Waldorf Astoria Dubai Palm Jumeirah | Your Dream Wedding Destination

Your dream of the perfect wedding destination or family event becomes a reality when you choose the Waldorf Astoria Palm Jumeirah. The spectacular scenery of our deluxe beachfront hotel and spa makes this resort ideal for memorable weddings and social events. This week we caught up with Akshay Agarwal, who heads up their experienced events team, to learn more about this stunning property…

Akshay, what is your role at the property? 

I am the Wedding & Social Events Manager at the property. Therefore, besides weddings I also look after other social events like anniversaries, birthdays, reunions etc.

Tell us a little about your venue and the wedding event spaces. 

We are fortunate to be located on the Palm, which is in itself a remarkable destination. Our property has a combination of beautiful indoor and outdoor venues, namely:

• The Helipad Lawn – A beautiful private beach venue with stunning sunset views for wedding ceremonies and receptions for up to 400 guests.
• The Pavilion – The perfect outdoor venue for an elegant and intimate wedding setup of up to 80 guests.
• The Grand Ballroom – A beautifully decked up indoor venue for the Grand wedding of your dreams with a seating capacity of 380 guests.
• Royal Suite – One of the biggest Suites in the Middle East, making it just the right venue for your luxurious wedding with a capacity of up to 100 guests.

What makes your venue so special? 

Exclusive location on the Palm. A good range of venues available to host weddings of any size from intimate to grand weddings. You will not find a Helipad in many hotels in Dubai. Therefore, us being lucky with one, we can use it for a grand or special entrance by the Bride or Groom on a Helicopter. It just does not stop there, we also have our private jetty by the Helipad that adds to creating special and memorable experiences for the Bridal group.

What do you enjoy most about what you do? 

What I enjoy most about my job is helping couples plan out the most magical day of their lives and to be a small part of their big day. Watching the bride-groom and the families enjoying and smiling makes all the efforts worthwhile.

Have you ever had any extra special or unusual requests from brides and grooms?

Yes, we had a couple who had requested for the entire buffet spread out to be all Vegan for 250 guests. We had conducted multiple tasting sessions with them as they wanted a few dishes to taste like meat but still be vegan. Our Executive Chef took the time to understand their requirements to be able to deliver the best. On the day of the wedding, guests were blown away with the food selection and variety. Some couldn’t believe that the food was all vegan!

How are you navigating the COVID restrictions? 

Of course, nowadays organising weddings is a bit more challenging than before with the Covid restrictions in place. However, in order to make things safer and easier, we have our Event Ready – Clean Stay program that is designed to create event experiences that are clean, flexible, safe and socially responsible. As part of this program, sanitizers and wipes are available throughout the hotel public spaces and venues. All team members have the necessary face coverings and gloves to ensure a safe experience for the guests. Moreover, buffet style service is provided without self-service but our culinary team assisting guests with the same. In addition to this, many more measures have been put in place to ensure that our guests feel safe and assured that they are in a secure and welcoming environment.

Are people still hosting wedding events at your venue? 

We have hosted about 15 weddings post COVID (October, 2020 – January, 2021). However, with the latest restrictions now, whereby only 10 people are permitted and no entertainment, it is very challenging to host weddings. Therefore, I believe we will have to wait till some restrictions are eased and I am certain, that we will go back to hosting spectacular wedding events very soon.

What are you finding most challenging about planning weddings in 2021?

The biggest challenge is having weddings with all the COVID restrictions in place like, no dancefloor, seating only 5 guests per table etc. Since weddings are all about celebration and dancing, it gets challenging convincing couples/ families to adhere to these restrictions.

How should an engaged couple go about viewing and/or booking your venue for their wedding? 

I am always excited to meet and welcome couples/ families to our beautiful property and to showcase our wonderful wedding venues. I always suggest couples to come and view our wedding venues to get a look and feel of our property first. Thereafter, we typically send them our proposal based on their requirements. Once they confirm and book, we assist them with the planning of their big day.

To learn more about the Waldorf Astoria Dubai Palm Jumeirah, or book a venue tour, visit their profile page, or call Akshay on  +971 4 818 2281.