Celeb wedding planner Susan Smith talks about her dream job.

What does a wedding planner do?

Wedding planners take care of every aspect of the wedding. That includes looking for the dress, sourcing suppliers, finding the right venue and ensuring the day itself is perfect. Planning a wedding can take anything from a month to a year and a half.

How did you get the job?

My business partner and I were sick of going to bad weddings. I have a background in events management so when we decided to go into business together wedding planning was the obvious choice. I didn’t go to college, you don’t have to in this industry. You just need experience in the service industry and lots of contacts. I started as a waitress and worked my way up. That way I got to know what happens behind the scenes at every level of the business.

What’s fab about being a wedding planner?

W e did Chantelle and Preston’s wedding earlier this year; that might be of interest to your readers! Chantelle is very, very sweet. I like working with people. It’s very satisfying to realise someone’s vision, to turn their dreams into reality and give them their perfect wedding. Especially as a wedding day is such an important, emotional day.

What sucks about your job?

One of the less good things is looking for venues. It’s very time consuming and there’s so many things to consider, like budget, the number of guests and availability. It can get tedious.

Has anyone ever been jilted at a wedding you’ve organised?

No, but we’ve had weddings postponed. We do have to reassure brides and grooms with last minute nerves sometimes. The main issue we have is best man’s speeches. They can be horribly crude sometimes and we have to ask that they be toned down.

What kind of person makes a good wedding planner?

A positive person who is well organised. A people person with lots of common sense. You need to be resourceful so that if something isn’t happening as it should, you can think of a way to fix it.

What advice do you have for aspiring wedding planners?

You should think about working in a big hotel or a venue that does weddings so you can see behind the scenes and work out if it’s something you’ll enjoy. THere are degrees in events management you can do but get hands on experience to learn about catering and budgeting an event whilst getting lots of contacts at the same time.

Susan Smith is co-director of the high-end wedding planning company Smith and Niemierko. Find out more at www.smithniemierko.com