By Boris Ben Ari, Sheli's dad

"People who know me were quite surprised when I told them we were using a wedding planner for my daughter Sheli's wedding to Jonny. I have reputation as a control freak after all! And I’ve been to a number of functions in Israel, so I knew which caterer I wanted, and which band. Still, there were three good reasons for having a wedding planner.

"The first was that we needed a venue! I was very keen on Jerusalem, where we have an apartment, but there were no venues there that matched our requirements. Nikki told us about a place she thought we’d like near Hadera (between Netanya and Caesaria), but that seemed too far away so we continued looking. After three or four days of touring venues, with and without Nikki, we finally agreed to see Nikki’s Hadera venue.

"It was a wintery day, absolutely teeming down with rain when we got there, and we had to wait ten minutes before we could even get out of the car! Nevertheless, within moments we knew that Nikki had taken us to the right place. The minute we stepped inside, we said yes.

"It was clear that Nikki had understood what we wanted. The problem had been that nowhere in Jerusalem would allow us to play music after 11.30 or so. Well, with 200 guests on holiday, no-one would have wanted to finish before midnight! Nikki had the knowledge and experience to recommend the perfect venue for us, where we could have the chuppa outside and the function inside.

"The second reason for using a planner is that organizing a wedding is massive. There are a dozen different things that need coordinating and managing closely, from the caterer, bar, and venue to the music and flowers – to say nothing of the coach from Jerusalem to the wedding and the taxi service home again….

"What you want is one address where you send your queries. I’d sit in my office in London, think of something that needed doing, and fire off an email to Nikki, who I could rely upon to get on with it and get back to me quickly. She’s very responsive.

"It’s also great if something doesn’t go right, to have someone who has a panel of options for you. For instance, we weren’t that happy with our designer. We didn’t need very much – just someone to decorate the venue in a relatively simple way – but our original designer wasn’t quite right and kept going over the top. We decided we needed someone else – and within a couple of days, Nikki had someone for us who was much more suited to our style of wedding.

"Third, you want someone to be running the event itself so you can relax and get on with the party! Ours is a musical family and we love to dance. We chose a band who know how to create a party atmosphere. They’re top quality, professional musicians, and they really enjoy themselves on stage.

"On the night, Nikki was magnificent. She kept everything to plan, and every time I looked for her, she could see that I was looking and found me right away. Meanwhile, I was having a terrific time.

"I’m over the moon about the whole experience. The wedding has been my baby for a year and I really have enjoyed doing it, and I feel that I got value for money. I might be a control freak, but a week before the wedding I’d stopped worrying. Nikki had everything under control."