A London town hall wedding with burgers and fries on the dinner menu

Two weeks before Dua Lipa and Callum Turner got hitched at Old Marylebone Town Hall, another love story quietly unfolded on its steps. For Meera Navlakha and Ash Miah, the Westminster landmark wasn’t just a pretty backdrop or a convenient wedding venue. It was part of their everyday life in London—the building they had walked past on weekends, watched other couples spill out of onto the pavement in a shower of petals, and where Meera had always imagined they would return to when it was their turn.

Meera, who works at The Daily Beast, where she covers politics and pop culture, and Ash, an investment banker, first met in 2017 during their first year at Durham University. She had grown up between Singapore and New York and had just moved to the UK to study English Literature; he had grown up in Newcastle and was studying Economics. “I think the first time we spent any time together, we ended up speaking for three hours straight even though there were other people around us,” recalls Meera.

By the end of the first year, they both knew it was serious. After university, they moved to London and continued their relationship. In 2024, Navlakha had to move to New York to pursue her Master’s degree at the Columbia School of Journalism. “We were doing long distance for the first time and it kind of brought us closer,” she says. Soon after, they went ring shopping, and this February Ash proposed in Edinburgh, the city where they’d taken their first trip together.

On a Friday last month, they made it official at the Old Marylebone Town Hall with 22 guests, followed by lunch at Covent Garden, and a pub party in Primrose Hill. Below, the couple walks us though their wedding:

The full-circle proposal

Meera: I kind of saw the proposal coming, because we went ring shopping together. I didn’t know when exactly, how or where, but I did know that we both wanted to take the next step. Ash proposed in February of this year in Edinburgh, which was also where we took our first ever trip together.

Ash: I keep a small photo from our first trip in my wallet. It was also our first Valentine’s Day together. So, it made sense to go back in that same cloudy, gloomy February season—as unromantic as that sounds—and to have our last trip together as boyfriend and girlfriend there.

Meera: We went back there eight years later, and he proposed on Calton Hill with this beautiful view behind us. The ring was an oval-cut diamond and he designed the band with small diamonds and a little basket underneath.

Ash: I was super worried about the weather, because Edinburgh—not unlike my hometown—is unforgiving in February, with it being really cold, wet, and gloomy. On the day, we strolled from our very centrally located hotel up towards Calton Hill, which I think Meera was a little confused by given that she’s not a morning person and not a hiker. I think she put two and two together once we got there.

It started raining, but looking back we wouldn’t have it any other way. Our first trip to Edinburgh was equally gloomy and cloudy, so the proposal really nodded to our first trip in a beautiful way. It was exactly the full-circle moment I had planned.

The Marylebone wedding they had always imagined

Meera: We always wanted the quintessential civil wedding in London. Marylebone is the closest town hall to us. We would pass it all the time, and I’ve always said I wanted to do our legal bit there.

Ash: Ever since we moved to London, we’ve been lucky enough to live in Westminster. We pass Old Marylebone Town Hall often on weekends and have seen so many people getting married there. It felt right for us to do it at the one place that had essentially become our first home after university.

Meera: On the day, I woke up early and the makeup artist and hairstylist came to my flat. Everyone was at home—my parents, my sister, my sister’s partner, Ash, and me—so it was quite cute, everyone getting ready together. My mom helped drape my sari and we all drove to the town hall.

Ash: Meera and I are both incredibly family-oriented, and we wanted to share our big day with just the most important people in our lives.

Meera: We had 22 guests apart from Ash and me. One of Ash’s sisters and my younger sister were our witnesses, so it felt very special and intimate. I edited what I wanted the registrar to say to reflect our relationship a bit more. She called me up ahead of the ceremony to tell me she loved the script, which made me really happy because it felt custom to us.

Meera: The ceremony was quick—done in about 20 minutes. After the registrar finished speaking, the whole room was hugging and there were a lot of tears. It was very tender, emotional, but also sweet—exactly what we wanted. It was a quiet Friday morning, and it was meant to rain but it didn’t. I was so happy that the sun came out.

Ash: About a month before, we were combing through our Spotify to find songs we wanted during the ceremony. We chose an acoustic guitar version of ‘Here Comes the Sun’, which is soft, sweet, happy, and a bit emotional—exactly how we felt on the day.

Meera: We walked out onto the steps of the town hall and our families threw petals and flowers while cheering. It was very cute.

Lunch, a speech, and a pre-party nap

Meera: After the ceremony, we went to Christopher’s in Covent Garden for lunch.

Ash: We chose Christopher’s purely because it checked so many boxes for a very diverse but intimate group. We needed a menu that we could customise to be halal and vegetarian, and they were able to do that while also giving us a lovely private room where our families could talk, enjoy each other’s company, and just be merry.

Meera: During lunch, my dad gave a little speech, which was really nice. Then we all headed home for a nap and a bit of rest before the evening.

Burgers, beers, and dholwallas at a pub

Meera: For the celebration in the evening, we had about 50 of our friends join our families at The Engineer, a pub in Primrose Hill.

Ash: I have family who live in the area, so I spent a lot of summers there growing up. Having the party at a location so close to where I’ve spent many childhood summers definitely felt special. It felt closer to home than just picking an arbitrary pub elsewhere in London.

Meera: We booked this beautiful outdoor garden space. My mom, my sister, and cousins decorated it with tea lights, candles, and white roses—my favourite flower.

Ash: I think because of their fantastic planning, the atmosphere at the pub was also fantastic. Even other patrons who walked past really admired what they could see: all of us having such a great time together.

Meera: One of my best friends made the playlist. My cousin Vivaan gave a very sweet and funny speech that everyone loved. My sister also spoke, though hers was more emotional. She cried, I cried. I was really in awe of how their words captured the essence of our relationship, so it meant a lot to both me and Ash.

Ash: Both of them have seen Meera and I go through all the ups and downs over the past eight years, so their speeches felt really genuine and sentimental. Vivaan’s speech was full of subtle digs and inside jokes, which had all the 50 to 60 people at the pub chuckling away.

Meera: The menu was burgers and fries and beer and wine, so it was very chill—exactly what I wanted. We put Kodak cameras all around so people could take pictures of themselves, which my friends had a lot of fun with. My uncle hired two dholwallas to come in—which is crazy to do in a pub in London, but it was really cute. Everyone danced and that actually added another desi touch to the day. It was a complete surprise and everyone at the pub really enjoyed it. After that, everyone came back to our house, where the music descended into Bollywood territory, and the party went on till 4 am.

The outfits that brought worlds together

Meera: At first, I was going to wear a white dress, which most brides here do for town hall weddings. When I went and tried on dresses, they were beautiful but just didn’t feel like me. In December, my mom and I went fabric shopping in Kolkata—where my parents are from—for another wedding. I had chosen this mauve fabric with sequins that I just fell in love with. I woke up one day and I was like, “Mom, let’s make that.”

My mom and my aunt designed the sari and blouse and got it made in India. They made four different blouses for me to choose from, just in case, because I couldn’t try things on. But they brought them to London and they worked out perfectly. That was probably one of the best things I did because it felt like it elevated the day a little and made it special for me. I had a bit of a home as well and it added a desi touch to the ceremony.

The jewellery I wore was a Raj Mahtani diamond piece around my neck, which my parents and I chose in Kolkata, with diamond and pearl earrings that belonged to my mom.

In the evening, I wore a white dress I picked out while shopping in London with my cousins. They had to force me to go shopping because I was procrastinating so much. I cut the trail, so it was a little more casual, and I kept on my jewellery from earlier in the day.

Ash: I think what Meera and I both landed on was a very solid representation of both our upbringings. Mine was a very English wedding tuxedo, one that I had gotten custom-made from Jermyn Street. I’ve always admired their tailoring. And I even wore Prada cufflinks that Meera’s dad had gifted me when I landed my job. So, there was a little bit of both her and me in what I was wearing.

The moments they’ll remember most

Ash: Fortunately, we didn’t have too many hiccups along the way, and I’d have to thank both of our families for that. Everyone travelled from New York, India, Singapore, and Newcastle, taking time off work, which I think we were both incredibly grateful for.

Meera: Even though it was such a small ceremony, everyone who was there was super, super close and that just made us very comfortable and made it really special for us. We continued celebrating throughout the weekend. But my favourite moment would be after the ceremony, when both our families left and gave us an hour with our photographer. There were moments we kind of looked at each other like ‘Oh my god, we did it—we’re married!’.

Ash: For me, just watching Meera be with my mom. Like every other desi boy, I’m sure, I’m a huge mummy’s boy; she’s my absolute rock and has been my whole life. So just seeing my mum call Meera her own daughter now, and Meera refer to my mum as Ammu, which is mum in Bengali, definitely pulled on the heart strings.