By Alison Wagner, Katie's mum

"Katie wanted a beach wedding, and Israel was the best option. My younger daughter was on her gap year in Israel, and we have family there – all in all, Israel made sense. We had talked about Miami, but it’s a bit too far for our friends and you can’t rely on the weather.

"At first I didn’t want to use a wedding planner, but then I realised that it would be much too much work on my own! I could never have put it all on without Nikki.

"Actually, I met another planner before Nikki. But the first lady wasn’t for me: she wanted me to do a wedding that was beyond my means. She only did hotel weddings, and with much higher budgets than mine. It was a waste of time, so we thought we’d better go ahead and plan the wedding alone.

"My husband and I were pretty downhearted about the wasted visit, but then a friend gave me Nikki’s number. Hours before we were due to leave, Nikki came out to the airport to meet us.

"I have to say that I fell in love with Nikki the minute I met her. My husband is in litigation and he doesn’t trust anyone first time, but Nikki won him over immediately. The next eight months were a whirlwind!

"What was fantastic about working with Nikki was that she was so accessible. She was available any time, day or night, and every time I put down the phone I was absolutely confident that she understood what I wanted and that she was getting on with it and doing the right thing.

"We wanted to make a big celebration of the family simcha so we put on a couple of events for our guests before the wedding: an elegant Friday night reception and dinner at the Dan Accadia, and an evening at Rocca in Herzliya Pituach on the Saturday – cocktails, canapés, and lots of fantastic sushi! The venue overlooks the Mediterranean and is absolutely stunning. We just chose the venue for each occasion, and Nikki did the rest.

"As for the wedding itself, Nikki really listened to what we wanted and I was delighted to see ideas that we’d talked about six months previously come to life on the night. We’d thought it would be fun to give all our guests white flip-flops to wear on the beach. She just made it happen, and even stuck diamantes gems onto each and every one.

"She knew how to make the most of everything too. I was a bit worried that Israeli suppliers would sense I didn’t know what prices to expect and take advantage. Nikki knew exactly how to get the best out of them and I know that the wedding was considerably less expensive thanks to Nikki’s experience and expertise.

"The wedding itself was amazing. Words can’t describe it, it was magical. Nikki was there, as she was on the other two nights, making sure everything was perfect. She was so organised, so efficient – honestly, I can’t sing her praises enough.

"Nikki did it all for us, really. She was truly amazing, and I could not have done it without her."