Skip to content

'I found my dream job in retirement - marrying people'

After 30 years in the teaching profession Amanda Wheal took retirement - and reinvented herself as a wedding celebrant. She shares her business advice for the CEO Secrets series.

Video by series producer Dougal Shaw

24 May 2022

Women in business

Explore More

Head table at a wedding with bride and groom laughing along with both sets of parents

Nervous dad forgets bride as he walks down aisle

A bride in white dress holding a bouquet of flowers walks off a football pitch. Next to her is her new husband, who is wearing a great suit and tie with a white shirt and next to him is a bridesmaid wearing a light blue dress. In the background are players waiting to kick off.

Couple celebrate wedding on football pitch

Bill and Aileen Turnbull on their wedding day

Couple reunited with wedding video 57 years later

Georgia, Conor and baby Harper

'Love in the air' - 100 weddings in a day at one venue

Exterior of Old Marylebone Town Hall

How do you prepare for 100 weddings in one day?

Hannah and Mathew Parfitt getting married

Why we married on Friday 13th

Kaz and Olly with dog of honour Rufus

Fur-ever after: Four-legged guests attend wedding

Nita Ambani celebrates her son Anant Ambani's wedding

Lavish Ambani wedding divides opinions in India

Newlyweds John, 39, and Les, 50, both in suits, sat atop Durham's riverside bull sculpture.

'It's the first gay wedding the church has accepted'

Vince Smith and Leah Anderson walking down the train aisle

Couple tie the knot on Paddington to Swansea train

bride, grandmother and groom

Wedding reception held at grandmother's nursing home

Vivien Wong

'If you can't see it, you can't be it'

Lucy Edwards

Why a TikTok star bought blindfolds for her wedding day

Bride and groom walk down flooded aisle

Watch: Bride walks down flooded aisle after typhoon

Watch the moment a paralysed man walks his daughter down the aisle.

Moment dad gives daughter away after brain injury

The Duke and Duchess of Wales in Jordan

William and Kate attend lavish Jordan royal wedding

Family on wedding day

Doctor helps sick toddler make parents' wedding

Two same-sex couples kissing

First same-sex weddings take place in Switzerland

Chris and Ffion

Shielding couple's choreographed first dance

Chris Miller and Ffion Martin have been engaged since the first lockdown

Couple to wed after waiting since first lockdown

Rachel Reeves

Watch: Reeves 'deeply proud' to be first female chancellor

The Chancellor has presented her first Budget in the Commons.

Twins James and John Makanjuola,

The twins cleaning London's unloved spaces

Entrepreneurs James and John run a cleaning firm, but take it to the next level in their spare time.

Paula Vennells at the Post Office inquiry

Key moments from former Post Office chief's three-day testimony

Paula Vennells faced three days of questions about her role in the wrongful prosecution of hundreds of sub-postmasters.

Paula Vennells reaching for a tissue in the Post Office inqiuiry

Ex-Post Office boss cries while giving evidence

Ex-Post Office boss Paula Vennells is speaking about the incident for the first time in ten years.

Santiago Paredes

Whistleblower claims Boeing supplier sent faulty parts

Spirit AeroSystems supplied Boeing with faulty parts, a former quality inspector has told the BBC.

Tatti Lashes

Tatti Lashes: The school friends who built a beauty empire

Charlotte Tiplady and Elliot Barton explain how together they built up their Tatti Lashes beauty empire from Liverpool.

Ocado has added robotic arms to its newest warehouse near Luton.

Watch Ocado robots in action

Ocado has added robotic arms to its newest warehouse near Luton.

Business Headlines

BBC World News business headlines

The latest international business headlines from BBC World News.

Jo Hamilton

'I feel survivor's guilt' says Post Office victim

Former sub-postmaster Jo Hamilton told BBC Breakfast she feels "guilt" after settling with the government over the Horizon IT scandal.

Woman in sunglasses smiling while answering questions related to the Budget

Watch: 'My biggest financial regret is...'

People in Kent share their finance stories ahead of Wednesday's Budget. Would you share yours?

Mohsin Issa

Issa brother to step back after 'fixing' Asda

Mohsin Issa, one half of the so-called "billionaire brothers" who own Asda, says he plans to hand over the running of the UK's third biggest supermarket.

Robots

'We had to adapt our robots to the AI revolution'

Sandy Enoch of Robotical explains why he had to pivot his educational robot company due to AI.

Picsart

'AI won't steal your job, but people using it may'

Hovhannes Avoyan, founder of picture and video editing app Picsart, shares his advice for our CEO Secrets series.

Picture of The Body Shop storefront in the 80s

'They thought it was a sex shop' - The Body Shop in the '80s

Archive footage shows Dame Anita Roddick talking about her company's success, in an 1984 interview.

Raid on Co-op store

CCTV shows violent raid on Co-op store

The retailer gave the footage to the BBC as it warned of a rise in attacks on retail staff.

Sir Howard Davies

Not that difficult to buy a home, says NatWest chair

Sir Howard Davies says he believes it is not currently "that difficult" for people to get on the housing ladder.

Joanna Jensen

'A viral Facebook post nearly blew up our business'

Joanna Jensen, founder of skincare brand Childs Farm, shares advice for start-ups for our CEO Secrets series.

Ofcom chief executive Dame Melanie Dawes

Broadband rises must be 'clearer', says Ofcom boss

The regulator has plans to make mobile and broadband firms more upfront about mid-contract price rises.

Earring

'This earring helped me build my £4bn business'

Richard Harpin, co-founder of Homeserve, explains how an earring taught him an early business lesson.

Olivia DeRamus and BBC reporter Lora Jones

'Taking control of my abuse story'

Olivia DeRamus set up an app in the wake of her sexual assault. Now she's ready to take on Big Tech.