The Journey From Certificate to Celebrant Career

When a person chooses to train with us at Heart-led Ceremonies Celebrant Training, there is a journey they undertake after their face-to-face component of the studies. For the Certificate in Celebrancy, it is followed by 12 weeks; and the Diploma in Advanced Celebrancy and Ritual is followed by 18 weeks of independent study and completion of written and practical portfolios. This journey is thorough, rigorous and will, if entered into with whole-hearted enthusiasm and dedication, lead to their certificate. And what of the journey post certification? What might a newly certified Heart-led Celebrant expect on the path to a career as a working celebrant?

 

There’s no one answer because the direction a person takes is unique to them. Some have barely received their certification and are quickly working full time. Others balance cutting back the hours in their current job as they build up their celebrancy practice. For a short time, or over the space of a year or so, the see-saw changes balance. And others, still, take longer to digest and process the changes which have taken place (within them during the training) and the impending responsibility involved in being a celebrant. There’s no right or wrong. 

 

As in other areas of our life, the way we approach the journey from ‘certificate to a career in celebrancy’ may well be similar: are you a spontaneous ‘got my passport’-will-travel type of adventurous soul ready to leap? Maybe you plan your itinerary down to the last mouthful of food and every street you’ll walk while traversing foreign countries. Could it be that you’re a solo traveller and do best when being an independent discoverer? Perhaps you couldn’t even conceive of travelling without a bunch of mates by your side?

It is said that how we do anything is how we do everything. Maybe there’s some truth to that.

There are some jobs, careers and vocations that we just seem to slip into with relative ease or even by accident, and others that require a lot of study, forethought, care and planning.

 

No matter your approach, there are some things that will apply to all new celebrants, such as:
• Establishing your ‘shop front’ (aka website or social media). I always recommend a website as a priority over social media as you ‘own’ that bit of real estate. Various social media options are NOT yours. You have no control over algorithms, visibility or whether it will even exist next week. By all means use social media, just don’t rely on them.
• Ensuring you have all your self-employed business needs in place, such as stationary, laptop, Microsoft Word, printer, folder (I recommend an A5 and not A4), reliable transport, amplifier and lapel microphone, suitable clothing, a wonderful accountant
• Celebrant insurance (public liability and professional indemnity)
• Register with the Information Commissioner’s Office re GDPR
• Decide on your prices and business terms and conditions
• Reflect on what ‘success’ means to you as a celebrant. For some, it might mean 20 funerals a week (hopefully, a Heart-led Celebrant ALWAYS chooses quality and limits this to 4 or 5 a week). One celebrant might choose 200 weddings a year, and another might find one a month is more than enough.
• Stop comparing yourself to other celebrants on social media UNLESS they inspire you. Your path and clients and the ceremonies you create are unique to you. Other celebrants are not, and never will be, your competition.
• Don’t wait till your first booking before continuing to develop your skills: creating, writing, voice and communication, etc. One reason people panic at the first or early ceremonies is lack of preparation. With good training (AND ongoing practise of skills on your part), you should walk into those ceremonies with complete confidence in your craft.
• A conscientious celebrant will create ceremonies for themselves and loved ones throughout the course of the year such as for seasonal celebrations. They recognise the unlimited nature of human and seasonal rites of passage and the power of healing. Celebrancy is a lifestyle.

A vital part of the journey is making ‘connections’. Whether you call it networking or ‘being seen’, visibility is essential. And yes, even an introvert can be visible. It doesn’t mean you have to go to meetings all the time or knock on the doors of every funeral director.

 

It means being clear about the type of person you are,

what you have to offer,

and how you want to do it.

 

There’s nothing more repellent (to my mind) or reeking of desperation than when a celebrant equates ‘visibility’ with social media posts of “DM me now! Book me now”. A metaphysical approach to marketing recognises that visibility isn’t about ‘selling’ (or screaming into the void) but the pleasure of conscious sharing. I offer this as a masterclass for those who want to discover this magical non-traditional approach to attracting ideal clients.

No matter your approach to stepping into celebrancy, remember that this can be a career for life (regardless of whether you start in your 20s, like I did, or 72, like one of our students did). It deserves care, thought, consideration and awareness of both what your clients will need but also what you need to sustain you. What self-care practices will you put into place, for example, so that you can feel nourished week after week? Are you emotionally, mentally, physically and financially prepared for life as a self-employed person?

 

The journey from certificate to career can be exciting, joyous, fun and wonderful; speedy, evenly paced or slow. The choice is up to you. 

 

Veronika Robinson has been officiating all manner of ceremonies since 1995, and alongside her husband Paul www.paulrobinsonvoicecoaching.co.uk are industry leaders offering one-to-one professional celebrant training in Cumbria (or via Zoom). Veronika is also the author of Write That Eulogy, and a collection of other books on celebrancy, as well as a novelist. She is a workshop leader, celebrant retreat host, and metaphysician. Veronika founded Penrith’s first Death Café; is a celebrant for the charity Gift of a Wedding; is certified as an Infant Loss Professional and in self-harm and suicide prevention. A bit of a late bloomer, she earned her Masters Degree in Creative Writing in her early 50s. She takes her learning into the masterclasses she offers celebrants on writing life stories and love stories.

Veronika derives much joy teaching others the wonderful vocation of Heart-led Celebrancy.