Josh Withers, co-founder of the Celebrant Institute

Ted Gioia’s 10 rules for public speaking

Posted by Josh Withers | Aug 21, 2022 | The Art of Ceremony |

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.

You must call yourself a marriage celebrant

Posted by Josh Withers | Aug 14, 2022 | Our Guidelines to Australian Marriage Law |

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.

My iPad lost everything, how can I prevent this?

Posted by Josh Withers | Aug 8, 2022 | The Business of Celebrancy |

S writes in with a question about data loss and iPads: What are your back up plans when it comes...

Happy Podcast New Year!

Posted by Josh Withers | Jul 13, 2022 | Free Podcast |

We know, we know, we’ve been away for a whole year, but we’re back! In this episode we talk about where we’re both at in July 2022, and the major things that have happened in celebrancy and at the Celebrant Institute in the last 12 months.

A lesson from Kobe Bryant for celebrants

Posted by Josh Withers | Jul 4, 2022 | The Art of Celebrancy |

Starting from zero is hard. I’ve found that creating from scratch, staring at a blank Word document, or an empty notepad, is the hardest work, like pushing a boulder uphill it requires you to muster everything inside of you. It’s a question new celebrants pose to us here at the Celebrant Institute every week: how to get started.

This is your permission to raise your fees in 2022

Posted by Josh Withers | Jun 9, 2022 | The Business of Celebrancy |

Sarah and my accounting software of choice – Xero – just emailed us that our Xero plan...

How did I do 27 weddings in one month?

Posted by Josh Withers | May 12, 2022 | The Art of Celebrancy |

A few responses to my May 2022 email about having done 27 marriage ceremonies this month before prompted questions from celebrants across our Australian membership base and even internationally. Donna asked “how do you juggle that many” and others asked how I got that many bookings and other questions around the zone. How did I get 27 weddings in one month? Well, first of all, two of them were last-minute additions because a Celebrant Institute member got the spicy cough, and only two were fresh bookings or “new money” if you like. The rest were layovers from the two years of Covid – many couples on their third or fifth date — plus there were a handful of flood postponements as well. In the end, I’ve committed to just getting them done. That said, I’ve always operated at a high level of work in my business, and I’ve always had these words from Kevin Kelly in my mind when getting there:

The law of social proof and celebrancy

Posted by Josh Withers | Apr 11, 2022 | Marketing and Social Media |

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.

Do I need more than one domain name for my website?

Posted by Josh Withers | Mar 29, 2022 | Marketing and Social Media |

Elaine asks: When I obtained my Domain Name of domainname.com.au from Melbourne IT when I first...

A ceremony as a series of ‘riffs’, that’s how I’m unscripted

Posted by Josh Withers | Mar 29, 2022 | The Art of Ceremony |

When you mention my name to another celebrant, apparently the most common thing people talk about...

Computer and internet security for a modern marriage celebrant

Posted by Josh Withers | Mar 11, 2022 | The Business of Celebrancy |

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?

There’s Gold In Them Thar Questions

Posted by Josh Withers | Feb 18, 2022 | Marketing and Social Media |

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?

How to spy on other people’s Facebook Ads

Posted by Josh Withers | Feb 18, 2022 | Marketing and Social Media |

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.

Rounded prices are better than unrounded for weddings

Posted by Josh Withers | Feb 14, 2022 | The Business of Celebrancy |

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.

A story for celebrants finding their tribe like Yeti coolers did

Posted by Josh Withers | Feb 11, 2022 | The Business of Celebrancy |

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.

Other avenues for networking and referrals

Posted by Josh Withers | Feb 10, 2022 | The Business of Celebrancy |

I wonder how many avenues for networking, referrals, and help, us celebrants are leaving on the table?

Not-as-ongoing professional development

Posted by Josh Withers | Dec 21, 2021 | Community News |

For the most recent information regarding ongoing professional development and OPD for Australian...

Celebrants can witness NOIMs over the internet!

Posted by Josh Withers | Dec 21, 2021 | Our Guidelines to Australian Marriage Law |

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…

Why I hate wedding awards: “I am in competition with no-one”

Posted by Josh Withers | Oct 22, 2021 | The Art of Celebrancy |

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 …

My secret to business success: email

Posted by Josh Withers | Oct 21, 2021 | The Business of Celebrancy |

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.

How to start taking better photos at your weddings

Posted by Josh Withers | Sep 27, 2021 | Marketing and Social Media |

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.

How to record the location of a marriage ceremony on the water or in the air

Posted by Josh Withers | Sep 19, 2021 | Our Guidelines to Australian Marriage Law |

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.

The secret to having people share your social media posts

Posted by Josh Withers | Sep 8, 2021 | Marketing and Social Media |

When you hear of social media posts going viral, it simply means people are sharing it....

How to get your couples to reply to your emails

Posted by Josh Withers | Sep 2, 2021 | The Business of Celebrancy |

If you’ve ever played the iconic Australian schoolyard game of handball, you’ll remember that the aim of the game is to intercept the ball on your quadrant/half, then to get it back out as soon as possible. Think about your customer journey and email like a game of handball.

Build my own website or pay a pro? Build a business brand or a personal brand?

Posted by Josh Withers | Aug 30, 2021 | Marketing and Social Media |

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.

Writing prompts for social media and blogging

Posted by Josh Withers | Aug 29, 2021 | Marketing and Social Media |

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.

Questions to ask your couples for your review or testimony

Posted by Josh Withers | Aug 26, 2021 | The Art of Celebrancy |

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.

Be vulnerable about your growth intentions to actually grow

Posted by Josh Withers | Aug 24, 2021 | Marketing and Social Media |

A study has found that adding copy to a new app’s website around the lines of “we...

Say, do you remember? Dancing (with new forms) in September?

Posted by Josh Withers | Aug 18, 2021 | CI |

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.