How to actually compete with other celebrants
We spend a lot of time looking at other celebrants, but here’s a helpful and practical way to look at your competitors and actually form a competitive advantage.
Talking ‘Inside Baseball’
“Inside baseball” is one of my favourite Americanisms, it’s a figurative adjective meaning the details are appreciated by only a small group of insiders or aficionados. It usually refers to a detail-oriented approach to the minutiae of a subject, which requires such a specific knowledge about what is being discussed that the nuances are not understood or appreciated by outsiders.
Posting pro photos on social media etiquette
Mark asks, I was hoping you could explain the etiquette for posting photos on your Website, Facebook and Instagram account when supplied by a professional photographer please.
What should I do at a wedding expo?
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 with a supplier to use an arbor, have my logo enlarged to easel size and have business cards. But wondering what else I need. I dont have photos of me officiating yet obviously. What information type material should I have with me, what questions do you usually get asked, do I just stand there and smile, “have chockies to reel them in”? Please help!!
Acknowledging sonder
Have you heard of sonder?
The emotional bit, with Vickie Musni
A special guest, Vickie Musni personality trainer, on the podcast this week to talk about the upcoming Celebrant Institute conference where she’s talking plus hosting a workshop on how personalities work themselves into your business. Get your tickets to the...Can we marry people on the water or in the air in Australia?
Elle asks: I have a wedding where I am marrying the couple on a boat, we are all going to get on and cruise for 10mins until the couple get a feeling like yep lets pull up here and then I will do their ceremony, then the boat will carry on for couple of hours whilst everyone has drinks, food and watches the sunset. So in regard to Location of marriage on paperwork, NOIM and Marriage Docs as I won’t know the coordinates until we literally pull up, do I just write the coordinates in quickly before I call everyone in to kick ceremony off or can I fill when we go to sign docs? And am I just writing the coordinates, or do I need to put the boats name also?
Money, money, money
In this episode we discuss being a full-time celebrant, off the back of the results of the annual CoCA celebrant survey and a subsequent article on the ABC FNQ website, plus we talk all things Celebrant Institute...Getting the deposit paid
Veronica asks: How to you get clients to pay the booking fee, without sounding desperate or annoying?
How to make a great ceremony without a rehearsal
Tori asks: I would really love to hear from you both (knowing that you prefer rehearsals Sarah, and you don’t tend to do them Josh), what is your approach to ensuring a ceremony runs as smoothly as possible and flows well when couples elect not to have a rehersal? As a new celebrant with just two ceremonies under my belt, I noticed a real difference between the first ceremony which had a rehearsal (with all the bridesmaids and groomsmen), and the second when the couple were quite adamant they preferred to go with the flow on the day. How do you go about still ensuring everyone involved feels comfortable and knows where to stand/where to move to during the ceremony when there is no rehearsal? I had a ‘talk through’ with my rehearsal-free couple and explained a few points to brief their bridesmaids/groomsmen with, but I don’t think this occurred as on the day I could some of the bridesmaids in particular were visibly confused/looked a little uncomfortable not knowing what they were doing. Any tips would be appreciated! Thanks 🙂 Tori
Firing a couple
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 their friends and family have told them how to act this way, regardless, they are taking themselves on a different customer journey to the one my friend would normally take her couples on.
Today she asks, “should I fire them?”
God bless the Facebook Groups
Hello again everyone! Today Josh and Sarah are actually recording this from the same room! Amazing and awesome. We had a bunch of topics we planned to talk about, but instead it appears we ended up talking about the importance and difficulty of language for almost an...You gotta know when to fold ’em
Hello everyone, and thanks for bearing with us since December! As always, we love being in your ears, and here we are again with another episode of the Celebrant Talk Show Podcast 🙂 This episode we chat about:Sarah’s Cert IV training and how it works Marriage Celebrants Matters Autumn newsletterVIC BDM RIOThe Frustrated StateHow to go full-time as a celebrant
What do celebrants legally have to say?
Kelly asks: What do we legally have to say? Just read guidelines and act section 45/46 and I’m reading we only need to say monitum and a couple the legal vow. I read/was trained that we have to introduce ourselves as the celebrant with the lucky job of marrying the shit outta the couple before us…but do we actually have to? I’m looking at making my intro less formal and hoping I’ve read it right.
How I perform ceremonies without notes or a script
My couples tell me they love it, wedding vendors are always surprised, and other celebrants are always blown away. They are bewildered by my ability to perform a marriage ceremony without a script or notes.
How a real celebrant should read the Guidelines, and other thoughts on marriage celebrancy
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 Marriage Act and Regulations. Ultimately it is up to the celebrant to comply with all of the requirements of the Act. I appreciate that some of the language used in the Guidelines is of a directive nature, rather than of best practice nature.Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Marriage Celebrants Section
A massive change to how marriage celebrants can sight ID
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 a NOIM and/or supporting documents via videoconferencing services such as Skype. Actual documentation must be received by the celebrant.
It’s not you, it’s me
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 seem like a natural fit from my perspective. I’m really not wanting to take their booking, but I don’t know how to politely tell them, ‘Thanks but no thanks’. I’m especially aware of any legal obligations we have to marry couples and not discriminate against them.I would use the whole, ‘Sorry I’m double booked!’ route, but their date just opened for my bookings and that would be a blatantly obvious lie.
Do you really want that exposure?
On a road near my house there’s a billboard that promises to expose my business to many thousands of people. A similar promise has been made by the producers of Married at First Sight and other TV shows. Everyone wants to sell us exposure. I would argue that exposure is the last thing we need.
The Celebrant Institute 2019 Conference
Sarah and I have got some big news for the Celebrant Institute in 2019! We’ve told so many people in person, over email and the phone, that we thought we best tell all of you as well: in August this year we’re partnering with Beat Mix, the premier DJ conference in Australia run by the DJ Association of Australia (the DJAA), to bring you the Celebrant Institute Conference on the Gold Coast, August 6-7 with optional OPD on August 5 and optional personality types workshop on August 8.
The Unofficial Guidelines on the ‘Guidelines on the Marriage Act 1961 for Marriage Celebrants’ for Marriage Celebrants
Deb writes in asking “I appear to get myself into hot water time and time again, by saying that the Guidelines are just that GUIDELINES, and the act and the regs are the actual LAW. Am I right?”
How to become the celebrant in the know
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 topics?
What’s the go with overseas weddings
Anka asks: Lately I’ve noticed a lot of celebrants on Facebook have started advertising that they can do weddings overseas?? I didn’t think we could? Im presuming they might be just completing paperwork at the airport before they depart? Or did u miss something
How do I do marriage certificates?
I was just wondering how you all prepare your pretty Form 15s. Does anyone use traditional calligraphy? Hand write? Use a template on a printer?Julia Hern I’ll answer Julia’s question along with a wider explanation of how I prepare all of my paperwork,...How I make personal ceremonies
When creating a marriage ceremony, my goal isn’t to personalise my ceremony, but to make it personal. That’s a subtle but pointed difference. Personalising my ceremonies is the act of having existing ceremonies and then changing them to suit the couple....Marketing: if I was starting today
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 more people are engaged in between Christmas Eve and Valentine’s Day...These are bad vows, I’m out
Thanks for having us in your ears again! This episode we catch up on what’s been going on in both our lives over the past three months, we follow up on a few issues from the last episode, and we chat about what’s to come in 2019! Topics covered include:...Opportunity for a Melbourne celebrant wanting to go full time
Sarah and I have been talking to a Paul Carr, an entrepreneur, friend, and founder of Nudo about trying to find a match between his new wedding venue venture and celebrants. His idea is packaging entire weddings, from venue to celebrant and everything in-between, by...Scheduling multiple ceremonies in a day
§ MEMBERS ONLY CONTENT Sean asks “Do you have any advice on taking multiple bookings in a day? Accounting for travel time of course what’s the minimum amount of time you leave yourself in between ceremonies, and is this something you discuss with your...Remarkable
Every few weeks contractors hit my suburb with a vengeance, lawn mowers, whipper snippers, blowers, the lot and for the next week the grass is low, but the streets are dirty. Everyone knows they’ve visited, and all of us residents have mixed feelings about it because...How to sign marriage paperwork on an iPad
I’ve had a few people ask how I sign marriage paperwork on an iPad, and I had the grandest of intentions of preparing a fully professional video detailing that. However we’re expecting a baby any day now and I figured a low quality video with high quality...My disappointment every car service
Every time my car gets serviced, at 10,000km a service that’s about four to five times a year, I have this sinking feeling as I drive away from the mechanic’s workshop. After spending six odd hours away from me, and an average of $500 to $700 invoice, the...Beginners guide to not getting hacked
Reading the news today I realised that after Kristy Merlino’s email and Mailchimp accounts were hacked, that Kanye West’s iPhone passcode is 00000 and that Facebook doesn’t care about your privacy – it might be possible that other people aren’t 1) as passionate...Old marketing versus new marketing, example 503,000,091
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 were at the tool shop so people who needed tools...The art of differentiation
“Differentiation starts with the choice to do one thing well” says Bernadette at The Story of Telling blog. I wanted to break that powerful statement down and offer up some food of thought for celebrants today. The choice Your celebrant practise, the act...What it’s like to be deregistered
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 2018 12:07:09 +1000 Subject: Annual Celebrant...Calculating your fee
Liene over at Think Splendid has published a super insightful blog post about how she prices herself for her speaking gigs. I wonder if we as celebrants have considered not only our costs of doing business expenses, living wage, the average celebrant fee, the...Two marketing positions better than “cheap celebrant”
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 120,000 weddings in Australia every year, clearly there...Is that wedding today?
Hello again and thanks for tuning into The Celebrant Talk Show podcast! This episode we chat about: wedding plannersreceiving identity documents electronicallyCelebrant software: which package is bettter?the importance of paying your registration fee as soon as you...How to get enquiries to reply to your emails
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 elicit a response from...Uploading documents to NSW BDM from a Mac
A little tip for celebrants using the NSW Lifelink system. I tweeted at the NSW Justice Department decrying their developers of not allowing Mac users to upload documents into Lifelink and one of their staff wrote me back with this little tip. Don’t worry,...Giving your clients what they want: bad deal
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. I even had half an article drafted, and then today Liene at Think...iPad Celebrants, you need this tip
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 brightness will often reflect onto your face, like this:...Joining an association, Josh’s view
Jo asks What professional association do I join? One? Two? All? I know this is tricky question and high levels of diplomacy may be required – but how does a newbie choose between the associations? My RTO has given no advice and all associations seem to offer the...How to MC a wedding reception, a guide for celebrants
We’ve had a number of questions about MC’ing wedding receptions recently, so I’ve wrapped it all up in this quick and easy how-to guide. The host, or MC, of an event is as unique role as the whole event is held in your hands but you’re not at...Which directories should we advertise in?
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 polka dot bride, wedding guide,...Celebrancy: The price
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, and how that’s a problem, or an opportunity.
Doing deals with other vendors
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 has a people we love section on their website, but,...Where to host your website
Emma asks To squarespace or not to squarespace? What are your tips for starting a website? This article has the opportunity to be a long and nerdy one, so I’m going to be purposely brief so that you can make an educated decision easily. All business decisions...Are you starving yourself because you won’t turn left?
This week I’ve been in Vancouver, British Columbia, for two marriage ceremonies and it has been an amazing experience, with the one caveat: in Canada they drive on the incorrect side of the road. You might think this has everything to do with my ability to drive...What to do about crying
Here’s a fun one for you guys. How do you deal with crying? I’m currently studying and in my performance assignment, my “bride” burst into tears and I realised I was totally unprepared for what I imagine is a very common occurrence. Do I just...Getting your financials in order
“I just did my tax and I’m very frustrated!!! I need advice on what software or system to use to make it easier. Most I see are not designed for a sole owner operator that has not registered for GST (I earn less than 75k); they seem too complicated. I know what I earn and spend this shouldn’t be so frustrating. But I never know what category to put things in. I don’t know. What do you use? I have a subscription to 17hats I thought that might help but its basically designed for America.”
Podcast: The one about the wedding porn
Hello again and thank you for having us in your ears! In this episode we chat about the importance of exchanging value and not simply expecting things for free, we give a rundown of what we’ve written about for the Celebrant Institute over the past month, and we...Answering “How much do you cost?”
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 frustrating. For example, l had the...How to publish Facebook ads that work
I don’t know.
If there’s anything you can expect from me today and into the future is that I’m not going to talk BS. The good news is that I know as much about Facebook advertising as most marketers and advertisers do, and they don’t know either, because there is no one perfect ad that will close all the deals and make all the bookings. So as much as I don’t know how to publish Facebook ads that work, I do know how to publish Facebook ads that work for me, so I’ll take you through that process and also weave in some professional best practises and see if we can’t help you.
How to network in the wedding industry today
Networking amongst your industry colleagues, other wedding people, like photographers, venue co-ordinators, planners, and others, is a vital part of being an active member of the wedding industry. For the longest time that’s why I went to wedding expos –...The Facebook opportunity
Facebook, owner of Facebook but also Instagram and WhatsApp, is pushing hard to get more advertisers on its platform. In last week’s earnings call they made two statements which stood out to me: “When we think about Instagram, we think we have a great...What should we do on social media? Part 3
A member asks When chatting with celebrants recently I heard again and again that most celebrants aren’t really that interested in following the general Instagram “best practice” advice that you see on social media blogs/podcasts. Most people a)...You don’t know what ‘word of mouth’ looks like
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: I wanted to let you know how I’ve come across you… About two years ago we went to Queenstown for...What should we do on social media? Part 2
A member asks When chatting with celebrants recently I heard again and again that most celebrants aren’t really that interested in following the general Instagram “best practice” advice that you see on social media blogs/podcasts. Most people a)...What should we do on social media? Part 1
A member asks When chatting with celebrants recently I heard again and again that most celebrants aren’t really that interested in following the general Instagram “best practice” advice that you see on social media blogs/podcasts. Most people a)...A simple upgrade to your website and social media
A quick and easy weekend exercise for everyone today: read the front page of your website and your about page. Look at your recent social media posts and your bios on the networks. Are you talking about the product or the user?
The do’s and don’ts of email marketing
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 with me” and sending them a weekly newsletter – are there any legal considerations or permission issues (opt in/opt out) we need to consider? Is it fine to just add any email address to a newsletter database or is there particular wording we need to use in sourcing those addresses for that purpose? Cheers.
There’s two ways to provide a service
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 With drama. Make sure the customer knows...How to position your PA speaker for a wedding ceremony
Veronica asks After reading this article and listening to the podcast “A tribute to the greatest episode in the world”, you mentioned speaker placement. Being a newbie to the industry, where would you suggest is the best place for the speaker so I majority...Increasing your enquiry conversion rate
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. Wondering what I could be doing better or is there...How to get professional photos to share on your socials
A common conversation amongst everyone in the wedding industry who is not a wedding photographer is asking photographers for photos. It’s great when you get them, it means your social media feeds have a professional feel over an iPhone photo feel, and it’s...Five ways to make your ceremonies better
A recent Seth Godin post about presentations of the corporate/Microsoft Powerpoint kind, spurred me on to thinking about our presentation style as celebrants. My ceremony presentation style has it's roots in a) what I'm good at and b) what I like. Yours should too, so...Pricing on websites; to list or not to list??? Josh’s view
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 cheaper then a BDM wedding. Which poses that...Podcast: We don’t think you’re smart enough to get two emails in the one day
We recorded this episode on 6 July 2018, before Sarah had a chance to read the fact sheet from the AGD about the change in the one month’s notice period, so we don’t discuss that in the episode. Sarah will write more about that change soon; suffice to say...In praise of the not-young celebrant
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 brought it to the expo, along with the required chalk, and with minutes to go until the expo doors opened I had to think of something to write.
How to protect the copyright of your ceremony scripts
Tenielle asks Just a quick question about intellectual property of ceremony drafts. Hasn't happened to me, but have heard of stories of celebrants issuing a draft ceremony for the clients to look over, and then that ceremony being taken by the couple to a cheaper...Get testimonies that matter
Celebrants offer such a personal service, your service is very different to mine, to every other member of this website, and the thousands of other celebrants available. We can communicate our differences in text and photos on our website, through blog and social...2017-2018 Tax deductions for celebrants
It's every business owner's favourite time of the year: EOFYmas! As the End Of Financial Year celebrations takeover our lives I wanted to highlight the deductions I think we celebrants should be thinking of, and if you don't have the record of these deductions from...Portable PA speaker system purchasing advice
A detailed guide on the best portable PA speaker system for marriage celebrants at weddings in Australia. Don’t get a MiPro or Chaiyo!
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