Welcome! I was moved to write this blog post because I often get asked about being a wedding celebrant (…this week alone, I've had 3 DMs from aspiring celebrants!) There's so much to think about, which is why I wanted to put some thoughts down here.

 

Our popularity has exploded in recent years. With more celebrant weddings come more people watching celebrants in action, thinking, "Oh, I want a career change, and that looks like a fun job."

 

And they're right. It IS a really lovely job. I get to fly alongside couples preparing to get married and have the privilege of standing up there with them as they experience one of the most magical moments of their lives. I get paid to tell (and write) stories. I get to be my own boss and set my own agenda. But — like all jobs — there are drawbacks.

 

I love being a wedding celebrant. And I am very pro others training to do the same — so much so, I mentor several new celebrants a year for Humanists UK. And at the same time, I often see people go into it blindly.

 

Below, I've tried my hardest to summarise some of the most pertinent information about the job, address the questions I get asked all the time and the things that come up when I'm mentoring. I've also included some of the things I wish I'd known before training to become a celebrant.

What does the role involve?

Being a celebrant is running your own 360 business — solo. It's lovely being a vital part of a couple's wedding and hearing lovely feedback afterwards, but that's just the "front of house" element. The reality behind the scenes is that you're running your business — from top to bottom. As any small business owner will tell you, this is a challenging feat. It includes everything from social media management, marketing, accounts, admin, coordinating and a LOT of organisation, SEO, website maintenance, blog writing (hi!) and diary management — to name just a few.

While it is very rewarding when things are going right, running your own business like this can mean it takes time to switch off and have downtime. And unplugged holidays are very few and far between.

Couples are signing up to work with you personally — so it's not like you can do any outsourcing or have a second celebrant stand-in so you can double book weddings on those popular summer weekends (…believe me, I've wished I could do this countless times!). Which is great, but it also doesn't make our business very scalable.

 

Where should I train?

The age-old question.

This is a very personal decision and one that depends entirely on the individual. I'm trained by Humanists UK, which felt like a natural fit for me. As someone who already identified with Humanist principles, I didn't even really stop to consider other options when I trained – so luckily, it worked out well! The Humanist UK training is well regarded in the industry and, in many ways, is seen as the gold standard of training. My training here spanned over several months with various assessments along the way.

Working out whether you subscribe to Humanist principles or would be better suited as an independent celebrant is a good starting place. Do your research. No one can answer this for you.

There are endless accrediting bodies and training academies – too many to list here. Many of which are established and well-regarded. There are also some less than professional ones who promise to accredit you in record time (beware!) and for next to nothing. Good training in the celebrant world, like anywhere, costs. You'll need to factor this in as a start-up cost.

 

What qualifications do I need to be a celebrant?

While there is no legal requirement to be officially accredited to be a professional celebrant, I find it odd that someone might do this job officially without having formal training. There's one thing being asked as a friend to perform another friend's wedding in an unofficial capacity. There's another to promote yourself as a celebrant — and charge couples for this service — without the extensive knowledge that goes into the job. And frankly, when this happens, it undermines our industry and its skilled professionals. So, don't be that person!

 

What skills should I have?

This is a varied role, and it takes a wide skillset.

Of course, you'll need natural confidence and grounded public speaking skills. As well as this, there are hours of interviewing couples to glean all the right information to create a great ceremony. That's before you get to the writing itself. Every celebrant has their own writing style, which you hone over time, but creative writing skills are important to the role. And there is a LOT of it – probably an average of 3,000 words when finished (not counting everything that ends up on the cutting room floor) for each ceremony – for me, anyway.

 

Being flexible, unflappable and able to roll with the punches is key. No matter how scripted each ceremony is, there will always be things that go awry (or totally tits up) on the day. Like comparing and keeping guests engaged if the bride is an hour late, dealing with drunk groomsmen heckling, talking a partner around who is so anxious they want to run away, and thinking on your feet if the rings go missing (yes, these are all things that have happened to me).

 

Then, there are personality traits that will serve you in this role. All celebrants are different, but being engaging, personable and able to build personal relationships are probably some no-brainers that every celebrant I know possesses.

 

Sometimes, you also find yourself wearing the hat of a couples coach, agony aunt and therapist — all rolled into one!

 

And what about marketing?

Arguably, marketing is one of the most important skills, so it deserves its own segment. It's 2024 — being able to effectively market yourself will be key to getting business. The wedding celebrant industry is pretty saturated, and those with the best presence online and who know how to build their brand ultimately have an advantage over those who don't.

 

If you don't possess these skills, they're something you're going to have to learn if you really want to get ahead of the crowd.

How much work goes into each wedding?

It's not just standing up and doing the performance on the day, the real time goes into all the stuff around the sides.

 

Aside from the time and energy spent running a business, there is the work exclusive to each wedding. To do each couple justice, I spend a lot of time on them, including couples’ meetings, discovery calls, questionnaires, writing, and the back-and-forth ongoing communication.

 

Then, on the leadup to their wedding day, there's practising, organisation, arranging travel and scheduling, printing – oh and all the time on weekends getting dressed up as a wedding guest (which would be long if I averaged out "getting ready hours" across the year!)

 

How do I get wedding celebrant bookings?

Every celebrant has a different marketing route. There are those who rely on paid-for directories, those who do endless wedding shows, some who rely on social media promotion or SEO and being highly ranked on Google, getting in with venues and planners, or building relationships with other celebrants. Or a combination of all of the above.

 

How will you get yours? There are cost (and time) considerations, which can involve a bit of trial and error, certainly in the early days.

 

Can I be a full-time celebrant?

Through hard work and good marketing, some celebrants do very well – but even then, nothing is guaranteed, and many struggle to get the bookings they'd like. I’d hazard a guess that for every celebrant who is killing it, there are probably a few who wish they had more work.

 

Even as a busy celebrant, I do other work as a group facilitator and coach, work which I really rely on in the off-season.

 

I only offer weddings; some celebrants provide different services to bridge the gap, too. But, like the wedding world, the funeral celebrant world comes with its own unique set of considerations.

 

 

While these are the most popular questions, there are other key aspects you might not have thought about...

 

It's a very seasonal job

Most weddings in the UK happen between May and the end of September/October. To give you an idea of my diary, across a lot of weekends in those peak months, I have a few weddings a week. Then things tend to drop off dramatically in the late autumn and winter months.

 

Being comfortable with the discomfort of having your own business — with all of the wonderful highs and sometimes scary lows (…'  it's been a slow month, this year isn't as busy as last, all my weddings are in spring and summer then die off for months' etc etc). You may be used to being comfortable with the uncertainty of self-employment — in which case, great! But for those leaving a 9-5 PAYE gig, it's definitely something to prepare yourself for.

 

Working weekends

Two-thirds of my weddings are on a Saturday. This can sometimes be a bit of a social life killer. With weddings usually scheduled 1-2 years in advance (and mainly in the spring and summer months,) it can sometimes be a holiday plan and impromptu weekend away with friends or at a festival killer, too. These days, my life is scheduled to the nth degree! But while it has to be more organised, I still need to find time to have a good time.

 

Start-up costs

Some things to factor into your budget include training, website build/design, travel (I didn't own a car before doing this job, now I couldn't do without one!) marketing to get your first clients (whichever route you go down, as detailed above, is likely to cost,) wardrobe.

 

Local "competition"

I don't like to think of it as "competition" because in my experience the celebrant world is very inclusive and collaborative, but at the same time, these are the people you'll be up against when couples decide who to book. Definitely look at how saturated your local celebrant market is.

 

How much work are other celebrants getting? How are they promoting themselves? What is their vibe/style, and how does it differ from yours? Can you offer something unique and different that will make you stand out from the crowd?

 

Travel

I clock up a lot of miles in my car. That's probably all that needs to be said there!!

 

It's a big responsibility

It's an incredible responsibility and an honour to stand up there alongside couples on one of the most important days of their lives and be part of the memories they will have forever.

 

And at the same time, it's a big responsibility. This isn't something I take lightly, even now, and when I first started, I used to get horribly nervous before each wedding. That lessened over time, but it's another factor (that I, at least!) wish I'd known about before.

 

 

I hope I've been able to get across a well-rounded view of this. My intention here isn't to put people off the job — as I say, I constantly champion and mentor new celebrants. But what I want to do is put across an honest viewpoint that factors in some of the different considerations that can be overlooked.

 

I've mentored a few celebrants who have gone into things on a whim before realising they have no social media skills, marketing knowledge or didn't do the research that could have told them that there were already a lot of well-established celebrants in their area. It doesn't mean they can't be successful, of course — but it does mean they may have to work harder than anticipated.

 

Still interested in becoming a wedding celebrant?

If you've read everything and decided you still want to be a wedding celebrant, here's a recap of what I recommend:

 

Research training courses — give yourself time to carefully assess different options, especially if you're on the fence about being a humanist celebrant or an independent one. You might want to look at popular celebrant websites to see if they've mentioned who they've trained with.

 

Assess your "competition" — how saturated is your local area? Can you fill a spot in the market? It's worth researching nearby areas as well that you're happy to travel to.

 

Put together a financial plan — once you've found the right training course, include the fees in your start-up costs. Then research website hosting plans. I'd set aside money for extras like social media/marketing tools.

 

Immerse yourself in social media — see how you get on with frequently uploading content and keeping on top of everything.

 

Read blogs, FAQs and forums — the celebrant community is super supportive, and I try to help people wherever possible. But there's very little time to provide detailed responses to people asking about celebrant work. Your best bet is to read celebrant blogs (shameless plug), FAQs and other platforms like podcasts that share details on all things celebrant weddings.