Developing your own ceremony performance style: Sarah’s view
Alexandra says, “I’m getting anxious about what to do before the ceremony starts and pressure to be funny during the ceremony – am I overthinking it?”
Read Moreby Sarah Aird | Jul 31, 2019 | The Art of Ceremony | 2 |
Alexandra says, “I’m getting anxious about what to do before the ceremony starts and pressure to be funny during the ceremony – am I overthinking it?”
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Aug 7, 2019 | The Business of Celebrancy | 0 |
Veronica asks: I know where you stand on refunds. Yesterday, I had a bride who cancelled her November wedding due to the relationship splitting, texting me nasty abuse and demanding the clearly stated non-refundable booking fee....
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Aug 27, 2019 | The Business of Celebrancy | 0 |
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 good when surrounded by a sea of mediocrity, but real life rarely works that way. 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 good when surrounded by a sea of mediocrity, but real life rarely works that way.
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Aug 27, 2019 | The Business of Celebrancy | 0 |
What most clients pay Sally for—the deliverable, is that five minutes of video footage. But what Sally dreams of doing and being paid for is finding stories worth telling. It’s easier for Sally to sell the outcome—the video, than it is to market her process and the impact of her work. So, she defaults to doing what’s easy and ends up selling videos in one-minute increments to clients who don’t understand or pay for her genius. People happily pay for the tangible. But if the tangible—the logo, the report or the cup of coffee, is a fraction of the value we create, then we need to get better at selling the intangible. It’s not unusual to wake up one day and find that the work people pay us for isn’t the work we intended to do. It’s our job to fix that, by telling the right story to the right people. Is the work people pay you for the work you want to do?
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Sep 10, 2019 | The Business of Celebrancy | 1 |
After dropping my car off to be serviced this morning I hit the local cafe strip to find a breakfast befitting of someone wanting to sit in a cafe for breakfast and a coffee while answering emails and writing blog posts.
The first cafe was offering a $6 breakfast, and without inspecting the actual offering, I knew instantly that I didn’t want a $6 breakfast. Everything in me knew that I was not a $6 breakfast person. On a morning like this I was thinking that breakfast would cost at a bare minimum $10 but probably closer to $20, and there’d be a coffee as well, a large one, so I was expecting to pay no more than say $25.
Read Moreby Sarah Aird | Sep 13, 2019 | Our Guidelines to Australian Marriage Law | 2 |
I have a bride that is divorced but still goes by her previous spouse’s surname. In regards to moving forward and taking on the new spouses name – does she have to go through any special process or will she just go to her organisations and show her divorce cert, and new marriage certificate to change to her new surname? In regards to the paperwork NOIM etc – if she shows me her birth certificate, but a passport/drivers licence with her previous married surname – as long as I’m satisfied that it is the same person, and she is who she says she is, does it matter? And i fill out the documentation with her maiden name?
Read Moreby Sarah Aird | Sep 17, 2019 | Our Guidelines to Australian Marriage Law | 0 |
Just wanting some advice on how you inform couples on how to register their marriages aboard? E.g A Scottish couple marry here, and ask you how they register their marriage in Scotland. I understand they need to have the Original Marriage Certificate apostille stamped, before their government will recognize it as a true document, however where can they get this done? The Australian Embassy in their country or??
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Sep 17, 2019 | The Art of Ceremony | 1 |
The art of MCing a wedding reception is definitely one most celebrants could master, but it’s a little different to being a marriage celebrant, so here’s master MC, Glenn Mackay, of G&M Event Group at the 2019 conference on how to perfect the art.
If you’re looking for more from Glenn he was a guest on the Celebrant Talk Show on a totally different subject, listen here.
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Sep 19, 2019 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
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 and swift reminder.
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Sep 20, 2019 | The Business of Celebrancy | 0 |
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 ‘celebrant.institute’ you’ll see a little padlock ???? icon that is a sign that this website is communicating with your web browser securely. If you share any information with this website, by logging in, making a comment, typing in a credit card number, or even just reading blog posts, that content is all secure. Running a secure website today is not only popular and a good look, but it is important for your brand identity and your search engine optimisation. As an example, here’s a screenshot of a website I visited today and I was surprised how negatively I felt about the brand knowing that they had not installed an SSL certificate on their website and made it a secure connection.
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Sep 20, 2019 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
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. When I saw this recent meme about the mortifying ordeal of being known and loved it resonated with me so much I had to work it into a talk for our recent conference.
Read Moreby Sarah Aird | Sep 21, 2019 | The Business of Celebrancy | 7 |
Do you reduce your rate when a couple is in an awful situation? Terminally ill party etc. I’ve had this arise twice in the last 3 months and never know what to do.
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Sep 25, 2019 | The Art of Ceremony | 6 |
Sophie asks: “After a beach ceremony last weekend I vowed to never lug my massive speaker around again – its ridiculously heavy, I’m pregnant, plus sand = a terrible time. I loved your set-up at the conference and def did not write enough notes at that time about what was going on. Bose S1 Pro, check. If I go with 2 speakers like you had do they have to be connected with a cable? I don’t think yours did but some audio store people are telling me I’d have to? I’m not too tech savvy but have reasonable intelligence so I know I can work it all out when I get going. Ideally I’d like 2 speakers playing all audio at once – me speaking through a headset (something decent Rode or the like), couples into a handheld (Senheiser right?) and music played through Bluetooth. This is pretty much what I’ve told the few places I’ve approached so far but then it gets complicated quick when they’re talking to me about mixers and cables etc etc and I’m lost. Any quick and not too laborious help??
Read Moreby Sarah Aird | Sep 25, 2019 | Our Guidelines to Australian Marriage Law | 0 |
Trying to input previous marriage’s children’s birth years on VIC BDM site… there are 5, it will only accept 1. I’ve tried commas and with out, not go.
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Sep 26, 2019 | The Art of Ceremony | 4 |
Thanks very much for your helpful article about PA system recommendations. I hope Bose & Sennheiser are kind to you! I upgraded to both recommended items & during testing at home & at a venue it worked perfectly, but once the ceremony started there was some audio issues; couple of those high pitches squeaks and I think a bit of cutting out. It wasn’t a disaster but also wasn’t great, and I’d like my audio to be as good as poss so just trying to figure it out before the next ceremony.
Read Moreby Sarah Aird | Sep 29, 2019 | Our Guidelines to Australian Marriage Law | 0 |
Dee asks: After reading the guidelines I’m after some clarification regarding a NOIM. One of my couples have unfortunately had to postpone their wedding. Am I right in thinking the below : – If the wedding takes place with...
Read Moreby Sarah Aird | Oct 3, 2019 | Our Guidelines to Australian Marriage Law | 0 |
I have a groom who is a foreign national, but this is not the first time he lived in Australia – he lived here as a child as well. Does ‘Total Period of Residency’ only refer to his most recent stint, or is it a sum of all the times he has lived here?
Read Moreby Sarah Aird | Oct 7, 2019 | Our Guidelines to Australian Marriage Law | 3 |
When do I need to sight proof of the end of a previous marriage?
Read Moreby Sarah Aird | Oct 11, 2019 | Our Guidelines to Australian Marriage Law | 4 |
I am doing a backyard wedding next week (the couple have changed their mind at the last minute) so do I need to put their street address as the location, along with the town and state? I can’t find any guidance in the Guidelines about how nailed down the location has to be but I remember in my Cert IV that I had to write location as well as town and state.
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Oct 14, 2019 | Community News | 2 |
You can update the software on your Bose S1 speaker, and it comes with new features like using your speakers with the Bose Connect app, whilst also making the speakers operate with greater stability.
Read Moreby Sarah Aird | Oct 15, 2019 | Our Guidelines to Australian Marriage Law | 0 |
I have completed a NOIM with a bride for a ceremony next year, the groom lives in the USA and they are submitting a prospective marriage visa application. When signing the NOIM with the bride I provided a letter of support but she also wanted a copy of the NOIM for her lawyer. I said I wasn’t able to provide this and the letter should be enough (I have done a few of these now and no other couple have asked for it and visas have been processed). I double checked this with some other celebrants at the time as I was sure we were not supposed to pass on copies of the NOIM to anyone and they agreed, do not pass it on. Anyway today the lawyer called me asking for the NOIM again. I advised the same thing and she was super nice about it but said in 5 years I am the only celebrant to have ever said no…………. SO am I wrong or is she wrong? I don’t want to hinder their visa application in any way but I also want to follow our rules!
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Oct 15, 2019 | The Art of Ceremony | 8 |
Tracey asks: I’d really love some input about how/where in the ceremony you would say the Monitum. In amongst all the beautiful ‘love’ words it can feel a bit cold and clinical. I’m yet to find a way to bring it into the ceremony without it sounding a bit like an announcement! I feel pretty ok with writing sections of a ceremony. Tying them together is the tricky part for me!
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Oct 18, 2019 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
The most popular question I’m asked in person by my wedding industry colleagues, and here on the Celebrant Institute, is which website do I advertise on or which directory do I list in that works?
Somewhere along the way, wedding vendors have gotten really comfortable being fed off the teat of wedding blogs, directories, websites, and magazines.
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Oct 18, 2019 | Community News | 3 |
Twice a year the Marriage Law and Celebrants Section (MLCS) of the Attorney General’s...
Read Moreby Sarah Aird | Oct 19, 2019 | Our Guidelines to Australian Marriage Law | 4 |
What does “signing electronically” actually mean?
Read Moreby Sarah Aird | Oct 23, 2019 | Our Guidelines to Australian Marriage Law | 0 |
US citizens marrying in Australia; are there any differences for us to be aware of?
Read Moreby Sarah Aird | Oct 27, 2019 | Our Guidelines to Australian Marriage Law | 1 |
A celebrant friend has asked me to be a standby in case she cannot officiate her nieces wedding next month. I am meeting the couple this week so we can all feel comfortable and I will also check ID’s so I am happy with that aspect. The best outcome is that I am just there on the day and she is well enough but we are both wanting to be prepared so her niece has a legal and memorable wedding with no glitches. Is this enough?
Read Moreby Sarah Aird | Oct 31, 2019 | Our Guidelines to Australian Marriage Law | 0 |
Shamini asks: I’ve got a couple who came here as refugees (by boat) 9 years ago and are looking to get married. In terms of ID they have a travel document that is provided by the Australian Govt (looks like a passport). Is...
Read Moreby Sarah Aird | Nov 2, 2019 | Community News | 2 |
I attended my first meeting with the other celebrant association/networks and staff from the Marriage Law and Celebrants Section (MLCS) of the Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department (AGD) on Monday 28 October 2019. Here’s a summary of what was discussed!
Read Moreby Sarah Aird | Nov 4, 2019 | Our Guidelines to Australian Marriage Law | 5 |
How do you lock down clear processes for legals? I often have the issue of legals being pushed to a short and sweet without them paying for that.
Read Moreby Sarah Aird | Nov 8, 2019 | Our Guidelines to Australian Marriage Law | 1 |
I’ve written before about how easy it is for parties to get a copy of their divorce order if they were divorced in Australia. I’ve also written about the changes in the 2018 Guidelines that allow us to accept a stat...
Read Moreby Sarah Aird | Nov 12, 2019 | Our Guidelines to Australian Marriage Law | 1 |
“I’m confused about a tick box on the NOIM with these words beside it “Authority for marriage despite late notice – not applicable”. It does not have an asterisk or dagger next to it for actioning (i.e. strike out words not required, or strike out if inapplicable). Can you advise when and what this should be actioned for please?”
Read Moreby Sarah Aird | Nov 12, 2019 | The Art of Ceremony | 2 |
I recently had a ceremony which was in a very sunny/hot location, I asked the guests multiple times to move over to the ceremony area but they all resisted and stayed in the shade. I walked over and specifically asked them to move over and some did but some still didn’t. What are your tips?
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Nov 12, 2019 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
There is a fascinating article on The Correspondent today about the next “dot com bubble” being online advertising. The link is a long, but easy, and really (seriously) interesting read, but for the benefit of CI blog readers, I’ll quote a few sections here.
Read Moreby Sarah Aird | Nov 16, 2019 | Our Guidelines to Australian Marriage Law | 0 |
Cass asks: I’m marring a couple in October and one of them can’t find his birth certificate and he’s looked everywhere. He seems to think it can’t get posted to him in time to fill out the NOIM. He only has a passport and not a drivers license or proof of age. Is there any other form of ID he can use like Medicare or like proof of residency? Sorry, I tried looking it up and can’t quite figure out how to use other IDs on the NOIM?
Read Moreby Sarah Aird | Nov 16, 2019 | The Business of Celebrancy | 0 |
A celebrant asks: This has been the year of a handful of crazies, seriously. I’m thankful it hasn’t just been me, others in the region have had the exact same experience with this weird 2019 trend of difficult...
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Nov 18, 2019 | The Art of Celebrancy | 0 |
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 in the holiday account.
It’s understandable. In the past it was a common part time career for a mum, or a school teacher, to undertake and just do a few ceremonies a year.
Read Moreby Sarah Aird | Nov 20, 2019 | The Art of Ceremony | 0 |
What do you include in your ceremonies?
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Nov 21, 2019 | The Art of Ceremony | 1 |
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 looking for, but was wondering how others on the other side of the world do it!
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Nov 21, 2019 | Community News | 0 |
If you’re aspiring to be a celebrant in the near future, Sarah and I deliver the Certificate IV in Celebrancy through this very Institute. We’re lucky enough to have experienced, and to continue to experience the full breadth of celebrancy training, students contact us every day with questions their trainers and colleges are answering incorrectly or weirdly.
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Nov 21, 2019 | The Art of Ceremony | 3 |
Jeff asks: When/how did you now it was ok to not share ceremony content with the couple but just have them trust you on the day of? Couples and guests really love what I put together (I guess I’ve figured out that much ha!) and I have lots of reviews that say it’s great – removing the step of sharing content would literally make things faaaar easier, just wondering how to get couples on board with that or when it’s ok to do that.
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Nov 21, 2019 | Marketing and Social Media | 2 |
Sephora has identified that not every customer desires the same journey, so they created a fork in the road to cater for two different personality types.
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Nov 22, 2019 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
I’m eventually going to start sounding like a broken record, but we all need to get it into our head: ads as we used to know them no longer work. People hate ads.
Read Moreby Sarah Aird | Nov 24, 2019 | Our Guidelines to Australian Marriage Law, The Business of Celebrancy | 2 |
Ky Sign in or become a...
Read Moreby Sarah Aird | Nov 27, 2019 | Community News | 2 |
The annual release of marriage and divorce statistics by the Australian Bureau of Statistics occurs every year around 27 November. Right on time, the statistics for the full calendar year 2018 were released today at 11.30am. If you’re interested you can find all the information on the ABS website.
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Nov 28, 2019 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
A repetitive theme in my writing is the encouragement for you to create your own content. I really do believe that creating original, helpful, relevant, personal, content is a majorly easy way for you to have a win today.
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Nov 28, 2019 | The Business of Celebrancy | 2 |
Jeff asks: A general price question: when you both set your prices (to their current rates), were you/are you in line with what others charge or are you much higher? Pretty sure I’m the highest priced officiant in my region of 500,000 folks, but @ $650/ceremony I’d have to perform about 27 weddings/week to go legit. That doesn’t work. I have right around 75 weddings on the books for 2019 and it’s great since this is a side hustle, but I want to make the leap but for suuuure can’t at this rate. I’m hesitant because if I jump up to $800-$1000 I’ll literally be charging more than double the price or most others…but I guess someone has to be most expensive, I might as well be that guy…was just curious your thoughts on that.
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Nov 28, 2019 | The Business of Celebrancy | 2 |
Jeff asks: When you look back on leads, what seems to be working? Do you have a rough breakdown of where/how couples are finding you? Do you find Instagram/Facebook ads work? Venue referrals? The Google…?
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Nov 28, 2019 | The Business of Celebrancy | 0 |
Victoria asks: I downloaded Notability on my iPad so I could easily get signatures on my doc as you said you found that one the best – however when it opens the filled in versions of the PDFS from the AG’s site as that’s what I use – they appear blank. Any tips on how to get them to appear filled in?
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Nov 30, 2019 | Our Guidelines to Australian Marriage Law | 1 |
On this week’s podcast episode I talked about contacting our local member of parliament to request a change to the Marriage Act of 1961. The act requires two official certificates of marriage be prepared, which in a digital age where we’re creating PDF certificates, is a little redundant.
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Dec 2, 2019 | The Art of Ceremony | 5 |
I was email marketed by the team at Wedwordy recently, with their offering of a ceremony script builder. Wedwordy promises to create personalised wedding ceremony scripts “as easy as 1-2-3” so I reached out to them and requested a review. I’ve listened to many celebrants through the ages talk about their ceremony script writing process, some put way too much effort in, and many simply phone it in by inserting names in the right places and clicking print. Some don’t even go that far and thanks to those celebrants the profession has that reputation of saying the wrong names in a ceremony.
Read Moreby Sarah Aird | Dec 2, 2019 | Our Guidelines to Australian Marriage Law | 0 |
With the new law, we are able to sight their identification online, so can we do the same if they sign the documents in front of us but online? So signing in America, we watch them do that over Skype, then they mail us the form, and we sign NOIM and date when we watched them sign over Skype.
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Dec 4, 2019 | The Business of Celebrancy | 0 |
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. The general feedback was that they never heard from their celebrant after booking them, had no idea what to expect (for example commented “we hadn’t heard from her in 4 months”) and both had doubts about how the day would run. I was horrified! To me, managing expectations is super important but I also understand it may be different with each couple. So my question is – sorry it took me a while to get there – do you have any advice on how you communicate a “timeline of events” with the couple – or can you provide an example of one? And also advice for me on ceremony writing….how soon before the wedding do you start it and if requested or preferred by the couple when do you send a first draft for them to review, and how soon before the ceremony do you “lock everything in?”
Read Moreby Sarah Aird | Dec 6, 2019 | Our Guidelines to Australian Marriage Law | 2 |
Party to the marriage is completing their NOIM and has advised me that:
1) her father is not listed on her birth certificate or any other official/legal documents relating to her identity
2) she knows who her father is, and they are involved in each other’s life
I’m aware we don’t have to check evidence of parents names – so just wanted to double check that I am correct in advising that she should list her father on the NOIM despite him not appearing on her birth certificate (as to write ‘unknown’ would be to knowingly make a false statement on the NOIM)?
by Josh Withers | Dec 7, 2019 | Marketing and Social Media | 1 |
A quick Saturday morning flick through the social media feeds showed me six celebrants doing a bad thing on social media.
They’re not breaking the law, and in their minds they’re not doing a bad or evil thing. Many people would see the same thing I did and think it’s perfectly fine.
But my advice would be to stop.
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Dec 12, 2019 | Marketing and Social Media | 2 |
A reader asks: “I’ve noticed the ABIA awards presentation nights have been occurring but what is the ABIA awards and how do people win the ABIA awards? What is the scoring based on? I see these marks of 99.93 etc.” I’ll answer this question on behalf of ABIA, then with my own opinion, which may or may not include the now famous, Billockery Awards, the celebrancy industry’s most favourable fictionalised awards system.
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Dec 14, 2019 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
A favourite read of mine is the regular Susbtack email from Ariel Stalling. You might know her name from a little blog called Offbeat Bride. In this week’s mailout, Ariel tells the story of how someone a little bit like her was covered in the New York Times.
Before I actually read the words in the piece I thought Ariel was telling the story about how she was covered in the New York Times which would’ve been kind of cool, but then when you sit down and read it you realise that someone slightly similar to her with a really good publicist was covered in the Times instead.
Read Moreby Sarah Aird | Dec 16, 2019 | Our Guidelines to Australian Marriage Law | 0 |
I have a Jane Brown (married name from her third marriage – the marriage I am looking after will be her fourth)
She uses the name Jane Brown in everyday use, and has Jane Brown on all her current documents. The only document she has with her maiden name (Jane Smith) is her birth certificate.
She has asked if I can use her maiden name, Jane Smith, in the ceremony on the day?
Read Moreby Sarah Aird | Dec 20, 2019 | Our Guidelines to Australian Marriage Law, The Business of Celebrancy | 0 |
Now I’ve reached the stage of life where I have a mortgage and a family I figure it’s time to put a grown up will in place.
This got me thinking about what instructions I need to leave for my surviving relatives and the obligations that they have not only to comply with the law but to also ensure a smooth transition for my couples.
I was wondering if you guys have any tips or could give a basic overview of what process you guys have in place?
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Dec 21, 2019 | Our Guidelines to Australian Marriage Law | 2 |
If you’ve been following an earlier blog post where we made submissions to our local MP regarding removing some redundant parts of the Marriage Act of 1961, well, I got an update:
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Dec 22, 2019 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
I thought I’d share a quick and small story about a wedding I didn’t get booked for.
Read Moreby Sarah Aird | Dec 24, 2019 | Our Guidelines to Australian Marriage Law | 0 |
A couple from America have gone gung ho and booked to elope in December. They have their heart set on coming into their wedding on a camel!
I advised them that this our ‘wet’ season and there may be a chance of rain and will need a plan B. However there is no plan B option for a camel to be involved….which is their whole motivation for getting married in this destination. The cameleer has advised them that they definitely need a plan B too. He has asked them potentially plan to have the wedding on 2 consecutive dates (28th and 29th Dec) so that if it is raining on the first date, they can do it on the second date.
I advised them that this isn’t possible due to the NOIM limitations. Anyway I got to thinking, is it totally illegal to fill in 2 NOIMS – one for each date? I feel like this would be a no-no but I guess I want to satisfy my curiosity
Read Moreby Sarah Aird | Dec 28, 2019 | Our Guidelines to Australian Marriage Law | 2 |
Once a NOIM has been submitted to the NSW Registry BDM, do you know if that one has to be used, or if it could be abandoned and brand new NOIM submitted to a different celebrant?
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Dec 31, 2019 | The Business of Celebrancy | 0 |
To bring in the new year, [Stephen Ango asks himself 40 questions]. I liked his list but thought I’d alter it for Celebrant Institute followers so we could reflect on where we’ve been and look at where we’re going. Identify trends, strengths, weaknesses, and things we should simply be proud of as individuals and as a community. Stephen’s is a personal list, and my amendments are focused on your celebrant business. Maybe you want to do both, or just one, it’s all up to you.
Read Moreby Sarah Aird | Jan 2, 2020 | Our Guidelines to Australian Marriage Law | 0 |
It’s here again, the most dreaded question on the NOIM. We do know it’s being removed from the next iteration of the forms, but given they’ve been on their way for 5 years, don’t hold your breath. Liane...
Read Moreby Sarah Aird | Jan 6, 2020 | Our Guidelines to Australian Marriage Law | 0 |
I read the latest Marriage Celebrant Matters Newsletter and it states that “Hard copies of the Notice, DNLI or any supporting documents (divorce orders, parental consents etc) do not need to be kept once lodged electronically with the registry of births, deaths and marriages (BDM). Celebrants may wish to retain these documents until the marriage is registered”
Does this include all the previous hard copies we kept and lodged electronically? Because previously we were suppose to keep the hard copies for X years from what I remember. I think it was 5 years from memory.
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Jan 8, 2020 | Pod Legal | 0 |
Eyewear brand Oscar Wylee is in trouble with the ACCC for its charitable donations. In an era of such transformative social change, more and more businesses are choosing to align themselves with charitable organisations or causes. Whether that be through donations or the facilitation of programs, businesses of all kinds are stepping up to give back.
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Jan 8, 2020 | The Business of Celebrancy | 3 |
Sophie asks a very important and pertinent question (which I’ve slightly edited for brevity): A question regarding the safety of couples sending digital copies of their ID via email or within a system like Dubsado.
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Jan 9, 2020 | Marketing and Social Media | 2 |
If you’re not already familiar with the reason why, when faced with two cafes next to each other most of us will choose the busier cafe, the reason is social proof.
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Jan 10, 2020 | Marketing and Social Media | 1 |
I married a couple recently and the bride had one of those names where there was a few different ways it could possibly be pronounced. In that situation, when we first meet, I introduce myself with my name, and expect the same in return, I’ll then note how they pronounce their own name. But she didn’t!
I feel the same way about business.
Read Moreby Sarah Aird | Jan 10, 2020 | Our Guidelines to Australian Marriage Law | 3 |
What is the minimum required information needed to accept a NOIM, and can you accept a NOIM without yet seeing proof of identity and date and place of birth?
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Jan 18, 2020 | The Art of Celebrancy | 0 |
Interaction is a privilege. But it doesn’t often scale.
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Jan 23, 2020 | The Art of Ceremony | 10 |
A topic we don’t cover enough here in the Celebrant Institute membership is ceremony presentation and style. It’s such a personal topic and each of us has our own style. But today we thought we’d lift the cover and show you all how Sarah and I both present a ceremony. Presented below are two videos, full recordings of a recent ceremony we have both presented recently.
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Jan 23, 2020 | The Art of Celebrancy | 13 |
Jake asks: I’m currently taking bookings faster than I planned would happen and have decided that an iPad might be a better way to keep everything in one place , meaning my emails/ceremonies, and documents. But the main reason is I would like to be able to have my couples sign the the paperwork on the iPad (form 15 , NOIM) all that jazz. I just wanted to know what you would recommend in size and what programs/apps would make this possible.
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Jan 24, 2020 | Our Guidelines to Australian Marriage Law | 2 |
A member asked for help with the Queensland BDM pushing back on a marriage registration and wanting more info on parents.
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Jan 25, 2020 | Our Guidelines to Australian Marriage Law | 0 |
While I’ve talked a lot about how I sign my paperwork on an iPad, you’re welcome to choose your tablet and software of choice, I haven’t detailed exactly where the paperwork comes from.
Of course you can [download blank marriage paperwork] from the Attorney-General’s office, and if you wanted to find the shortest link between the AGD website and signing it on an iPad, you could literally treat that blank paperwork like blank physical paper. But there’s a better way and it depends which state you live in.
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Jan 26, 2020 | The Art of Ceremony | 1 |
Sophie asks: When performing a ceremony out in the blazing sun with no undercover area nearby are either of you protecting your speaker/receivers etc from the direct sun? I’m nervous about it all overheating and thought you guys might have found a solution? I thought maybe of attaching an umbrella somehow to my stand?
Read Moreby Sarah Aird | Jan 28, 2020 | Our Guidelines to Australian Marriage Law | 1 |
I’ve had a couple ask about what happens with there names after they are married. I’m not sure if I’m meant to know or if it’s some what part of my role but what is the legal action for changing the couples names after the ceremony?
Read Moreby Sarah Aird | Jan 29, 2020 | Our Guidelines to Australian Marriage Law | 4 |
Lots of the questions celebrants ask me relate to how far they can push the legislative requirements or ethics of our role. I have one simple test you can apply to any situation
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Feb 4, 2020 | Our Guidelines to Australian Marriage Law | 3 |
A Celebrant Institute member asks: “I know celebrants are required send all the legal documents after the wedding day or submit via lifelink within 14 days of the ceremony but what actually happens if we forget?” Sarah’s on holidays this week but luckily for you, this is a question even I can answer.
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Feb 7, 2020 | The Business of Celebrancy | 1 |
Maybe you’re a better worker than I am so you don’t need this, but over here in Josh-world I’m as easily distracted as a mouse in a cheese tasting room. So seeing this resource made for programmers made me...
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Feb 17, 2020 | The Business of Celebrancy | 4 |
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 problem is more about inquiry meetings, extra meetings and rehearsals. Obviously I cant charge for an inquiry meeting but do I just have a set higher wedding fee which kind of covers longer distances overall whether the wedding is near or far? Hope you can help!
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Feb 17, 2020 | The Art of Celebrancy | 0 |
I’ll be honest, I haven’t been able to kick the thought that as much as this podcast episode seems like the least likely thing to recommend to a pack of celebrants, I just have to. So here it is. Sign in or become a...
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Feb 26, 2020 | The Business of Celebrancy | 1 |
My favourite computing device is my iPad. I’m actually travelling for up to six months of this year with only my iPad – it’ll be my main computing device. There’s two or three little bug bears that really annoy me about the iPad, but the main one is how the Instagram app is still phone-only. There’s no iPad app for Instagram.
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Feb 26, 2020 | Marketing and Social Media, The Business of Celebrancy | 1 |
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 marketing now which will in turn affect my bookings for the end or the year and the beginning of next. Apart from reaching out to some lovely local celebs in the area to say hello and booking in to attend an expo, do you have any ideas on what I should or could be doing online (website copy, SEO, blogging, google listing, marketing, back end kind of stuff) while I am in this early transition stage.
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Feb 28, 2020 | The Business of Celebrancy | 4 |
If your couples don’t have an easy way to pay you with credit card, I’m of the belief that you’re not only missing out on cash flow and cash, but you’re also missing out on the goodwill you would generate by making your couples’ lives easier.
Here are ten reasons I think you should either enable credit card payments (if you already have the option) or look at extending your payment options to include credit card.
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Feb 29, 2020 | The Business of Celebrancy | 2 |
Many of us have a problem with selling. It’s understandable, most of us have been sold to before, and we’ve hated it. A “salesperson” is often the sleaziest person in the room, and none of us want to be “that guy.” But here we are, trying to pay our mortgages or rent with some cash we earn from being a celebrant. And traditionally, that requires sales. So, I, Josh-saviour-to-the-celebrants, has a solution!
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Mar 6, 2020 | The Art of Ceremony | 1 |
Jeff asks: I’m heading into my busiest year yet, I’m so happy I get to work alongside so many great humans who want to be married! The downside (if we can call it that) – my ceremony writing process is my least favourite part (is that bad?). I’ve done the work of automating as much of the process as humanly possible while creating a very fun customer journey, but when it comes down to writing the ceremony I’m just not that psyched. And then when you multiply the procrastination to start by x amount of weddings it’s easy to fall behind. Couples and guests have always said they love the ceremonies I write (phew!) but it can be exhausting and seems hard to scale.
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Mar 17, 2020 | The Art of Celebrancy | 1 |
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 there is a negative effect on your business and way of life due to a pandemic.
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Mar 23, 2020 | Community News | 0 |
This blog post does not serve as legal or financial advice. We’re all just reading the Economic Response to the Coronavirus, fact sheet on Income Support for Individuals, on a Monday morning, the 24th of March at 9:50am, so take...
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Mar 23, 2020 | Community News, COVID-19 | 3 |
Do you know the Greek myth of King Sisyphus? As retribution for tricking the gods, he was punished to an eternity of pushing a large boulder up a steep hill only to have it roll back down just as he reached the top. With...
Read Moreby Sarah Aird | Mar 28, 2020 | Community News, COVID-19 | 1 |
How do we actually manage marriage ceremonies while respecting social distancing rules?
Read Moreby Sarah Aird | Mar 28, 2020 | Community News, COVID-19 | 0 |
BDM Victoria has shut down their offices and their call centre until further notice. This raises two critical marriage issues that they have not clarified. This evening I’ve sent the following email to my local State member, Michael O’Brien, who is the Leader of the Opposition in Victoria. I’ll keep you posted…
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Apr 17, 2020 | Marketing and Social Media | 1 |
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 to view my marketing strategy as a journey, and the end of that journey is when someone “walks into my store” and makes a purchasing decision, and my “store” is my website. On a recent Google Office Hours webinar, Google’s Webmaster Trends Analyst, John Mueller, made this comment on being different to a webmaster who has a ringtones website who was complaining of traffic dropping and their search engine position dropping …
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Apr 20, 2020 | COVID-19, Our Guidelines to Australian Marriage Law | 3 |
With Police Officers and JPs being the most popular witnesses to notices of intended marriage forms when a celebrant cannot attend the witnessing…
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Apr 21, 2020 | Community News | 0 |
11 years ago (in 2009), celebrant directory website Celebrante, conducted a survey of about 1400...
Read Moreby Josh Withers | May 8, 2020 | Our Guidelines to Australian Marriage Law, The Art of Ceremony | 2 |
Maria asks: I am hoping to be able to travel and marry people in other countries so how do I go about doing that? I understand the law is different in each state in the US and of course Canada so is there an easy process to get the legal requirements to marry people overseas?
Read Moreby Josh Withers | May 10, 2020 | The Art of Celebrancy | 0 |
I drove through a recently bushfire affected region last week. The ground was still blackened, but not as much as the tree trunks. The foliage and grass that would normally cover the bush floor was slowly achingly coming back to something that resembled life, and those trees that survived, still stood tall. The stand out from the drive though were the two things flourishing today.
Read Moreby Josh Withers | May 10, 2020 | The Business of Celebrancy | 1 |
Morgan Roberts invited me onto his podcast to talk about the back ends of a business. Systems, Tave, Dubsado, all that really boring and important stuff. It’s worth a listen if automation is a scary word to you. Sign in or...
Read Moreby Josh Withers | May 10, 2020 | COVID-19, The Business of Celebrancy | 1 |
There’s a lot of talk about weddings coming back as COVID-19 restrictions are eased. This is not an article about when and what restrictions are being eased, but a reminder as to how Australia works and how to know if weddings are a) allowed or legal, b) when they’re allowed, c) what will be allowed.
This article does remind you though how Australian governance works. You see, Australia as a nation is a lovely idea, but really, you live in a state. That state, be it Queensland, Victoria, Western Australia, or a constant state of joy, has made a number of decisions as to how certain things are governed. Many things are a state business, and they have then handed many things on to the [Commonwealth of Australia] for their governance. This article is an oversimplification of a complex structure, so please don’t quote me anywhere.
Read Moreby Sarah Aird | May 11, 2020 | Community News, COVID-19 | 2 |
I attended the meeting between the Marriage Law & Celebrant Section of the Attorney-General’s Department and celebrant associations and networks last Tuesday. It’s taken me much longer to write a report for you...
Read Moreby Josh Withers | May 12, 2020 | The Business of Celebrancy | 5 |
Video chat, video conferencing, Skyping, Facetiming, or now, Zooming, is going to be a fairly major way we communicate through this season and into the future. The problem is, I see lots of people on Zoom calls not bringing their A-game to the call. The reason presenting yourself well on a video call matters is because in that online video chat environment we’ve already lost a few of our primary senses from the human interaction, smell, taste, and touch. That leaves our sight and hearing. In the same way that someone without hearing or sight will say that their other senses are heightened, in a video call, we’re missing the hug we might have started the interaction with. We haven’t had a chance to buy each other a drink, or shake hands, or simply see our smiles and smell our perfume, and feel at home together. So let’s make the visual and the audible sensory experience as good as our tools and technology allows us to.
Read Moreby Sarah Aird | May 15, 2020 | Community News | 0 |
No annual fee for celebrants for 2020-2021!
Read Moreby Josh Withers | May 22, 2020 | The Art of Celebrancy | 6 |
I met one of my neighbours this morning and he mentioned he was becoming a celebrant soon so he could marry two friends who are getting married soon. I gave him the spiel I give anyone and everyone becoming a new celebrant, but I thought it’d be something worth putting down in a blog post, and hopefully if you’re a hopefully future celebrant then this can be an encouragement to you too.
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Jun 5, 2020 | The Art of Ceremony | 3 |
Maria asks: Hi Josh, you’ve mentioned you record the audio during your ceremonies to give to the videographer if they choose for better audio. Firstly, what equipment do you use and how do you hook it up and secondly, do you use it for any other purpose other than to help with the videographer?
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Jun 5, 2020 | Marketing and Social Media | 1 |
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’t intending to be too structured about our timing so that we can follow our hearts and interests… Any thoughts or suggestions on if this would work?
Read Moreby The Celebrant Talk Show | Jun 5, 2020 | COVID-19, Free Podcast | 0 |
Legal help, cancellations thanks to COVID-19, OPD over Zoom update, how to become a travelling celebrant, and how to get audio to videographers, all in this podcast episode with Sarah and Josh.
Read Moreby Sarah Aird | Jun 15, 2020 | The Art of Ceremony | 14 |
What if we sent a voice recording of a ceremony to a couple instead of a written draft?
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Jun 22, 2020 | The Art of Ceremony | 1 |
A reader asks: I am officiating my cousin’s wedding next month and this is a particularly special one. It is going to be very intimate and relaxed – it’s also really important as my cousin was actually diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer this year (fk cancer!) and it’s really important to me to put together a really beautiful ceremony, but also one that is relaxed and casual just like their style! I was doing some research and wanted to find some nice ideas on how to include kids in the ceremony – they’ve both been married previously and are a blended family. I’ve mentioned how they can write special vows for their step children, or have a community vow – but i am very open to other ideas too – just nothing that is too ‘traditional’. I’ve never performed such a small and intimate ceremony before so was wondering if you had any advice for me – also with these special circumstances, we want to keep this a really positive celebration of their relationship but just wondering if you both had any experience with someone going through this and if there was anything different they included – i absolutely know it really comes down to the individual couple and what they want to include but just interested to know how you would approach this.
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Jun 23, 2020 | The Art of Ceremony | 3 |
My friend, and article writing accountability partner, Jeremy asks: You mentioned in a previous podcast you would put up a post about how you live stream a wedding and what tools you use to do so. You still planning to put this up, mate?
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Jun 25, 2020 | The Business of Celebrancy | 3 |
If you’ve been lucky enough to create a marriage ceremony recently, and it was in New South...
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Jul 13, 2020 | Community News | 0 |
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 that will be expensive.
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Jul 19, 2020 | Marketing and Social Media | 2 |
10 ways to make wedding fairs, wedding directories, wedding blogs, wedding magazines, expos, and virtual wedding fairs, work for you.
Read Moreby Sarah Aird | Jul 25, 2020 | Our Guidelines to Australian Marriage Law | 1 |
(Sorry for the radio silence on my behalf – I’ve been answering members’ questions, but otherwise frantically working on all things Life Skills Training, which hasn’t left much time for writing blog...
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Jul 25, 2020 | Community News, COVID-19 | 0 |
Just a quick note for members of the Celebrant Institute, your membership management, updating of cards, changing plans, logging in, and just using it, has become a whole lot easier. It’s involved four weeks of work on my...
Read Moreby Sarah Aird | Jul 27, 2020 | COVID-19, The Business of Celebrancy | 4 |
Melbourne celebrant, Sarah Aird, shares her customer journey for her wedding brides, grooms, and clients.
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Jul 28, 2020 | The Business of Celebrancy | 1 |
Gail asks: Hi Josh. You mentioned in one of the podcasts that you use ToDoist to organise your projects. Could you please run me through how you utilise this as I am also a ToDoist fan.
Read Moreby Sarah Aird | Jul 30, 2020 | The Art of Ceremony | 13 |
I’ve been creating some video content for my Cert IV students and thought I might share it with all of you too, in case you find it interesting!
In this video I take you through how I run a wedding rehearsal. Please note this is only how I do it; I don’t expect you or anyone else to do it this way, but hopefully it will give you some ideas. Remember my philosophy with these things is that you should collect as much information from as many celebrants as possible, pick what you like and what you don’t, and hopefully that will help to inform the way you do things!
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Aug 2, 2020 | Marketing and Social Media | 2 |
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 a good business operating system, and your ceremonies are resonating with people and getting good reviews, publicity is the cream on top that helps more couples find you, and book you. In this article I wanted to lay out a few tools that I have used in the past, and continue to use today, to “get my name out there” but in a very deliberate and meaningful way.
Read Moreby Secret Members Only Podcast | Aug 4, 2020 | Secret members podcast | 2 |
A brief update from Sarah on the Stage 4 restrictions in Victoria and what they mean for marriages – at this stage…
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Aug 4, 2020 | Marketing and Social Media | 0 |
Instagram’s latest feature ‘Reels’ is in addition to it’s existing product suite of regular Instagram news feed posts, Stories, and IGTV. This is a deep dive into how celebrants and people in the wedding industry can take advantage of Instagram Reels.
Read Moreby Sarah Aird | Aug 4, 2020 | The Art of Celebrancy | 4 |
A video showing you all the gear I use for weddings!
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Aug 6, 2020 | Our Guidelines to Australian Marriage Law | 0 |
The Births, Deaths, and Marriages in Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria, all have their own online systems for logging in online and submitting marriage paperwork electronically. The Australian Capital Territory BDM doesn’t have an online system, but they do accept via email.
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Aug 7, 2020 | The Art of Ceremony | 0 |
A member asks: Am I correct in assuming that couple’s cannot live stream their marriage ceremony given music copyright...
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Aug 7, 2020 | The Business of Celebrancy | 0 |
222 reasons why professionally operating marriage celebrants should secure their domain name registrar account and make sure their domain name is on auto renew.
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Aug 7, 2020 | COVID-19, The Art of Ceremony | 0 |
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 celebrants of what we do have to do, and what we don’t have to do.
Read Moreby Secret Members Only Podcast | Aug 10, 2020 | Secret members podcast | 0 |
An update for Melbourne celebrants on compassionate grounds for weddings over the next five weeks.
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Aug 10, 2020 | The Business of Celebrancy | 0 |
Seth Godin today writing about charging per hour, something I still see celebrants do. I wrote about the same topic a year ago so it’s nice to have beat Seth Godin to something for once.
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Aug 12, 2020 | Marketing and Social Media | 2 |
A Celebrant Institute member was listening to back catalogue episodes of the Celebrant Talk Show...
Read Moreby Secret Members Only Podcast | Aug 12, 2020 | Secret members podcast | 0 |
A few people have mentioned they’re not sending in questions because they don’t want the question or answer published.
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Aug 14, 2020 | Marketing and Social Media | 1 |
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?
Read Moreby Secret Members Only Podcast | Aug 21, 2020 | Secret members podcast | 0 |
Josh here, and I’m looking for a celebrant. I’m guessing it’s not you, because the celebrant needs to be able to get to Orlando in January to cover for me, because it looks like I won’t be able to get there.
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Aug 22, 2020 | The Art of Celebrancy | 0 |
Neil Gaiman made a speech on May 17, 2012, as the keynote speech for the commencement ceremony to...
Read Moreby Secret Members Only Podcast | Aug 27, 2020 | Secret members podcast | 1 |
Question and answer session on the Secret Members Only Podcast with Jackson Strafford from Factory Sound and One Heart Studios on PA speaker systems microphones for celebrants, plus what a videographer is looking for from a celebrant at a wedding.
Read Moreby The Celebrant Talk Show | Aug 28, 2020 | COVID-19, Free Podcast | 0 |
After five months of fighting for wedding vendors affected by COVID-19 lockdowns, cancellations, postponements, delays, booking fees, deposits, contracts, and the wasteland that is the wedding industry in August 2020, Kathryn from Hallet Law joins the podcast to talk about it all, and about her new service contract product.
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Sep 4, 2020 | COVID-19, The Business of Celebrancy | 0 |
An Australian wedding celebrant directory recently emailed it’s members guilt-tripping them into keeping non-refundable deposits. What a guy.
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Sep 15, 2020 | Marketing and Social Media, Social Media Content Challenge | 0 |
I’m writing a social media challenge for Celebrant Institute members to see out 2020…
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Sep 16, 2020 | Our Guidelines to Australian Marriage Law | 0 |
There’s a new fact sheet on the Attorny-General’s department website on correcting marriage paperwork, and it’s an important read. Luckily for us, our own Sarah Aird heavily impacted the final draft. We’re copying and pasting the fact sheet here, but find the original on the AGD website.
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Sep 20, 2020 | The Art of Ceremony | 0 |
Tam asks: I have my first wedding coming up next month. My question is in regards to using my PA system. I have Bose S1 with Sennheiser microphone. The wedding is only small (approximately 10 guests). Would you use a PA system? They are having a videographer so I didn’t know if this would play into whether or not to use it? If you suggest not using it, at what size wedding would you? Also I have not yet brought a stand. Is this an absolute must/do you recommend any particular brand/price point to aim for to get a decent one? Complete newbie with all this stuff!
All good questions, Tamika, and I’ll address them separately.
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Sep 21, 2020 | Social Media Content Challenge | 3 |
Making lemonade out of lemons is a popular story, obviously backed by Big Lemonade, but it...
Read Moreby Secret Members Only Podcast | Sep 21, 2020 | Secret members podcast | 0 |
Michael asks: Just listened to the podcast episode (with Kathryn Adams), absolutely loved it. I have one common question/scenario that I’m pretty sure wasn’t asked/answered though. A couple postpones their wedding, but one of the suppliers isn’t available on the new date that the couple chooses. Where does that supplier stand in regard to retaining the booking fee? Or anything that needs to be discussed in this situation?
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Sep 23, 2020 | COVID-19, The Business of Celebrancy | 1 |
A reader asks: “I have a handful of elopement related questions, and I think they will be more relevant than ever given how our world has changed in 2020 and how weddings have changed/will change in the coming year(s).
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Sep 25, 2020 | Social Media Content Challenge | 0 |
Every month you should re-introduce yourself to your social media audience. I think you’d be surprised how many don’t really know you for the real “you”, and those that do, could probably do with a brand re-alignment.
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Sep 29, 2020 | Social Media Content Challenge | 1 |
Today’s challenge is to find something boring (like a carrot) yet necessary (like vegetables are for your diet) in your business
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Sep 29, 2020 | Our Guidelines to Australian Marriage Law | 0 |
Luke asks: One of my couples that had a Qld wedding booked, now want to change the ceremony location to NSW since the new border easing. What do I need to know and how do I go about doing a wedding in NSW? Is there a set criteria that determines the couples eligibility for getting married over the border into NSW?
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Oct 2, 2020 | Social Media Content Challenge | 0 |
I’m willing to bet that you have received a question about what you do before today, and you’ve hit reply with a really good answer.
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Oct 6, 2020 | Social Media Content Challenge | 0 |
Podcasts are so much more powerful than most people imagine. My little podcast, [The Rebel’s Guide to Getting Married], has maybe…
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Oct 10, 2020 | Social Media Content Challenge | 0 |
Who would ever think that there would be a need for an [International Day for Nutella] to raise awareness of the delicious nutty goodness? Sara Rosso did.
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Oct 14, 2020 | Social Media Content Challenge | 0 |
In computer programming there’s a method of program called Object Oriented Programming, which recognises that some parts of the program are reused a lot. The programmers write the code once, then reuse it every time they need it.
Read Moreby Josh Withers | Oct 18, 2020 | Social Media Content Challenge | 0 |
If someone speaks well of you, you’ve got to remember that, embed it deep into your soul, and know that you’re good at this.
And once you’ve done that you need to share that testimony
There’s a whole philosophy behind referrals and testimonies, but I’m not sharing them today, because I’m not a psychologist; I’m just a boy, standing in front a celebrant, asking them to testify! Testimonies about how you are good at what you do, and you do it in a certain way that makes a certain kind of person happy.
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