Emily Andrew, owner of Your Norfolk Wedding, explains that working as a wedding planner isn't always as glamorous as Jennifer Lopez made it seem in the hit 2001 film.

Eastern Daily Press: Your Norfolk Wedding: One of the weddings Emily Andrew has helped to plan. Photo: Joanna MillingtonYour Norfolk Wedding: One of the weddings Emily Andrew has helped to plan. Photo: Joanna Millington (Image: Archant)

Name: Emily Andrew

Age: 37

Job title and employer: Owner of Your Norfolk Wedding, a bespoke wedding planning company in Norfolk.

My job in a nutshell: Planning and styling weddings.

How I got my job: I decided to launch my own company when my previous career was no longer giving me the satisfaction and challenge I wanted. I pre-qualified in Wedding and Event planning and launched my own company. Since launching Your Norfolk Wedding I have become the only Wedding planner accredited in Norfolk by the UK Alliance of Wedding Planners (www.ukawp.co.uk) which I am very proud of.

The most enjoyable part of what I do is: I love being my own boss and deciding how my business should evolve in an ever-changing and trend-led industry.

Eastern Daily Press: Your Norfolk Wedding: An event planned by Emily Andrew. Photo: Fuller PhotographyYour Norfolk Wedding: An event planned by Emily Andrew. Photo: Fuller Photography (Image: Archant)

I am a people person at heart, so getting to know my clients and their families over the course of a year or so is great. Planning a wedding is an intimate thing, getting to know about people's relationships, their families and aspirations, so I feel truly privileged when brides and grooms choose to work with me.

Providing couples with professional advice and support in the run up to their big day gives me great satisfaction as well, knowing that they are spending their budget in the best way for them and not saddling themselves with unnecessary debt as they start married life. Ultimately though, the best bit is after the wedding when I get feedback like 'it really was the best day ever!'

You might not know this about my job: I have been known to unblock portable toilets! Being a wedding planner is not glamorous, and if a job needs to be done I will get my hands dirty and do it - quite literally. In addition to weddings I also plan many other events including charity functions - basically, if you can celebrate it, I can organise it.

My best day at work: The actual wedding day is always a high, the culmination of months of planning and seeing my couple's dreams realised and everyone enjoying themselves is a wonderful feeling.

My first job: Planning a wedding with a couple based in Bali. Dealing with the time zone was a bit of a challenge as most of our communication was done via email which is never as good as traditional, face-to-face meetings. They had great plans for their day but really needed a local representative to help them coordinate the suppliers and then manage their wedding day.

What's the most exciting thing about your industry? I love everything about weddings and most people who work in this industry share this passion so it is lovely to work with other like-minded professionals. I am also constantly blown away by the talent amongst the wedding professionals - there are some amazing creative geniuses in Norfolk.

Where do you find your inspiration? A lot of my inspiration will come from my couples and their venue. They will come to me with some ideas of how they want their day to go and I can then interpret that into something feasible and communicate it with the suppliers.

I love getting creative with my brides and often use Pinterest for this, which is a great tool. Personalisation is a massive wedding trend right now so I also enjoy working with the grooms to incorporate their favourite things into the wedding styling, after all the wedding should be a reflection of them as a couple.

Wedding fairs, home decor and blogs are all great for kick-starting the designs as well. I also spend hours surfing the internet finding looks and sourcing key items for my clients.

• To find out more about the services offered by Your Norfolk Wedding visit www.yournorfolkwedding.com

• If you'd like to feature in this column, email courtney.pochin@archant.co.uk