Hawke's Bay woman off to royal wedding

Celebrities, royals and the trip of a lifetime beckon for Napier woman Shannon Zaloum, who will join The Edge radio host Jay-Jay Feeney on a whirlwind trip to the royal wedding in London.

Ms Zaloum entered a competition on The Edge to win the chance to report live from London in the lead-up to Kate Middleton and Prince William's wedding on April 29.

But it was no easy task, as Ms Zaloum had to prove she had what it takes by conducting an impromptu radio interview alongside two other finalists, who were whittled down from hundreds of entries.

"I had to show that I was able to interact with people and so I interviewed all my work mates about the nine reasons I shouldn't go to London, just for a bit of a laugh," she said. "They were great and all played up their characters."

Yesterday she was announced on the morning show as the overall winner.

Ms Zaloum will rub shoulders with celebrities, organise a Kiwi royal party and share her experiences with New Zealanders on The Edge.

"We will be reporting all the events on the street, all the buzz around London," she said.

"We get to talk to John Key and his wife before they attend the wedding and put on a royal wedding-themed party for all the New Zealand expats."

It's not the first time Ms Zaloum has had a brush with royalty. "When I was working as a graphic designer [in London] Prince Charles was one of our clients. Once I designed a birthday card for Charles from Sting - he paid about $2000 for it."

The trip includes flights and accommodation for three nights and wouldn't have been possible without co-operation from her boss and colleagues at No9 Marketing + Design, she said.

"She told us that she had entered a couple of weeks back," No9 Marketing + Design owner Amanda Sye said.

"When we found out she was a finalist we helped her to brainstorm for her interview, hence the nine reasons not to go to London because it fits with the company name.

"We came up with the idea that she is the one who knows everything and I was the cow of a boss. We work as a team and as much as we are serious about work we know how to laugh at ourselves."