Celebrant business | The SMH archive

One of your colleagues wrote to me recently about the quandary that presents itself when you happen to be a parent and a marriage celebrant. I spoke to her issue— and shared my embarrassing story— on the Celebrant In

One of my biggest regrets of a thought - I only thought this, I didn’t even say it - was when I meeting with a colleague celebrant over coffee about a decade ago and I offered some business advice. She replied with somet

When I sit down with a couple for the first time, I always buy their coffee. Not just because I’m a nice guy (which, let’s be honest, everyone already knows I am), but because it works. It’s a tactic straight out of t

The story of marriage celebrancy in Australia over the past two decades is not just a tale of registration numbers — it’s a window into what happens when a regulated profession opens the doors too wide, too quickly, and

Discover the exact website structure that converts browsers into bookings. Step-by-step guide to arranging your celebrant pages.

Being a celebrant is a strange and wonderful job. You stand in front of a group of strangers, legally authorise a marriage between two of their favourite people, and speak words that might stick in someone’s memory for t

As an Australian marriage celebrant, we’re juggling multiple responsibilities–from crafting personalised ceremonies to managing client relationships and handling administrative tasks. The recent advances in AI technology

As a full-time celebrant who’s worked across Australia and internationally, I know the tension so many of us live in: we want to keep bookings (with couples that get us) steady, but we’re also flat out with ceremonies, a

We’ve all been there. A couple enquires about your celebrant services. You exchange emails, maybe have a phone call or even meet for coffee. The connection seems genuine, the conversation flows, and you’re mentally slott

Discover why linking out from your celebrant website to other quality resources actually improves your SEO, builds industry relationships, and helps potential clients see you as a trusted wedding expert. Learn practical linking strategies that can boost your online presence and attract more bookings.

The digital landscape is shifting beneath our feet, and as wedding celebrants, we need to adapt or risk becoming invisible. Coming back to Australia from living in Mexico I put a lot of money into old school marketing

I'll hazard a guess that readers and other celebrant colleagues have been battered with marketing and emails from Bark.com over the past month as I have been. I wanted to explain what they do, so you

As we analyse the latest consumer behaviour data from the USA, clear trends are emerging that will likely influence the Australian wedding market. Here’s how you can position your celebrancy practice to meet evolving

As authorised marriage celebrants, we’re entrusted with some of the most sensitive details in our clients' lives. One of our colleagues - an Australian marriage celebrant - was recently hacked and the hackers gained acce

Let’s talk about why I, as a celebrant, stand in the middle of the ceremony, right between the couple, instead of off to the side. The short answer? Our senses demand it. We don’t experience weddings purely through

Speaking to a group of people who don’t have to listen to you is a privilege I don’t take lightly. As a celebrant, it’s a daily honour, and it comes with an immense responsibility every time I pick up that microphone. Wh

This week, I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Steve and Joel on the Wed.Co Podcast, recorded at the picturesque Gabbinbar Homestead in Toowoomba. It was such a great chat about all things celebrancy, storytellin

When you're building your celebrant website, you’re crafting the digital front door to your business, the handshake before you meet your couple. And like any good intro, it needs to do more than look good—it needs to wor

The best marketing in the world meets the target market where they're at. Whether that's in placement, or in creative. Have you ever considered where people are "at " when they get engaged? And more importantly, have y

A wedding blog that you and I both love posed some questions to me about how much celebrants cost, how to budget for one, and what to expect from certain fees. I know from a recent celebrant group chat I'm in that this c

Tracey asks: As of last month, another celebrant has been registered in the regional city where I live (population 40,000) who has the exact same personal name as mine. Our registered business names are slightly diff

If you're a wedding celebrant looking to improve your online presence and attract more couples, here’s a straightforward SEO content strategy you can use to make your website more visible on Google and Bing. If things ar

A celebrant just emailed me and all the links in her email signature don't work. They're mistyped.

Amanda asks about social media and marketing: Hi, I’ve been registered since March 2024. Initially, I was lucky to secure four bookings relatively quickly, but lately, it’s been super quiet. I’m attempting to navigat

Josh Mikhaiel on being human and also being a wedding business person:

Kevin Simler's essay 'Here Be Sermons' reminded me of where I received my training to be a celebrant, in a Christian ...

Let's have a chat about something not everyone loves discussing, but we all know is essential: accountants. Your celebrancy business needs an accountant like a wedding needs a celebrant. Seriously. And there's no better

40 years ago earlier this year the Apple Macintosh was revealed and launched into homes and offices around the world. I'm typing this on a remarkably newer, fas...

For the self-employed, the solo-celebrant or officiant a valuable skill you should have is the ability to separate one thing from another. To "prevent the small...

Come dive into Sharon and Adam's wedding in the picturesque Douglas Vale Historic Vineyard and Homestead in Port Macquarie, New South Wales. Sharon's wedding was not just a lovely occasion but also a masterclass in th

The wedding industry in Australia is vibrant and evolving, despite the shifting societal views on marriage. As a celebrant deeply embedded in this industry through both personal and industry-wide lenses, I've distille

We understand that accessibility is key in providing seamless services as a marriage celebrant, and we also understand that the Notice of Intended Marriage and Official Certificate of Marriage being provided from the AGD

The beautiful thing about being a wedding officiant or celebrant is that we get to craft a life for ourselves. What kind of celebrant we are, what product we pr...

Are you ready to earn more money and make it big as a wedding celebrant or officiant?

Kim and Zac married in Cronulla and they always knew that Tania Marsh was going to be their celebrant. The couple got married in Cronulla and flew Tania down to Sydney for their wedding. [audio mp3= "https://celebra

In a recent interview, OpenAI cofounder Sam Altman said:

A celebrant reached out recently with a query that sparked me thinking about how well we're all managing our finances. They emailed me asking if they were still a paying member. Ironically,

The curse and blessing of my business as a celebrant is my independence. I know my North American brethern often work in larger studios of officiants, one frien...

Silvia asks: I really want to find out how to start a website when you haven't done any weddings yet. I've looked at many celebrant's websites and find myself overwhelmed. Starting out can be hard, but rest assur

When someone books you to be their wedding celebrant they're expecting you at full energy, full-on, 100% of you, on that day. It's impossible for you to deli...

"Friends are God's way of apologising for your relatives" is the old saying. Friends are also how marketing should work, and how it did work before the indus...

As a wedding celebrant, our role is pivotal in creating a memorable experience for couples on their special day. Public speaking is an integral part of this role, and there's much to learn from seasoned speakers across d

In my dual role as celebrant and also bookkeeper for my wife's business The Elopement Collective I receive and pay invoices for t...

Explaining the 2024 dip in wedding enquiries and bookings, or the shortening of planning time, Shane references a New York Times article which references the investors letter from the world's largest retailer of diamond

A friend refused to use his own name as the name of his wedding business because he was worried people wouldn't spell it properly so I asked him to spell Annie ...

Being the best local wedding celebrant near me today doesn't mean as much as it used to in the days of the Yellowpages.

In Walter Isaacson's biography of Steve Jobs he detailed the Apple marketing philosophy that I still witness in the company today:

Coming back into full-time celebrancy in 2023 I knew that the industry had changed, the celebrant population had changed, and the couples booking weddings were not just different but they had different means and ways of

we offer a few different services, one of which is the Certificate IV in Celebrancy. People wanting to bec...

Did you know that in a very specific circumstance a certain kind of celebrant can marry a certain kind of couple in a country that isn't Australia - and it's all allowed by Australian law, plus it's a valid Australian ma

Why do I call our job celebrant and not officiant like everyone outside of Australia does? As one is apt to do at a wedding, allow me to quote the dictionary...

If your celebrant offering, your service, the thing you're selling, is the same as everyone else's, or appears the same, or you portray it as the same, then potential clients will look for the lowest price. Raise your

I witnessed a celebrant performing a marriage ceremony from a display book, one of those books with plastic envelopes in it that you insert your printed paper i...

In January we asked Australian celebrants to complete a survey. Of the 10,339 authorised marriage celebrants in Australia, 297 responded, giving us a 2.87% response rate, and this is our analysis of the survey results.

In the evolving world of wedding planning, the role of a celebrant is continually transforming. Today's celebrants are not just facilitators of a ceremony; they are storytellers, advisors, and now, thanks to Artificial I

With new celebrants entering the market every month, your marketing, sales, enquiry, and booking process need as much attention as your ceremony production and delivery do. I want to introduce the concept of red-teaming

Go to any wedding celebrant's website and there's a 50% chance that somewhere on the front page they'll say something like "your wedding your way " which is lovely and kind. Of course, the customer is always right as Harr

If you've ever heard my story of going full-time as a wedding celebrant you can skip the next three paragraphs. I'd already been plugging away at celebrancy, not getting quite as much traction as one would like, for four

Luke emailed me yesterday as I was about to solve for myself the problem he identified: What software would you recommend to use for a marketing list? Again are there any zaps or workflows in setting up the marketing lis

Are you thinking about becoming a marriage celebrant just to officiate at your friends' weddings? That's a beautiful sentiment, but there's a lot you need to know and consider before taking this route.

To celebrate fifty years of the Marriage Celebrants program in Australia, Josh Withers looks at how the movement has moved the entire industry forward.

If you've seen people using AI in their business and you're wondering how you could use it in yours, here's a demonstration on how I'm using ChatGPT to reply to wedding enquiries with emails like this. Before you do step

Want to start playing with AI chat in a way that will make sense to your celebrancy practice and business? Here's five prompts you can ask to get a unique insight into your business today.

Be awesome at your job, do your job, only your job, not other people's job, and don't make it hard for them to do their job.

How many times do we all hear it from a friend, a wedding industry colleague, or someone at a wedding, that they think they'd make a great celebrant and they want more information on it. After being asked the question a

As a wedding celebrant, you know better than anyone else how important it is to be prepared for the unexpected. From weather conditions to late vendors, to a family member showing up late, there's always something that c

I was thinking about 1 Corinthians 13:4 to me recently. "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. " If you're a wedding celebrant you've probably heard it a thousand times befor

A celebrant friend was complaining to me recently about the market, we've all had the same conversation, either us being whined at, or us doing the whining. The truth is that we are not owed our next enquiry or booking,

Five phrases you can incorporate into sales meetings with your couples to help win the wedding booking.

Karen asks: What are the differences/similarities, restrictions and allowances between a celebrant-led wedding and a church wedding, that is, by an ordained minister. I have noticed a lot of confusion and even ignoran

Sarah and I have been reviewing the Guidelines to the Marriage Act and one chapter caught my eye and I thought maybe you didn't know how many things you could do that would end you up in jail for at least six months, or

There are a few different kinds of marketing and advertising, but they can be mostly wrapped up under two headings: passive and active. Passive marketing is my favourite because it actively respects the nature of

Jano le Roux, a copywriter, has done a deep dive on the marketing surrounding the new iPhone 14. Words matter, and they've pulled the Apple copywriting apart to show how it matters to the average Joe like you an

I'll get the disappointment out of the way for everyone, I'm no AFL fan. Can you blame me? I'm a Queenslander born and bred, we worship NRL gods up here. Regardless, I heard people comment on Robbie Williams' performa

Where should the celebrant stand in a marriage ceremony? There's no rule, law, or correct answer, but I'll lay out the fundamentals on how I make my decision on where to stand, because it's not always the same decision b

Every celebrant should read this post from Ted Gioia on his 10 rules for public speaking, and my challenge to you is to integrate at least one, if not all of them, into your next ceremony.

I'm sure that all of you have familiarised yourself with the Marriage Act of 1961, so you probably don't have to read this, but on the off chance you missed some key points, I thought I'd share them here.

When unsure how to act, people copy others, outsourcing their own decisions to others. Not only is this true when choosing a shop, or a cafe, but in weddings as well.

When you mention my name to another celebrant, apparently the most common thing people talk about is how I'm unscripted. Some people call it ad lib. I would never describe my method of creating and delivering a ceremony

Every day I wake up and check the technology news - as is my habit - and scroll through the headlines I'm expecting to find a marriage celebrant in there. Why?

When it comes to pricing, and pricing yourself, there are so many contributing factors. The first is that you need to cover costs, the second that you need to make a profit - a wage, and the third that you make a surplus

Jason Fried has posted a list of questions he asks referees he calls for new employees. I read through the list and thought that it would be equally impressive to see our clients answer some or all of these questions in

Continuing a long running series on this website starting with how your price is part of your marketing story, whether or not you should list your prices on your website with answers from Sarah and myself, how to respo

I've got a confession to make: I can recall every single bad review I've had, and I barely remember the good ones. There's one I received while I was in Washington DC in 2015, a few days before I was about to spea

Whether you've got 10 or 10,000 followers across all the different social media channels, it's almost certainly true for all of them: less than 3% of your audience is ready to book a celebrant, hopefully you, ri

Mel is struggling with mapping out her pricing as a celebrant, and when she mentioned it to me I went straight to a conversation I had with my brother earlier today. He’s looking at starting a new business based on profe

It's been a weird year behind us as a wedding industry. I don't want to dwell on it for fear of crying, but I'm of the belief that sometime soon we need to focus our energies forward, and I wanted to encourage you to do

I recently spoke via video at the Wedding Business CEO Summit and spoke on the process of creating a customer journey. My talk was called There’s A Fraction Too Much Friction: Automation For Your Customer Journey. I beli

A celebrant has written in to asking the question: “How can I, and should I, accept crypto currency for celebrancy?”

"I’ve a question about that first meeting - I’ve met a few couples, tried coming from different angles ie. Asking what they have in mind for their ceremony, how they met, build rapport, let them talk or I do most of the

David Placek is the branding genius behind some of the biggest names in the technology world. The words Sonos, Intel Pentium, Apple PowerBook, Blackberry, Gimlet podcasts (home of Reply All), and the Impossible burger, a

Sarah chats to Tasmanian celebrant Kathleen Pavlic-Ryan about the brand new online registration system available through Births, Deaths, and Marriages Tasmania!

An Australian wedding celebrant directory recently emailed it's members guilt-tripping them into keeping non-refundable deposits. What a guy.

Gail asks: Sooo... your couple love you and want to leave a review! Where is the best place/s for them leave this review to really market your business and what links would you send them?

A celebrant enquired today about a couple who wanted to do a live stream of their wedding to family in Europe, but the celebrant didn't know where to start or what to do. I thought it was a good prompt for me to remind c

A solid foundation of my business success as a celebrant has lay in the realm of good publicity. Good publicity can’t make a filling business profitable, or an unskilled celebrant, talented, but if you’re already rocking

The Attorney-General's department has let us know that they are starting to send out those $0 annual celebrant charge invoices today. Make sure you pay that $0 quickly otherwise you'll be in $0 debt, and the interest on

Alinta asks: I am going to take up the gypsy/not-yet-too-grey nomad life for a year or so and I wonder if it would be possible to be a sort of travelling celebrant? We will be travelling in a substantial caravan and aren

11 years ago (in 2009), celebrant directory website Celebrante, conducted a survey of about 1400 celebrants. I’m cleaning out my Dropbox folder and found the survey, so I thought it’d be an interesting piece of qua

With Police Officers and JPs being the most popular witnesses to notices of intended marriage forms when a celebrant cannot attend the witnessing...

A really powerful way for you to spend your time and energy whilst weddings are essentially furloughed, is to evaluate, reevaluate, and evaluate even more, your current business systems and marketing strategies. I like t

If you’re a marriage celebrant, or officiant or even just a wedding vendor of some description, and your main clientele are inhabitants of planet earth, you might find yourself in a position in the coming weeks where the

Kath asks: Hey Josh, Just wondering if you have any advice on what I should be doing in preparation to "move/expand " a celebrant biz interstate. I am moving to Hobart mid year and would like to make a start on some marke

Linda asks: As a regional celebrant I am struggling with travel and how to incorporate this into my fees. I have an "anything over 200km round trip " clause which may seem a lot but its realistic to where I live. My probl

Alex asks: My question is regarding communication with couples - specifically timelines. Before I became a Celebrant I remember hearing a few off-hand remarks from a family friend and also a cousin about their Celebrants

Jeff, a Canadian celebrant, asks: I'm wondering what sections you two include in your ceremonies? I have a very similar trajectory for each ceremony, and add or subtract (readings etc) based on what the couple are lookin

Every week one or two potential new celebrants email or DM me about starting a celebrancy business as a side hustle, hoping to make a few dollars on the side to provide for their family's extra needs or to put some cash

When I post on social media, I've got one plan in mind. Not to sell, not to do a deal, not to whinge or complain. I want to be known. So when people that like me make a decision about a celebrant, I'm who they think of.

As you're viewing this blog post you'll note that in the URL bar, the part where you type the blah blah blah dot com bit, next to the domain name 'your website' you'll see a little padlock???? icon that is a sign

Liene at Think Splendid shares five powerfully simple ways to get more enquiries to your wedding celebrant business today. They're so simple that you are hopefully already doing them, or if you're not, this is a quick an

If you want people to appreciate that what you offer is better, that what you offer is actually good, the market needs to have more actually good businesses in it. It seems like you should be able to stand apart by being

Your stories are more powerful than you think. This article is about sharing the stories about you and your celebrancy that you've forgotten to share.

I'm flying to Europe soon and I've put in for a first class upgrade. On Qantas you can apply for an upgrade and it costs you thousands of frequent flyer points. That's how you fly first class, either that or you pony up

In the chaotic and wild adventure that planning and hosting a wedding is I always try to remain a calm, cool, friendly face to my couples. This sounds like a great idea, but you need systems and processes to allow yourse

Almost Nobody, wants you to be their celebrant and that is really good news. Everybody, wants a celebrant that is nothing like you. This article will help you get that prized enquiry from Almost Nobody!

A few recent conversations with celebrants on social media have prompted me to the question: what is membership in a celebrant association for? Traditionally the associations lobbied the Attorney-General's office, and th

Hi, I am a new country celebrant with three weddings booked late this year, early next year but none performed so far. I am attending a wedding expo soon ( in the country) and am not sure what to do. I have collaborated

A celebrant friend has been going back and forth with a couple who want a celebrant that's not her. Maybe they've been on the blogs and Pinterest and they've decided that this is how you deal with a celebrant, or maybe t

Veronica asks: How to you get clients to pay the booking fee, without sounding desperate or annoying?

The recent post on sighting ID included some powerful language from the Attorney-General's office:The Guidelines on the Marriage Act 1961 for authorised celebrants is issued to assist celebrants to comply with the Marria

For the past six months I have been pursuing a line of inquiry with the Attorney-General's office Marriage Celebrants Section over the line in the Guidelines section 4.4.2: It is not acceptable for a celebrant to accept

Tenielle asks: Hey guys, I'm hoping you can lend me some advice or wording to send to a couple. Met with them on Saturday and whilst they are lovely, the vibe was NOT there. Conversation was really stunted and it didn't

Anka asks: I’m wanting to start blogging this year and making myself known as the “celebrant in the know” within my area with some personality thrown in as well but I’m not sure exactly how to start? Any suggestions or t

If I was starting as a celebrant today I would do so many things differently. This article is hopefully timely for our readers, after all it is enquiries season! My rough research tells me that mo

Thoughts on creating remarkable work, as a marriage celebrant.

Old marketing would put the right message in the right place so the right people would find it. The celebrant would advertise in the wedding magazine because people having weddings bought wedding magazines. The tools wer

351 Australian marriage celebrants were deregistrated this week because they “did not pay the celebrant registration charge“ and here are the three letters they received after their initial invoice: Date: Wed, 8 Aug

There are only three positions you can take in any marketplace: First, Best, Cheapest. That’s not to say only three businesses can win in any marketplace, after all, there are almost 10,000 celebrants serving over 120,00

Great question today: Let's talk follow up emails. You've received an enquiry, or worse, have met with a couple. You've sent them an email back, but it's crickets from their end. How do you word your emails to try and el

I have been simmering on the idea that our clients don’t actually know what they want, despite almost all wedding vendor websites claiming to give them whatever they want, for quite a while now.

If you're a celebrant who reads off your iPad, you might not be aware of a simple way you can help photographers and videographers. If the ceremony is inside with lower lighting, your iPad's screen brightne

Sarita asks: I'm a relatively new celebrant and just after some advice on the world of wedding directories. There seem to be loads. Apart from the obvious ones like easyweddings, ABIA, there's lots of smaller ones like p

Self-employed creatives can talk about price and fee until the end of time. I've had celebrants privately, publicly, to my face, and behind my back, make all of the comments about why I charge too much, or not enough, an

Pete asks: I have a question about the legalities of commercial arrangements with third parties given that as a Celebrant we're government officers and our duty to avoid potential conflicts. Just about everyone ha

Amber asks Leading from the price on website debate - how do you answer the "How much do your services cost? " enquiry? I try to start a conversation and speak about value and the experience but sometimes it is just frust

I wanted to share a story straight from my inbox today, to show you how word of mouth actually works and how your marketing efforts today pay off for years:

A pertinent question about building and maintain an email list today: For anyone looking to follow your example of maintaining "an email list of all couples I meet at expos, fairs, open days, along with all who enquire w

From the heart and soul of Seth Godin today, I'm copying and pasting this from his amazing blog for you today to chew on over how your provide your celebrancy service: Two ways to solve a problem and provide a service Wi

A question today about enquiries and how to increase our conversion: I have a question about converting enquiries as I am finding that I get a good amount of enquiries but feel my conversion rate could be way better. Won

Ella asks: "Price points seem to be a hot topic everywhere… Would you recommend putting your fees on your website? Some celebrants display their price on their website, others don’t. Some also seem to provide services ch

I'll never forget my very first wedding expo, where I arrived to the convention centre so green that I didn't realise there was an expectation that I would design a booth. So we painted a board with blackboard paint and

This afternoon a couple got engaged and they have never heard of you, they've not made any decisions about their wedding, and it's highly likely they don't know anything about the wedding industry, how it works, what thi

This website exists for celebrants who struggle with their competence. It's ok, you're not alone in thinking "maybe I could do better." Marriage celebrancy is my full time job, it's all I do, and more often than not