Not every marriage celebrant also offers to make that very special wedding cake that you’ll remember long after your reception.

Bubbly, outgoing, and loving her work, Donna Susan Sharp, however, takes the view that it’s best to have more than one string to your bow.

“I thought that being a marriage celebrant who is also a cake-maker on the side would add appeal to my business,” Donna explained.

“Sometimes they require the two services, but often I’m asked to do either the wedding or the cake, it’s not often I get contracted to do both,” she added.

In the game for nearly a decade, she said that it was a family connection that first aroused her interest in this very specialised field.

“Eight years I’ve been a marriage celebrant, and it came about when my oldest daughter got married about 14 years ago,” Donna revealed.

“Helping her organise the event — the reception, the wedding, flowers, and decorations — I decided to become a celebrant myself because I enjoyed it that much!”

She admits even now to occasionally lending a hand when asked her opinion on the best way to commemorate one of the most important events in a married couple’s life.

“I’m not a wedding organiser, but I’m occasionally asked my advice about issues to do with the service. They’ll ask, ‘What’s a good venue to use?’, or they’ll ask about a good poem to use, that sort of thing,” Donna added.

She said that the secret to success in this highly-competitive field, with dozens of celebrants in the region, is to make the happy couple the centre of everyone’s attention.

“The important thing is, don’t make it all about you, for instance, I tend to stand to the side as the bride and groom enter.

“People pay a lot for photographers at these events, and you don’t want the celebrant in every second shot, so I stand out of the way,” Donna said.

Her other golden rule is to allow the couple and their family to rule the running of the service, however they wish.

“I let them have whatever they want in their ceremony. I saw a bride come in on a horse one time, because she loved riding. Many weddings are now in-theme, I did one recently that was in a 'Rocky Horror Show' style for both the wedding party and guests.”

For her wedding cakes, she also has one golden rule: make it delicious!

“I try and make it very edible, a lot of people now use the cake for the dessert, so you want it be tasty,” Donna said. “I do a lot of sponge cakes with butter cream icing, in chocolate, vanilla, lemon and elderflower, whatever they want.”

Her final advice for those planning a wedding, is to always have an alternative venue if something goes wrong.

“Most weddings are now outdoors, about 80 per cent of people now use wedding celebrants, but you should always have a ‘Plan B’ if it is raining,” Donna said.

“A lot of people don’t have somewhere to go if it pours, they just go ahead!” she concluded.

For more information, go to: www.ceremoniesandcakesbydonna.com.au/