian Grand last summer. The evening was their dream come true – with Meridian Grand’s Event Management team taking care of the A to Z of their wedding, including catering, décor and lighting. The Groom, Manjinder commented: ‘The experience with Meridian Grand has been superb from start to finish, with lots of help, lots of guidance, we have had no stress, we haven’t had to do anything. Everything was done for us throughout the whole thing. I am very very grateful for the effort put in by the whole team at Meridian Grand.’

Upon arrival from the Gurdwara, the Bride, Groom and Bride’s Sisters relaxed and got changed in the VIP Suites – whilst the guests got started on canapes, cocktails, a live chaat station and photobooth in the Meridian Ballroom. The guests then moved into the show stopper; the Grand Ballroom. The décor team, Midnight Garden had set the Ballroom beautifully for 500 guests in Harpreet and Manny’s chosen purple theme. The couple’s sweetheart table was placed directly under the chandelier. The stage was simply stunning with elegant white draping, crystal buttoned chesterfield panels, large blossom trees on the sides of the stage, gorgeous silk flower arrangements and candles scattered on the head table and stage, the Bride and Groom were the centre of attention.

‘They have helped with all the planning, all the table setups, everything I have wanted they have been able to incorporate and they have made it perfect.’ Harpreet (Bride)

The other tables were beautifully decorated with large silk floral arrangements compromising of silk roses and hydrangeas in one metre glass-footed vases, with delicate tea lights hanging down from the arrangements. Other tables had stunning gold urns that perfectly complimented the gold features within the ballroom. The ballroom looked absolutely mesmerizing.

‘The only word that comes to my mind about Meridian Grand is ‘’perfect’’. The service, help, assistance, food, professionalism and the team were all perfect. From the moment we came to view the venue me and Harpreet knew it would be amazing. Nikkita was very helpful and always gave her opinion on how we can do certain set ups or layouts, they were able to do anything we wanted as we wanted with no issues. At the food tasting we met Risha who was our planner throughout the process, again she guided us and gave us full support leading up to the reception and many new ideas that helped throughout to make it less stressful. Moving on to the wedding day, the whole team was there when we needed them, to amend anything we wanted but to top it all off everything was stress free. The whole night went so smoothly and was incredible. We are so happy that we chose Meridian Grand and it’s a night we both won’t ever forget. All our friends and family said the venue was amazing and it was the wedding of the century. Thank you to everyone at Meridian and I recommend anyone looking to get married to choose Meridian as their venue. The whole team do so much for you and make a lot of effort. Thank you for making our wedding so special. Love Harpreet and Manny.’

A big thank you to all the Suppliers that helped on the day:

Caterers: Meridian Grand Catering

Decor: Midnight Garden

Lighting: CDS Lighting

Chocolate Fountain: Midnight Garden

DJ: Calibar Roadshow

Photography: Ranvir Jagdev Photography

Videography: Sukh

Photobooth: Clique Clique

Cake: La Gateau

Dhol Players: Beat Alliance & Imperial Drummers

MUA: Jas Birk & Shenaz