Usha’s

Ahhh so easy to get carried away in this place! They stock all sorts of Asian wedding paraphernalia you can imagine, and then some (4ft statue of an indian woman next to a well anyone?!). Most of it is available either to buy or hire for events.
My sister’s big fat asian wedding last week required a marquee in the back garden for the pre-​wedding events, and it fell to me to decorate said marquee. There are plenty of shops along Soho Road selling this sort of stuff, but it was all the flower garlands in Usha’s that caught my eye.
I don’t think their prices are the cheapest, but the guy in there (who seems like the owner) is very helpful. He’s got a photo album of various décor set-​ups they offer (e.g. backdrops and soft cushion seating for the ladies sangeet night etc) so they’ll deliver and collect if you wanted to reserve items in advance. We wanted to pick something up straight away though, and all their wares are well laid out for such a cramped shop, like an incredibly well organised treasure trove.
Our treasures on this occasion were strings of brightly coloured artificial flowers, ranging from £1−3 each to hire or £7−9 to buy. We ended up hiring a mix of 25 different garlands and they set our marquee off perfectly. They usually only hire these for 7 days max but thankfully the guy took pity on us and let us have them over 2 weekends as we needed. The deal is you pay the full amount as if you were buying them as a deposit, then they refund the difference over the hire price when you return the goods.
I was really happy with the service, and though I could probably have found things cheaper elsewhere it saved me a lot of time and hassle traipsing around to just go with the pretty stuff that caught my eye here. It all looked so effective in the marquee and I also used a couple of flower strands to decorate the bannister at home for when our bride made her appearance on the big day itself. It’s also a good stop to pick up bits and bobs like assorted safety pins, money envelopes and probably a hundred other things you didn’t even know you needed… we enjoyed having a good mooch around for added inspiration that we could recreate at home :)

Not the first wedding accessories shop on Soho Road. I wouldn’t say Usha’s is a fantastic shop but it’s not the worst.
I have to admit I was surprised to see Men’s shirts on sale here. I certainly did not expect to see Men’s shirts when first entering this shop considering this is a wedding shop.
And although this is a big shop, I did find the walking spaces to be narrow and there was not much room to move in. From wedding garlands to bangles to wedding flowers these are some of the things on offer.
Asians will know where I am going with this. In some Asian films we see brides getting carried in a bridal carrier. These are available to hire from here. They are pretty heavy to say the least and you need at least three to five men carrying it.

Usha’s are event managers specialising in Indian weddings. They also have a shop on the Soho Road, where you could purchase virtually all you need to carry out the rituals of an Indian wedding. They cater for Sikh and Hindu wedding material, such as renting out jaagos (decorated and illuminated pots) and palki’s (palanquins).
I found the cost of their rentals was steep, not only in comparison to other providers but also given their products look worn out. I purchased some items from there for my brother’s wedding, only to find cheaper and better versions elsewhere. I came back on the same day to return them only to be told that they don’t accept returns unless they were sold in damaged condition. It would have been helpful if I was told this when I was actually paying for the items.
The service lacked warmth and friendliness, although they stock a comprehensive range of products.