*It's simple to send custom emails in magento by using zend mail function with success and error messages see the following code *

public function postAction()
    {
        $params     = $this->getRequest()->getPost();
        $recipient  = Mage::getStoreConfig('trans_email/ident_general/email');
        //echo $recipient;
        //die();
        if($params)
        {
        $mail = new Zend_Mail();
        $mail->setBodyText(
        "Restaurant Name:".$params['restName'].
        "\nFirst Name:".$params['first_name'].
        "\nLast Name:".$params['last_name'].
        "\nCity:".$params['city'].
        "\nPhone No.:".$params['phone_no'].
        "\nEmail:".$params['email'].
        "\nNeed Help:".$params['help'].
        "Comments".$params['comments']
        );
        $mail->setFrom($params['email'],$params['first_name'].' '.$params['last_name']);
        $mail->addTo($recipient, '');
        $mail->setSubject('New Contact');
        try {
        $mail->send();
        if($mail->send()){
        $message = $this->__('Your inquiry was submitted and will be responded to as soon as possible. Thank you for contacting us.');
        Mage::getSingleton('core/session')->addSuccess($message);
        $this->_redirect('*/*/');}
        else {
        $message = $this->__('Unable to submit your request Please try again later');
        Mage::getSingleton('core/session')->addError($message);
        $this->_redirect('*/*/');
        }
            }
        catch(Exception $ex) {
        $message = $this->__('Unable to submit your request Please try again later');
        Mage::getSingleton('adminhtml/session')->addError($message);
        }
        }
        else {
        $message = $this->__('Unable to submit your request Please try again later');
        Mage::getSingleton('core/session')->addError($message);
        $this->_redirect('*/*/');
        }


    }