The Gateway Hotel Airport Garden to host Wedding and Bridal Show

M F Jabir

The Gateway Hotel Airport Garden Hotel is to host the Wedding and Bridal Show on November 10 in the Sigiri Banquet hall, said Nimal Perera, Sales Manager, Banquet at a press briefing held at the hotel premises on Friday.

He said this is a ‘first’ for the area and expressed hope that the event would be a huge success drawing large enthusiastic participants from areas as far as Chilaw, Kochchikade, Negombo, Wattala, Dankotuwa, Minuwangoda, Katunayake, Seeduwa, Pamunugama, Uswetakeiyawa, Hendala, Gampaha and from other places around the country.

He said the main reason to hold the show in TheGateway Hotel Airport Garden was to give these segments of public the opportunity to participate in such events, otherwise limited to people in Colombo and the suburbs.

Perera said when there was a bridal show in Colombo, very few people from remote areas got the opportunity to participate in it. Only residents in Colombo and the outskirts get the chance.

This scenario will change with this unique bridal show which would be held on November 10 in Seeduwa, he said.

Speaking at the press briefing, Shekhar Walavalkar, General Manager, TheGatewayHotel Airport Garden Colombo said, ‘In the hotel industry, weddings have a very special place. Not only because it is an occasion that two people go into life, but in my 32 year experience in the industry, I have met people coming back for their children’s weddings and grand children’s functions only because of one pleasant memory of a wedding. So a wedding is not only a one off occasion for a hotel to be of service to people or have good business, but it is the occasion to actually develop the long term relationship with not only the wedding couple, but the family members and the people who participate. So it has a very prime position with regard to a hotel.”

Rajesh Chakraborty, Food and Beverage Manager said, “What we are trying is to create a platform to meet all function requirements in one complex. As hotels, we need to put a good foundation to build good relationship with guests and that carries on throughout life. We are tying up with the Perfect Wedding magazine who will promote our offerings to the local market, thus we can facilitate all the requirements under one roof.

We are planning to invite some banks to participate in the event so that loans could be arranged for couples to plan their marriages with repayment periods up to 36 months.”

“This would be a huge relief to couples who find it difficult to muster huge sums of money for their weddings,” he said. He added that they were hopeful that they could make a mark because of this bridal show and for this purpose a lot of home work had been done, including redoing the entire banquet menus.

The bridal show will commence at 4 pm and continue till 11 pm with a host of events such as a variety stalls, bridal shows by professionals, fashion and jewellery shows, discounts on wedding packages, special offers for wedding bookings, DJ music and dance, fun games and gifts, food and beverage stalls and many more attractions. The main event organizer is Perfect Wedding Magazine.