Celebrant & Toastmaster Reviews
Sought-after professional Lady Toastmaster and multicultural weddings and ceremonies Celebrant Sonal Dave
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Multicultural Wedding Celebrant Reviews
Hi Sonal, just want to say a huge Thank You from us. Our ceremony was something special and everyone loved the explanations and how you delivered it. We have had the most amazing wedding. Thank you again, and we hope to see you again at someone else’s wedding.
Lots of Love xxxx
It’s been such a whirlwind since Sunday – but we just wanted to say a massive thank you to you for Sunday! It was such an amazing ceremony and everyone kept commenting on how unique and beautiful it was throughout the day. You were just amazing and you kept us so relaxed and calm throughout it.
Thank you also to your husband, he did an amazing job with the music and I loved the video he got before the ceremony started.
Thank you again!
We would like to say a massive THANK YOU for your amazing toastmaster services during our wedding & reception on 20th August at Kew Gardens. Both Rusheel & myself had the most incredible time, we greatly appreciate all the work you put into making our day go so smoothly – including working with SW Events and Kew Events so efficiently behind the scenes.
We knew that we wanted a Toastmaster to make the day as seamless as possible, you totally made this happen for us! It was also so special having someone we know well be part of our wedding day as well, and we received lots of lovely compliments from the guests as well on how well you conducted everything.
Sonal was brilliant from start to finish and stuck with us through a pandemic, the wedding ceremony was fantastic and we have had great feedback. Sonal comes across as very calm and at the same time has a great personality. I would highly recommend her.
We had an absolutely wonderful experience with Sonal Dave. She was flexible and accommodating in creating a custom wedding ceremony that combined Hindu, Sikh, and western elements. She was extremely communicative and friendly throughout the entire process and our guests raved about her as a celebrant. Many of which said it was the best wedding ceremony they had ever been to. I could not recommend Sonal more, please go with her if you’re looking for a celebrant in the UK.
We could not have been more pleased with how the ceremony went and all the features we discussed came to life. Many of our guests came up after and said how brilliant and natural you were so thank you for playing such an important role in making our day such a success.
I recently worked with Sonal on a wedding day and she was fab – her communication, knowledge, and professionalism was excellent! The ceremony was beautifully personalised, and delivered very well too.
The Ceremony was absolutely lovely. We got so many compliments and people were raving about you. Thank you for everything
I worked with Sonal on a recent wedding and she was a delight. With only two months prior to the couple’s wedding date, they were looking for a celebrant who could combine both of their cultures in a personalised ceremony at a private residence outside of London. Sonal was super responsive in getting back to us, very organised with setting up calls with the couples to customise their ceremony and on the day super helpful and ran the ceremony smoothly, professionally and everyone enjoyed it. Sonal managed to take both of the couple’s cultures and combined them into something the guests were really interested to watch and hear. Thank you Sonal for your lovely service! Looking forward to another wedding in the future.
Sonal Dave, our magnificent celebrant who conducted the most beautiful ceremony for us. My partner and I are Sikh and Hindu. We had a Sikh wedding, but I really wanted some Hindu elements without another full blown wedding and I have been seeing people ask for this on here before. I could not recommend Sonal anymore. She is brilliant, easy to talk to and plan and dealt very well with our delays to getting her all the paperwork and confirmations. People absolutely loved the ceremony and we loved it even more! Thank you Sonal
Dear Sonal,
We just wanted to email to say thank you so much for being a part of our day. You were an excellent celebrant and you created the most perfect wedding ceremony for us. All our guests really enjoyed it too.
Sonal was really great to work with, really made our wedding the celebration we had always dreamed of. Her extensive knowledge and personal touch brought our two cultures together in such a harmonious way. Keeping it light, but interesting for all our family and friends around. I highly recommend Sonal especially for multicultural weddings!
Sonal created and delivered our wedding ceremony which was a fusion between Indian and British. She and the music band did an amazing job, the music being played during my bride’s entrance helped to bring a tear to my eye. All of our British friends said they absolutely loved it and never want to go to an English wedding ever again! Thank you so much Sonal for making our special day extra special.
Dear Sonal, I wanted to say a huge thanks to you and the musicians for our very special wedding ceremony. We loved it! You did a really superb job at injecting humour and fun into the ceremony and made it feel very personal. We really appreciated how you made an effort to learn a little about our guests before the ceremony and involve them in the event itself. So many commented on how much they enjoyed it and how interesting it was. The musicians were wonderful too. The choice of music suited the ceremony perfectly and was performed so well! We really appreciate all of the thought and effort!
We were married in an unorthodox snowy forest ceremony in France last year and contacted Sonal quite late on the recommendation of an acquaintance. I didn’t know where to start with celebrants but I was happy I clicked with her right away. Sonal put both my husband and I at ease from the beginning and walked us through the process with kindness, patience and clarity. She was keen to get as many details as she could about the history of our love and integrated this beautifully into her speech. She recommended a beautiful symbolic wedding ceremony which included binding braided ropes around both our hands. Above all, she was terribly accommodating to the distance and demands of our ski resort location and didn’t make a fuss about standing in the snow. In a moment of extreme planning stress, I really appreciated her flexibility. She tied our ceremony together and we are really happy to have chosen her.
We brought Sonal onboard to be our Celebrant and be able to conduct our multicultural wedding in a beautiful and tasteful way. She certainly delivered. From the first moment we got in touch, to then checking in leading up to the big day. Sonal was friendly, approachable and made sure we kept organised and relaxed. We made a new friend in the process and couldn’t have asked for anyone better to be part of what was the most important part of the day. Thank you Sonal, and we would thoroughly recommend her to anyone.
Thank you so much for everything you did for us, the time you spent talking through every element with us, putting together a ceremony that was dedicated to us and being such a huge support in the run up to the day and, on the day. The ceremony was so much more than we could have ever dreamt and all the little touches, the games it just made it oh so special. I know it’s probably something people say often but honestly so many of our guests told us how special they thought the ceremony was, some even said it was the best they had ever been to. They loved the way you interacted with them and really invited them in to make them feel a part of the celebrations. A lot of our guests hadn’t been to an Indian Wedding before and they were enthralled. Needless to say you also won over all of my Indian family which is no mean feat. It really truly was so so wonderful and you filled our hearts with so much joy; we can’t thank you enough.
Also, we have received the booklet and the little touches are so special Sonal, thank you so much we loved re-reading our vows, we will absolutely treasure it.
Sonal was our wedding celebrant for our fusion ceremony. We had spoken to multiple celebrants by then and unlike most of the others, she never tried to introduce or force any of her ideas on us – she simply listened and made suggestions that she felt were appropriate to the ceremony. She continually checked in with us during the period leading up to the ceremony and also helped organise our bridal party who would have been very nervous without her help. She made it very simple and easy during our multiple wedding moves over Covid and gave us things and ideas to think about as well. She was pleasant, lovely and took the time to interact with our families and guests. We recommend her so much!! Thank you very much Sonal! Xx
Sonal wrote and carried out our celebrant-led ceremony at our wedding last month. My husband and I could not be happier with her services. Right from the start, Sonal was friendly and professional and took the time to get a feel for who we both are and what makes our relationship unique. She gave us several ideas for elements that could be included within the service and gave us guidance on how to incorporate a handfasting once we had decided on including one. We have had so many comments from our guests on how beautiful and personal the wording of our ceremony was, and that is all down to Sonal. She is just brilliant at what she does and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend her to anyone looking for a celebrant.
Ashwin and I just wanted to say a huge thank you to you for creating and running such a beautiful ceremony for us last week. Even though we got unlucky with the weather and had to move our ceremony inside, it was still everything we imagined our wedding ceremony would be. We loved the way our family and friends were able to get involved, the mix of emotions from laughs to tears, and the way we incorporated traditions from our cultures. It was a perfect ceremony for the two of us and lots of people told us how much they enjoyed seeing something different!
We’re both so glad we made the decision to go with an alternate route for our ceremony and that we had you as our celebrant. Your cultural understanding of Indian wedding traditions was really useful when it came to planning our ceremony, as well as making sure things ran smoothly on the day.
We’ll definitely be recommending you to friends planning their own weddings, whether as a celebrant or a toastmaster. All the best with the rest of your bookings for this summer and beyond!
Sonal Dave provided an excellent service with a warm and friendly atmosphere. I would highly recommend her services. We had a beautiful ceremony. Thank you very much.
Sonal was the celebrant at the wedding of me and my wife a few weeks ago. We wanted a fusion ceremony that drew influences from both western and Hindu traditions, reflecting both of our backgrounds, and Sonal was more than happy to accommodate! She worked with us to design a ceremony exactly how we wanted, and made plenty of suggestions along the way. On the day itself, her communication style was confident and professional, whilst still easy-going and humorous. She can speak Gujarati, which was really beneficial for some of our older relatives. Many of our guests commented how much they enjoyed the ceremony, and how unique they found it. It was definitely a big highlight of the day, and we owe a lot of that to Sonal!
Working with Sonal on our wedding ceremony was easy from start to finish, even with Covid constantly looming over our heads! With 3 date changes, one only a few weeks before the next, Sonal was happy and flexible throughout. Sonal made us feel looked after, with consistent updates and reminders and created the perfect ceremony which not only my husband and I loved, but also our guests! It was unique to us with a blend of culture, she had listened to everything we wanted and it was truly perfect! Thank you, Sonal!!
an incredible ceremony last week, you did such an amazing job (even with the venue’s dodgy microphone!). We’re so glad we found you, we never imagined we would be writing our own vows or doing a sand ceremony, but these really made the day special. So many people commented on how much they loved the ceremony (lots of tears amongst our family and friends as well!)
We asked Sonal to be the celebrant for our wedding celebration, and we cannot recommend her enough! From the start, Sonal was so helpful and involved to ensure everything was on track. From our first Skype session, she felt like an old friend who we’d known for a lifetime. She was extremely flexible for our needs and wants (even when we weren’t entirely sure what we wanted, she gave us incredible ideas and direction). On the day itself, Sonal was perfect – she made us feel so relaxed and at ease, and we had so many compliments afterwards from our guests saying what an amazing job she had done. Thanks to Sonal we’ll remember this day, and her, for the rest of our lives!
We did receive the ceremony pack, which was beautifully packaged and we’ll keep it safe for years to come!
I’d also personally like to thank you again for the public speaking course. The speech went really well in the evening and I overcame the tremor by taking on the advice provided by you. That was a huge hurdle for me!
Thank you again so much…….I’m sure we’ll be in touch soon!
As far as a celebrant goes, she went above and beyond to make it special for us, even braving the heat! Thank you x
When we decided we wanted to create our ceremony, we knew finding the right celebrant was a crucial task. When we came across Sonal’s profile – we had a feeling she would be great – and she really was.
From our initial meeting we instantly liked Sonal and pretty much decided we wanted her on the spot. She instantly understood our values and what we stood for. She was non judgmental, friendly and incredibly warm – we felt she was truly open to our ideas and delivered exactly what we wanted.
So many people complimented Sonal during and after our wedding celebrations – she blended the Western and Eastern parts of our wedding beautifully and really was the perfect glue that made our ceremony perfect. I was a bit unsure how the ‘older’ more traditional members of our family would receive a slightly different ceremony, but the elegance, friendly and professional manner in which Sonal carried out our ceremony made it perfect. She was on time and worked well with the other suppliers.
Thank you so much, Sonal, for our beautiful wedding ceremony- I cant think of anyone who would have been more of a perfect fit – you were wonderful!
Funeral & Memorial Celebrant Reviews
Thank you for being the celebrant at Nirmalaben’s scattering of ashes ceremony on Sunday at Windsor. You performed the ceremony very well and was very serene with background music brilliantly played by Dhani. Overall we found your presentation was unique and fitting to the occasion. General feedback from the family was very positive and we would not hesitate to recommend you to friends and family.
It was a lovely ceremony and everyone said it was lovely too. It was just what I had hoped for. Thank you
Dear Sonal, We wanted to thank you for delivering the ceremony so well for Raj. You received multiple compliments from family and friends.
Thank you
Sonal, you did an excellent job and all went well and peacefully. Everyone said that it was a beautiful ceremony and send-off and that you did really well. He would be so proud.
Thank you
I want to thank you for all the help and advice you gave us in making the decisions we did for my Son’s funeral. Your calm and supportive approach on the day was greatly appreciated, both at the service and the celebration of life. You made the day run smoothly and took a lot of pressure away from us.
You have a very special way of helping the bereaved.
I would absolutely recommend Sonal to anyone looking for a celebrant for a funeral for a loved one. My family and I had to organise a funeral for my father in May 2022 and we had to do so pretty much from scratch. We had some vague ideas for a ceremony but hadn’t really discussed anything beforehand and were really looking for someone who could help guide us through the process and help us put together a ceremony that worked for us and felt right for our dad. Sonal was just what we needed. Adding to the obvious difficulties in having to plan a funeral for a loved one, we also had to do so while family members lived in different time zones: I live in the U.S. but the rest of my family live back in London. Sonal was great in meeting with us via zoom and using a Google doc to help us all work through all of the plans together. Sonal is also clearly very used to working with families and adapting to their particular dynamics and worked really hard to make sure that we all contributed to the planning and were all fully involved. The fact that our discussions were on zoom and across time zones did not lessen this at all and we felt very supported throughout the entire process. Sonal was also extremely responsive and reliable throughout, we never had to wait too long for an email response or ever chase her for anything. We were all extremely happy with the ceremony that we ended up putting together and felt so lucky to have Sonal helping us through the process.
Sonal worked with myself and close friends to celebrate the life and to say goodbye to a close friend. She was kind, caring, flexible, sensitive and supportive through an emotionally charged time. Her understanding of the overlaps and differences in Indian and English cultures was a much appreciated bonus. I highly recommend working with her.
We just wanted to say thank you so much. Everyone said how the readings were read so beautifully and how it allowed them to listen to everything said, and really take it in.
So many that were there and even those watching overseas, have said how lovely mum’s send off was, and that it would have made her proud. That’s all that we could have asked for. Thank you for everything.
Thank you for everything you did for my brother’s memorial. Somehow, I haven’t been able to find the words to express my gratitude. From the moment of our first call to the end of the memorial at the Fitzrovia chapel, I am so grateful we found you.
Your empathy, calm manner and professionalism guided us through our shock, and for me, the memory of the memorial sustains me. It was a moment of deep respect and dignity for my brother and for who we were as a family, to give him a dignified departure.
Many people commented on your service and what a great job you did. I am so grateful you were able to sing that Jagjit Singh song at the end, with no notice and such heightened tension. You really were amazing in that moment.
Sonal is an exceptional and highly-experienced celebrant. I had the joy of working with her to put together a very special funeral earlier this year. She worked with the family to put together a highly bespoke ceremony and was able to accommodate all of their needs. Highly recommended.
Lady Toastmaster Reviews
command the silence of the Guests as and when required in a friendly
and warm manner. She included humour as well which was lovely to
hear.
We’ve worked with Sonal at many events, and she has always been a pleasure to work alongside. Her professionalism, enthusiasm, and elegant flair makes every event special! We recently visited one of her workshops, and her style and technique really gets everyone involved and engaged. If you’re looking for a Toastmaster, Celebrant, or a workshop to learn excellent communication skills, look no further!
On a more personal note we appreciate that from time to time you made sure me and Purnima were relaxed while you made it all happen. Before I end this review, we would also like to thank Dhani and his team for doing such an excellent job in performing the live music. All the guests made positive comments on the live music during the wedding ceremony and the civil wedding and that the live music made all the difference.
We booked you as our toastmaster and after meeting you and going through our itinerary you really guided us by pointing out some things we didn’t think of! When we met we mentioned we would like our wedding to be calm and as quiet as possible which it was given we have over 450 guests (including lots and lots of babies!) We were really pleased how you liaised with other suppliers and interacted with guests to ensure our day was running on time and it really helped that you spoke in English and Gujarati to ensure guests understood what was happening. As we all know indian weddings do not run on time, however I was so impressed that we were actually running ahead of time which was thanks to you and our suppliers. Our long list of family photos were managed with ease and we didn’t miss any family members out! What was even better was after the wedding you (literally) escorted us from the
mandap to outside where we were going to take our pictures as husband and wife and politely spoke to guests who wanted to take pictures with us that we’ll be back – this actually saved us time as we were constantly being stopped by friend and family for a pic!
and very professional Sonal Dave the wonderful toastmaster, and public speaker.
She hosted our first Smile with Shiv charity gala and Sonal did an impecable job on the day. If you are looking for someone to host an event, highly highly recommend Sonal.
Sonal it was a pleasure to work with you, it’s not easy what a toastmaster does but if you want someone who can set the tone & structure the evening & make your guests & you (the hosts) feel comfortable then you need Sonal.
Another wonderful PA collaboration.
Great banter. Ethnicity Awards partner with HSBC and sponsors including Tesco, Natwest, Viacom, Lloyds Banking Group, Legal &
General Investment Group and National Grid.
The awards celebrate business, public figures, politics, sports and so many other areas who all help the ethnicity and race agenda.
I would definitely use Sonal again without a doubt, she was great to work with and definitely added to the event.
Thank you so much
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