Wedding guru Raj Somaiya has spoken of his 'excitement' about the new show ‘Ultimate Wedding Planner’.

The BBC series sees eight aspiring wedding planners battle it out, as six brave couples agree to let them take control of the biggest day of their lives.

Raj joins hospitality expert Fred Sirieix and craft and business guru Sara Davies as one of the three judges.

Raj revealed some of his personal highlights during filming, “My highlight really was seeing the planners developing their skills as we progressed through the series.

"At the start, they were new to the planning world, but by episode six they were real wedding planners. 

“They’d really learnt, taken in our feedback and progressed in their learning and career development. Absolutely amazing!

“I don’t think we realised the wedding planners’ capabilities to begin with. Some of the planners came into the process with particular strengths like floristry or choreography, but as they went through this they developed other skills. 

“Every week you could see them developing new skills. I think it’s the whole progression of them going from newcomers to genuine planners.”

Raj said there were multiple mishaps. Something he was expecting.

“You’ll see that I was often anxious because at the end of the day I wanted to look after the couple, I wanted to make sure their wedding went well.

"Given the nature of the series, the planners were often overzealous and were overpromising but under delivering. 

“In the moments when they were under delivering, I stepped in and put it right or I had to warn them that what they were trying to achieve wasn’t going to happen. It was often quite stressful.

“Sometimes I could foresee things were going to go wrong but I had to back off and let them make their own mistakes, even though I knew I would have to go and fix them later.

"Sometimes they fixed their errors themselves or, if not, I stepped in as the priority was always the couple getting married.”

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Raj said the series was ‘intense, chaotic, but very rewarding’, “I really enjoyed being a judge. It was great to watch the planners grow. That was really enlightening for me personally.

"I could mentor them and watch them build new skills over the six weeks.”

Raj who has been planning high-profile weddings within the Asian community for many years.

He had this advice for wedding planners, “I think the most important thing about wanting to become a wedding planner or a supplier in the wedding industry is that you are passionate about what you do. 

“When things go wrong or when things are not going according to plan, you really need to have that passion and drive to get through it. If you are weak at the knees and if you are going to crumble at the first hurdle, then really don’t take this job on.

"When you are so passionate about something, you’ll be able to fight through it. 

“Get some experience, whether that’s volunteering with a florist, working with an operations manager or at a banquet at a hotel, get some work experience first.”

Ultimate Wedding Planner is available to watch on the BBC iplayer