Why the World Looks to Australia for Wedding Indus...
Posted by Josh Withers | Jul 15, 2023 | Community News | 0 |
Start playing with generative AI
Posted by Josh Withers | Jun 2, 2023 | The Business of Celebrancy | 0 |
Celebrant, help wedding vendors not hate you
Posted by Josh Withers | Apr 28, 2023 | The Art of Celebrancy | 2 |
Chat and AI is going to change your entire busines...
Posted by Josh Withers | Mar 29, 2023 | The Business of Celebrancy | 2 |
16 Growth ideas for wedding celebrants
Posted by Josh Withers | Mar 21, 2023 | Marketing and Social Media | 2 |
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Portable PA speaker system purchasing ad...

A massive change to how marriage celebra...

You should charge more, and here’s 10 re...
It’s time to change the one month ...

Marketing: if I was starting today
When the celebrant gets sick mid-ceremon...

Where I stand during the ceremony. Sarah...

Wedding rehearsals – a video

I’ve gone to court for cancelled c...

Which iPad and which apps do you recomme...
How and why you should position your spe...

Ceremony script writing – Sarah...
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LatestCollecting email addresses at a wedding fair with a QR code and ChatGPT
by Josh Withers | Sep 18, 2023 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
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 list? Great question Luke! I've been toying around in this realm for a while and have regrettably landed on the most expensive solution around: Active Campaign. I'm going to show you how I created a Zapier zap to collect email addresses at a wedding fair and get ChatGPT to send each person an email instantly after they scanned the QR code and entered their email address. It was such a smooth and professional workflow, I'm really happy with it. But before I show you how I created that I want to talk about email marketing for a moment. Email marketing is amazing and horrible. It's amazing because people who identify with you and how you roll can and will give you their email address, and you have the opportunity to bring value back to their inbox via marketing emails. It's horrible because trying to land in someone's actual email inbox and not their spam folder is an arduous exercise that even yours truly finds hard, and tiring, and annoying. So you'll try the cheaper products, then you'll try MailChimp, and the rest of them, and marketing folklore tells us that if you are serious about this you end up on Active Campaign. so that's where I am. Whenever someone enquires with me, books with me, or if I interact with them at an open day or wedding fair, that email address heads into my Active Campaign contacts list and I try my hardest to bring them immense value and joy. Not spam. So let's have a look at this zap to collect emails at a wedding fair.
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Authenticity and honesty as a celebrant
by sarahaird | Aug 2, 2023 | The Art of Celebrancy | 0 |
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How to use ChatGPT to sent instant replies to wedding enquiries
by Josh Withers | Jul 14, 2023 | The Business of Celebrancy | 0 |
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Start playing with generative AI
by Josh Withers | Jun 2, 2023 | The Business of Celebrancy | 0 |
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Top RatedDifferent signatures by parties
by sarahaird | Dec 13, 2018 | Our Guidelines to Australian Marriage Law | 2 |
A celebrant asks: I have received a Notice of Errors in documentation email from BDM. They have requested the bride provides a stat dec indicating why her signature on the NOIM and Marriage Certificate are different. Is there wording we can provide on the stat dec to assist completion? Can we provide a scanned copy of the stat dec to BDM (or do they need to sight originals)
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How to make a great ceremony without a rehearsal
by Josh Withers | Apr 16, 2019 | The Art of Ceremony | 5 |
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Celebrants (and creatives) are not paid per hour
by Josh Withers | Jul 22, 2019 | The Business of Celebrancy | 1 |
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“Ceremony writing is my least favourite part”
by Josh Withers | Mar 6, 2020 | The Art of Ceremony | 1 |
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004 Social Media Challenge: Reuse and recycle
by Josh Withers | Oct 2, 2020 | Social Media Content Challenge | 0 |
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Ultimate Guide to Creating Automation For Your Customer Journey
by Josh Withers | Jan 31, 2021 | The Business of Celebrancy | 0 |
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How to get your couples to reply to your emails
by Josh Withers | Sep 2, 2021 | The Business of Celebrancy | 0 |
Latest podcast episodes
Listen NowOpen up the old internet and just toss some stuff in there
Josh wrote an article here on the Celebrant Institute website and received lots of feedback on it,...
- Marketing and Social Media
- The Art of Celebrancy
- The Art of Funerals
- The Art of Ceremony
- The Business of Celebrancy
- Our Guidelines to Australian Marriage Law
- Community News
Being found is the new advertising
by Josh Withers | Nov 3, 2022 | Marketing and Social Media | 1 |
There are a few different kinds of marketing and advertising, but they can be mostly wrapped up...
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Market your celebrant services like Apple markets the iPhone
by Josh Withers | Oct 7, 2022 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
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Utilise the power of the “Zero Price Effect”
by Josh Withers | Aug 25, 2022 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
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The law of social proof and celebrancy
by Josh Withers | Apr 11, 2022 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
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Do I need more than one domain name for my website?
by Josh Withers | Mar 29, 2022 | Marketing and Social Media | 5 |
How to become a wedding celebrant in Australia
by Josh Withers | Apr 28, 2023 | The Art of Celebrancy | 0 |
A how-to guide for people wanting to become a wedding celebrant. It’s easy. You just need to want the best job in the universe, you need to believe that getting and being married is important and awesome + some public speaking skills wouldn’t go astray.
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How to become a celebrant
by Josh Withers | Apr 1, 2023 | The Art of Celebrancy | 0 |
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Love is patient, as should you business be
by Josh Withers | Mar 27, 2023 | The Art of Celebrancy | 0 |
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A lesson from Kobe Bryant for celebrants
by Josh Withers | Jul 4, 2022 | The Art of Celebrancy | 0 |
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How did I do 27 weddings in one month?
by Josh Withers | May 12, 2022 | The Art of Celebrancy | 0 |
Getting your start in funerals
by sarahaird | Aug 10, 2018 | The Art of Funerals | 11 |
Mercy asks: Like you I want to create beautiful funeral ceremonies. Because I think funerals can be beautiful. An assignment in my celebrant course had me visit a local funeral director with a bunch of questions on how they work...
Creating a marriage ceremony versus re-creating a marriage ceremony
by Josh Withers | Feb 12, 2023 | The Art of Ceremony | 4 |
When I talk about being unscripted in a ceremony, people often misread that as the oral version of just shooting from the hip, seeing where the bullets lie. The truth is, I'm more likely to be more prepared, more nervous, more excited, and more rehearsed than the average celebrant.
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Can AI write an original marriage ceremony?
by Josh Withers | Dec 7, 2022 | The Art of Ceremony | 3 |
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Be a little more like Robbie Williams as a celebrant
by Josh Withers | Sep 25, 2022 | The Art of Ceremony | 2 |
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Where should the celebrant stand in a wedding ceremony? Josh’s view
by Josh Withers | Aug 31, 2022 | The Art of Ceremony | 2 |
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Ted Gioia’s 10 rules for public speaking
by Josh Withers | Aug 21, 2022 | The Art of Ceremony | 0 |
Get AI-generated summaries of your video calls
by Josh Withers | May 17, 2023 | The Business of Celebrancy | 0 |
2020 brought us many gifts, but for so many the lasting gift is video calls. We had them before 2020 but they're very normal to have today. So when I found this new tool that records, transcribes, and then summarises your video calls I was coloured curious.
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I didn’t have a backup! Happy World Backup Day
by Josh Withers | Mar 31, 2023 | The Business of Celebrancy | 1 |
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Five phrases you should use in your sales pitch
by Josh Withers | Mar 5, 2023 | The Business of Celebrancy | 2 |
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I got scammed, and it’ll happen to you!
by Josh Withers | Mar 3, 2023 | The Business of Celebrancy | 0 |
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Change your passwords
by Josh Withers | Feb 2, 2023 | The Business of Celebrancy | 2 |
Marry From Home – is it legal for Australian couples?
by sarahaird | Apr 11, 2023 | Our Guidelines to Australian Marriage Law | 1 |
Stephanie celebrant asks: I think many of us have seen and have been contacted by “Marry...
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16 Ways a celebrant can end up in jail for six months
by Josh Withers | Jan 17, 2023 | Our Guidelines to Australian Marriage Law | 0 |
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Remote witnessing of NOIMs in 2023
by Josh Withers | Jan 4, 2023 | Our Guidelines to Australian Marriage Law | 0 |
It’s time to update and modernise the Marriage Act of 1961
by Josh Withers | Apr 4, 2023 | Community News | 2 |
Over sixty years ago the Australian people were gifted one of the most progressive and liberating...
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Cyberattack on AGD’s MarCel portal
by sarahaird | Nov 10, 2022 | Community News | 2 |
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Marriage statistics 2021
by sarahaird | Nov 10, 2022 | Community News | 0 |
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Not-as-ongoing professional development
by Josh Withers | Dec 21, 2021 | Community News | 0 |
I’m challenging you to learn Markdown
by Josh Withers | Dec 11, 2022 | The Business of Celebrancy | 2 |
Everyone has their little “thing” where they think if everyone else on the planet just...
Read MoreAre meetings at cafes a business expense?
by Josh Withers | Nov 10, 2022 | The Business of Celebrancy | 2 |
A member asks, “Can you claim a tax deduction for the cost of holding a couple meeting at a cafe? Paying for their coffee? I hear different answers to this.”
Read MoreCelebrant legal obligations online
by sarahaird | Nov 8, 2022 | Our Guidelines to Australian Marriage Law | 5 |
Hopefully everyone has caught up on this major change to the way we do our work, but I know from my OPD classes that some people missed it. So here’s a super basic update.
Read MoreTips for completing the compulsory OPD
by sarahaird | Sep 12, 2022 | CI, Our Guidelines to Australian Marriage Law | 1 |
We’ve had a lot of requests about whether we’re going to run a session providing info...
Read MoreYou must call yourself a marriage celebrant
by Josh Withers | Aug 14, 2022 | Our Guidelines to Australian Marriage Law | 0 |
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 that Sarah Aird has schooled you, like she’s just schooled me, on some things in the Marriage Act, I thought I’d share them here. These are new changes since marriage equality was legislated. Today we’re talking about section 39G, Obligations of each marriage celebrant.
Read MoreMy iPad lost everything, how can I prevent this?
by Josh Withers | Aug 8, 2022 | The Business of Celebrancy | 0 |
S writes in with a question about data loss and iPads: What are your back up plans when it comes...
Read MoreThis is your permission to raise your fees in 2022
by Josh Withers | Jun 9, 2022 | The Business of Celebrancy | 0 |
Sarah and my accounting software of choice – Xero – just emailed us that our Xero plan...
Read MoreA ceremony as a series of ‘riffs’, that’s how I’m unscripted
by Josh Withers | Mar 29, 2022 | The Art of Ceremony | 4 |
When you mention my name to another celebrant, apparently the most common thing people talk about...
Read MoreComputer and internet security for a modern marriage celebrant
by Josh Withers | Mar 11, 2022 | The Business of Celebrancy | 0 |
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?
Read MoreThere’s Gold In Them Thar Questions
by Josh Withers | Feb 18, 2022 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
There’s gold in the questions you get asked by other celebrants, people in the wedding industry, our clients, friends, and social media followers. Do you know what to do with them?
Read MoreHow to spy on other people’s Facebook Ads
by Josh Withers | Feb 18, 2022 | Marketing and Social Media | 2 |
If you’ve been wanting a way to spy on what other people in the wedding industry are doing with their Facebook Ads, here’s a very easy, open, and regulated way to do so.
Read MoreRounded prices are better than unrounded for weddings
by Josh Withers | Feb 14, 2022 | The Business of Celebrancy | 2 |
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 so you have buffer for the future, savings, and the ability to invest in your business.
Read MoreA story for celebrants finding their tribe like Yeti coolers did
by Josh Withers | Feb 11, 2022 | The Business of Celebrancy | 0 |
Before Yeti created a $5 million cooler and adventure brand, the icebox/cooler market (aka the “esky” market, despite Esky being a brand) was a a low-cost and cheap product market. Chris Hladczuk documents their story in a recent release of his email newsletter which I recommend subscribing to.
Read MoreOther avenues for networking and referrals
by Josh Withers | Feb 10, 2022 | The Business of Celebrancy | 0 |
I wonder how many avenues for networking, referrals, and help, us celebrants are leaving on the table?
Read MorePreparing for the inevitable re COVID
How Sarah is preparing for the inevitable COVID exposure and isolation…
Read MoreCelebrants can witness NOIMs over the internet!
by Josh Withers | Dec 21, 2021 | Our Guidelines to Australian Marriage Law | 3 |
Breaking marriage law news – for the second time since 1961: Celebrants can witness NOIMs over the internet! From 22 December 2021 you can witness the Notice of Intended Marriage over a video call. You can send a couple their NOIM as a PDF…
Read MoreMarriage statistics 2020
by sarahaird | Nov 24, 2021 | COVID-19, The Business of Celebrancy | 1 |
The marriage statistics for 2020 are out, and I’ve got your summary sorted!
Read MoreWhy I hate wedding awards: “I am in competition with no-one”
by Josh Withers | Oct 22, 2021 | The Art of Celebrancy | 1 |
For over five years now I’ve crusaded against wedding industry awards. I don’t like them, I don’t enter them, and I try to convince my friends and colleagues to avoid them as well.
I understand how nice it feels to be awarded number one. If you sent me an email right now that said “Josh, you are my number one celebrant” I’d probably print it out and put it on the fridge next to one of Luna’s paintings, but the truth is, I believe that wedding industry awards are unhealthy and unhelpful for the wedding industry.
And this letter from Nick Cave …
Read MoreMy secret to business success: email
by Josh Withers | Oct 21, 2021 | The Business of Celebrancy | 4 |
Any successful endeavour requires a number of ingredients. An award winning cake recipe will have more than one ingredient, and an Olympic gold medal swimmer didn’t just swim their first lap that race.
There’s a process, there’s time, goal setting, and multiple resources being in the right place at the right time.
In the wedding industry there is so much focus on advertising and marketing, getting the enquiry, but less focus on winning that enquiry over, and worse, delivering an exemplary customer experience from woah to go.
Here at the Celebrant Institute we’ve written numerous articles about the value of creating and delivering a customer journey but today I wanted to hone in on one single aspect that apparently is really lacking in the wedding business: email.
Read MoreHow to start taking better photos at your weddings
by Josh Withers | Sep 27, 2021 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
An element of my social media content strategy I’m quite proud of is that I’ve really worked hard at making better photos, photos that I have made – and therefore own – so that I have photos and video for my own social media channels and blog. If you’re interested in pursuing that art as well, Josh Rose has written a really good guide that I think would help you. It’s aimed at taking better holiday photos, but the advice translates directly to weddings as well.
Read MoreVaccine mandates and weddings
Sorry, we don’t have the answers!
Read MoreHow to record the location of a marriage ceremony on the water or in the air
by Josh Withers | Sep 19, 2021 | Our Guidelines to Australian Marriage Law | 1 |
Lizzie asks: “My couple is getting married on a boat in The Pittwater located on the Northern Beaches of Sydney. Please advise how I best record the “at” on the docs for a wedding adrift.” The Guidelines to the Marriage Act, in relation to the place a wedding would occur, gives this poor advice: “The marriage must be registered in the state or territory where the marriage was solemnised. To meet this requirement, and possible requirements of other countries for recognition of the marriage, marriages in aircraft and ships at sea should be avoided.” I’m not going to say they’re wrong, but they’re not right. Australian authorised marriage celebrants have the authority and the ability to marry couples anywhere and at any time on any day within Australia and its territories.
Read MoreThe secret to having people share your social media posts
by Josh Withers | Sep 8, 2021 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
When you hear of social media posts going viral, it simply means people are sharing it....
Read MoreBuild my own website or pay a pro? Build a business brand or a personal brand?
by Josh Withers | Aug 30, 2021 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
Suzanne asks: “Looking for advice on professional web design v. self design. Objective to attract biz, be good return on investment and not rubber-stamp like. Also some good advice on logo vs personal service brand.” Two important questions here and they’re both worth addressing.
Read MoreWriting prompts for social media and blogging
by Josh Withers | Aug 29, 2021 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
The Copywriting Course’s subject line generator might be just the gold mine you need to start writring that next blog posts, social media post, or recording that vlog or podcast.
Read MoreQuestions to ask your couples for your review or testimony
by Josh Withers | Aug 26, 2021 | The Art of Celebrancy | 0 |
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 their reviews. Shape the questions so they serve you, but instead of asking for a plain old review, try asking your couples a question and ask them to share it as a Google, Facebook, or other form of review.
Read MoreBe vulnerable about your growth intentions to actually grow
by Josh Withers | Aug 24, 2021 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
A study has found that adding copy to a new app’s website around the lines of “we...
Read MoreSay, do you remember? Dancing (with new forms) in September?
by Josh Withers | Aug 18, 2021 | CI | 0 |
September 2021 is bringing us new marriage forms, and to be sure that we don’t confuse things, let me quote from the Attorney-General office email sent today. If you haven’t received it, check your spam folder and then tell your email client it isn’t spam, it’s the boss.
Read MoreShould we charge more or differently for public holidays?
by Josh Withers | Aug 6, 2021 | The Business of Celebrancy | 2 |
Continuing a long running series on this website starting with how your price is part of your...
Read MoreJPs witnessing the NOIM via audio visual link – NOT ALLOWED
by sarahaird | Aug 2, 2021 | Our Guidelines to Australian Marriage Law | 2 |
As you all know, the Marriage Act 1961 requires that the Notice of Intended Marriage is signed in...
Read More
Celebrant Talk Show
- Open up the old internet and just toss some stuff in there. People love it.
- Email is the worst
- Maybe it will inspire some of us to rest
- Happy Podcast New Year!
- We're not going to charge you more money, it's ok
- Advanced OPD topic on how to skin a rabbit
- Be the CEO your wedding celebrant business needs you to be
- Was the tinsel an acknowlegement?
- Tasmania (BDM) gets the internet
- The one in a hotel room with a lawyer
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Authenticity and honesty as a celebrantAug 2, 2023 | The Art of Celebrancy
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