‘I was beaten up in the prison service – it prepared me for my job as a wedding planner’

A wedding planner anonymously reveals what it’s like to work with the wealthy, and why a traumatic event in a former job has set her up for success I’m a wedding planner but my first job was in the prison service. I was a prison chaperone and I would help with the transportation of prisoners with mental health problems or learning difficulties to court for sentencing. But I got badly beaten up by one of them – it felt like a lifetime but it was about seven minutes until an officer pulled him off me.

My front teeth were gone, my ribs were broken, I had two black eyes, a broken nose and a fractured cheekbone. I thought: “You do not pay me enough to do this”. Sometimes I joke that my experience in that job helps me deal with brides.



But really, brides have never been my problem. The real issue is the mother of the bride. After I gave up prison work, my husband and I decided to build a house and I took an interior design course because I wanted to be fully involved in creating our home.

During that time, a friend who was a florist worked on a really big wedding and she asked me for some creative ideas. I worked with her part-time, helping her design bespoke weddings with tablescapes, colour palettes and unique ways of displaying florals in venues..