Certified wedding planner Bonnie Rosa-Mosena from Perfect Events, in Clive, had a whirlwind courtship with her current husband.

They’ve been married seven years and originally met on match.com.

“We were both working full time,” Rosa-Mosena said, “and when you’re a little older and not in the bar scene, where else do you go?”

The two e-mailed back and forth for two months and then had their first date March 7, which happened to be Rosa-Mosena’s birthday.

“I didn’t even know he knew it was my birthday,” she said. “We met at Biaggi’s. I walked in, and there was this handsome 6-foot-5-inch guy with a bouquet of flowers.”

She said he had arranged with the manager for a booth in the restaurant with candles and even had a cake there for her.

“I knew the minute I met him that he was the right guy for me,” she said. He proposed to her April 20 of the same year, and the two were married Aug. 30.

The proposal fit into Rosa-Mosena’s fairy tale ending, too. He took her to Savannah, Ga., and rented a carriage in a park. “I’m a hopeless romantic; it was perfect,” Rosa-Mosena said.

“I want everyone to be married, to be happy and to have someone to love. I want everyone to live happily ever after,” she said.

This is just one of the reasons Rosa-Mosena works in the wedding business. She also said that growing up, her family did not have a lot of money. She said she dreamed of what she wanted on her wedding day, but didn’t know if it would happen because of the cost. Yet she found a way to have a simple wedding that was exactly what she wanted.

Her wedding included a wedding dress hand-sewn by a neighbor.

“There was not one machine stitch,” Rosa-Mosena said. “I found family and friends to help out.”

Rosa-Mosena has been in the business for 15 years. She described her business as a full-service wedding planning company. “There isn’t anything too small or too large that we can’t handle.”

Perfect Events works closely with the engaged couple to make sure everything is perfect for their wedding, including decorating, finding vendors, booking locations and arranging for tents, chairs, tables, linens, flowers, etc.

“We set it all up, make sure it looks great and help make sure the ceremony goes well,” she said.

From experience, Rosa-Mosena said she plays a lot of roles for the couple. “Sometimes, I have to be a psychologist, a mother, a decorator, a project manager and even an accountant. People have no clue about all the skills you need to be a successful wedding planner where people are happy with the service.”

The day of a wedding is known in the business as the day of service, and Rosa-Mosena said she usually puts in 16 hours of work for those days.

“I make sure everything is perfect,” she said. “We’re the first ones there and the last ones to leave.”

She has had “bridezillas” in the past that made her want to quit the business. However, she said she learned to cherish the good brides. “I’ve seen a lot of wedding planners come and go,” she said, “but the brides that are good make up for the ones that are bad.”

Rosa-Mosena advised couples to hire a certified wedding planner for their own wedding. She said wedding planners know how much things should cost and will negotiate contracts on behalf of the couple so they don’t get overcharged.

“Don’t think you can’t afford a wedding planner,” she said, “because really you can’t afford not to have one. Otherwise, you will spend a lot more money for your wedding than you should.”

Couples should make sure the planner is certified, as anybody can call themselves a wedding planner. Rosa-Mosena said the certified ones have gone through training and proved they’ve done 5,000 hours of event planning work.

“The day of the wedding should be a day where all your dreams come true. You shouldn’t have to worry, or have your friends and family be workhorses. Everyone should enjoy your wedding,” she said.