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Sheraton Imperial Wedding Photographer — Research Triangle Park, NC

If your celebration runs three days and your guest list runs to four figures, this is one of the few places in the Triangle that can simply absorb it. Thirty-one thousand square feet of event space, eighteen-foot ceilings in the main ballrooms, 331 rooms upstairs, and a drive the hotel actively markets for a baraat. We have photographed here, procession included.

Check your date at the Sheraton Imperial

Walk the venue

Footage we shot on the property, including a baraat arriving at the hotel.

A baraat on the hotel drive. This is the space the Sheraton means when it says it provides a drive and garden area for the procession — and it is big enough that the procession has room to build.

The venue at a glance

Address	4700 Emperor Blvd, Durham, NC 27703 — I-40 at Exit 282, Page Road
Phone	(919) 941-5050
Event space	31,504 sq ft across 12 event rooms
Imperial Convention Center	14,288 sq ft, 18-ft ceilings — 2,000 reception, 1,200 banquet
Imperial Ballroom	10,080 sq ft, 18-ft ceilings — 1,400 reception, 850 banquet
Empire Ballroom	6,272 sq ft, 18-ft ceilings — 900 reception, 480 banquet
Smaller rooms	Royal Ballroom, Crystal Coast, Crown Room and the Imperial and Empire salons, from 49 to 280
Catering	In-house kitchen, plus an approved list of outside caterers for multicultural events. A base fee applies for beverage service and wait staff when you bring one in
Alcohol	The hotel supplies all alcohol. No outside liquor
Baraat	Explicitly provided for — the hotel offers its drive and garden area for the procession
Rooms	331, including 19 suites. Room blocks with a private booking link; hospitality rooms and bridal ready rooms available
Parking	Self-parking and valet, both charged per day at published rates
Airport	Complimentary shuttle, RDU about four miles away

The hotel does not publish a music curfew, an open-flame or havan policy, the names on its approved caterer list, or the size of its outside-caterer fee. Those are four questions to ask before you sign anything.

Where the photographs happen

Eighteen-foot ceilings

The single most useful published number here. The Imperial Convention Center, the Imperial and Empire Ballrooms and all their salons are 18 feet to the ceiling, which comfortably clears a tall mandap, a lighting truss and a raised stage. Most hotel ballrooms in this region are ten to twelve feet, and it shows in the pictures — a low ceiling crushes a mandap and bounces color onto everyone's faces.

Rooms running in parallel

The Convention Center is 188 by 76 feet and divides into the Imperial and Empire ballrooms plus seven salons. Practically, that means the haldi, the sangeet and the reception can each have their own room on the same floor, which is what makes a genuine multi-day celebration possible without moving venues.

The drive and garden

Where the baraat happens. The hotel markets it for exactly that, and it is wide enough that the procession has somewhere to come from — which is the whole trick of photographing a baraat. You need distance for the crowd to build into.

Natural light, in some rooms

The hotel says some of its function space has natural light but does not say which rooms. Worth asking for on a daytime muhurtham; worth scouting either way.

Timing your day here

• Baraat first, and give it room. An hour on the drive is not too much. It is the loudest, most photographable part of the day and it is over faster than anyone expects.
• Getting ready upstairs. Bridal ready rooms and hospitality rooms are available — ask for one with a window, and ask early.
• Ceremony in one of the large ballrooms with the mandap under the 18-foot ceiling. We light it rather than relying on the house wash.
• Couple portraits — outside in the garden area in the last hour of daylight, because everything else here is interior.
• Reception in the second ballroom. Confirm your end time in writing; the hotel publishes no curfew, which is not the same as there not being one.

Why this hotel works for a large Indian wedding

The Sheraton Imperial markets itself for South Asian weddings more directly than almost any hotel in the Triangle, and it puts specifics behind it:

• It names the events. The hotel's own wedding page offers spaces for haldi and sangeet, the ceremony and the ballroom reception, and describes its team as well-versed in facilitating large Indian weddings.
• Outside caterers are permitted through an approved list for multicultural events — so your family's caterer can cook. A base fee applies for beverage service and wait staff, and the hotel supplies all the alcohol.
• The baraat is provided for in writing, on the drive and garden area. That is rare enough to be worth saying out loud.
• Up to 1,400 guests in the larger ballrooms, and 331 rooms so the out-of-town family sleeps where the wedding is.
• Open flame and havan are not addressed anywhere in the hotel's published material. If you need a sacred fire, get written confirmation before you book — do not assume a hotel ballroom will allow one.

Our photographer speaks Tamil, Telugu and English, so we can follow the priest and run family portraits in the language your family is comfortable in. More on how we cover South Asian ceremonies is on our Indian, Tamil & Telugu weddings page.

Frequently asked questions

Can we bring our own Indian caterer to the Sheraton Imperial?

Yes, through the hotel's approved list of caterers for specialty and multicultural events. The hotel applies a base fee for beverage service and wait staff when an outside caterer is used, and it supplies all alcoholic beverages itself.

Can we have a baraat at the Sheraton Imperial?

Yes. The hotel explicitly offers a drive and garden area for the baraat on its own weddings page.

How many guests can the Sheraton Imperial hold?

The Imperial Convention Center takes 2,000 for a reception or 1,200 seated. The hotel describes its four ballrooms as accommodating 200 to 1,400 guests, with the smaller rooms at around 200.

Can we have a havan or sacred fire in the ballroom?

The hotel publishes no open-flame policy either way. Do not plan on it until you have written confirmation from the events team.

Can our guests stay at the hotel?

Yes. There are 331 rooms including 19 suites, and the hotel offers room blocks with a private booking link for your guests, plus hospitality rooms and bridal ready rooms. There is a complimentary shuttle to RDU.

Are the ballroom ceilings high enough for a mandap?

Yes. The Imperial Convention Center, Imperial Ballroom, Empire Ballroom and their salons all have 18-foot ceilings, which is unusually generous for a hotel and comfortably clears a tall mandap and a lighting rig.

Tell us about your Sheraton Imperial wedding

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