Have you used a celebrant to create and lead a ceremony for you or a family member?
Have you been to a celebrant wedding or celebrant led funeral?
If you have used the services of a celebrant, or been to a ceremony led by a celebrant, did it occur to you to ask if the celebrant had been trained, or did you presume they had?
Maybe it wasn’t an important consideration for you to think to ask.
There are many celebrants who are self-taught and haven’t taken part in any celebrant training. Are you considering becoming a celebrant? Can you become a celebrant without any training?
Questions About Celebrant Training
How easy is it to become a celebrant?
Can anybody become a celebrant?
Can you become a celebrant without any training?
Is celebrant training necessary?
These are just a few of the many questions asked in social media celebrant groups by those seeking information on training to become a wedding or funeral celebrant. Do you need to take part in celebrant training? Can you become a celebrant without any training?
Celebrant Training Isn’t Needed
When working in any job, career, or role, training is required in some shape or form. Training gives information on what to do, how a role or a job is undertaken, why it is done and what not to do. Celebrancy isn’t any different.
It is easy to become a celebrant if you have the skills and attributes required. Not everybody can be a celebrant as not everybody is suitable for the role. Those who are, should take part in directed celebrant training, which some untrained celebrants do not seem to agree with.
The statement of ‘celebrant training isn’t needed’ is a common one from untrained celebrants working in the role. How correct is this comment for anyone deciding to become a wedding or funeral celebrant? If as a person you decided not to train for financial or other reasons, proclaiming celebrant training isn’t needed is giving false information. What was right for one, isn’t right for everyone.
Other personal opinions celebrants include:
‘Celebrant training is a waste of money’
‘You don’t need any celebrant training, it’s common sense’
‘You can get ceremony scripts online for free’
‘Celebrant training is expensive’
‘My training hasn’t helped me to work as a celebrant’
‘Nobody has ever asked to see proof I have trained as a celebrant’
‘Funeral directors do not care if I have trained as a celebrant’
‘There are too many celebrants’
Some thought provoking and strong statements to be addressed.
Celebrant training is a waste of money
How can structured and informative training for a job you want to do, one you need to enable you to live financially be a waste of money? How is learning how to do something anything other than informative and useful to help you succeed?
Outdated training and standardised training can be irrelevant to the kind of celebrant you want to be. If it is, then it might be a waste of money. Research your prospective training company to ensure it won’t be a waste of money training with them.
if you are looking for a person to carry out a required service, would you be happy with anybody who said they can do what you require, or would you be more inclined to approach a person who has trained for that role or job? Would you choose to book a celebrant who has undertaken extensive training over a self-taught celebrant, or does it depend on the ability of each individual celebrant based on what you require from them?
If you want a wedding ceremony to mark and celebrate your unique relationship in front of the most important people to you; your chance to have a memorable and meaningful day, would it matter to you if a celebrant hadn’t trained to be in that role? Would it make a difference if they say they have been doing it a long time? Surely being in the job for a while would mean they are the right celebrant to create and lead your personalised ceremony?
When saying goodbye to a loved one, would it matter to you if the celebrant suggested by the funeral director hadn’t had any training to do this for you and your family? Would you even consider asking a celebrant if they had undertaken any training to do this role or wouldn’t it matter to you? Would you presume a suggested celebrant had been trained to do the job? They could have been doing the job for many years, is that enough to know they are right for you?
You don’t need any celebrant training, it’s common sense
Online searches for a definition of common sense include:
good sense and sound judgement in practical matters the ability to think and behave in a reasonable way and to make good decisions
dictionary.cambridge.org
the basic level of practical knowledge and judgement that we all need to help us live in a reasonable and safe way.
Britannica.com
Is just common sense a requirement when acting as a celebrant? When experiencing grief, are we able to demonstrate ‘sound judgement in practical matters’? The role of a funeral celebrant is to support grieving people to make decisions about the ceremony content of a funeral or a celebration of life for a loved one or their person.
Celebrants create ceremonies for people based on the requirements of those people. What ‘common sense’ must a funeral celebrant have which will enable them to create a personalised ceremony based on the information given to them by grieving people?
Knowing how to talk to bereaved people for example, that’s just common sense isn’t it? ‘Sorry for your loss’ as is customary at times of death is what you should say isn’t it?
‘I now pronounce you husband and wife, you may kiss the bride’, is what is said during marriage ceremonies and is also said by many celebrants during a wedding ceremony. Is it ‘common sense’ and general knowledge this is what is said? No it isn’t, it is accepted expectation, something celebrants do not always include in ceremonies.
The reason these words shouldn’t be said by a wedding celebrant is explained clearly during good celebrant training.
Would ‘common sense’ prepare a celebrant when they are asked to create a ceremony for a person who has a son and daughter who do not speak to each other and have opposing ceremony requirements?
Would ‘common sense’ prepare a celebrant for creating and leading a ceremony for a baby or a child?
Would ‘common sense’ prepare a celebrant for a situation with feuding families with opposing beliefs and funeral requirements?
Would ‘common sense’ prepare a celebrant for creating a ceremony for somebody without any relatives to be found where no information is available about them?
Would ‘common sense’ be useful for a wedding celebrant when creating a handfasting ritual?
Would ‘common sense’ be useful for a wedding celebrant who has been informed by wedding clients their families are making ceremony demands and have expectations?
Not turning up late for a ceremony is common sense but it is also a requirement of being a celebrant. Celebrancy requires so much more than just common sense. It requires information, and lots of it.
You can get ceremony scripts online for free
You can get ceremony scripts online for free yes, but being a celebrant isn’t about saying scripted words published online with the names changed. Is it acceptable to charge people for a ceremony if the ceremony content has been found online, said by many, and written for other people? This isn’t being a celebrant; this is reading a script.
Celebrant training is expensive
Celebrant training varies in prices from company to company. Some charge lower amounts than others, but it doesn’t mean the higher the price the better the training. Social media groups are also populated by celebrants seeking ceremony advice; many have trained with lowered priced and some with higher priced training companies. Some have trained with established training companies and have commented their training hasn’t generated much or any work for them.
Researching what celebrant training company is right for each student celebrant is essential. Looking at course content and not just the price will help. Course content should be the deciding factor. Many companies offer payment plans.
Following recommendations for training companies by others who trained with them, may not result in the same positive experience for you. Research for yourself, do not take the opinions of others as the deciding factor. Call prospective celebrant training companies and talk to them to see if they are the right company for you. Prepare questions to ask them and base your decision on what they can do for you, not how busy the person on the end of the phone claims to be.
My training hasn’t helped me to work as a celebrant
Is this because of outdated training?
Is it because standardised training taught to every student celebrant hasn’t much relevance for the kind of celebrant a person wants to be?
Is it because the training was inadequate?
Is it because there isn’t the support when training ends as what was stated there would be to entice a celebrant to sign up?
Is it because of minimal or incorrect training on how to market and promote a celebrant business?
Is it because the celebrant isn’t dedicated to gaining work and expects their phone to ring from giving out business cards?
Is it because the celebrant’s business can’t be found online?
Is it because of an ineffective website or marketing strategy?
Is it because the celebrant is offering the same as many celebrants in their area?
Celebrant training will teach you how to become a celebrant, individualised celebrant training will teach you how to become a modern and successful celebrant. How you work as a celebrant will include being dedicated, having marketing and business awareness and taking part in a CPD course to further your business will be beneficial.
Nobody has ever asked to see proof I have trained as a celebrant
Have you informed those interested in your services you have taken a celebrant training course and was awarded with a certificate for successfully passing the course through hard work and gained knowledge? Some celebrant training companies give out certificates to everyone who takes part in a course, some (including Choice Celebrant Training) award certificates through achievement, not as standard.
Would it make any difference to prospective clients to know certification has been achieved through self-driven learning demonstrating an understanding of being a celebrant, knowing the work submitted will determine if a training course was passed, or is just having a certificate because you have paid for training enough?
All celebrants require public liability insurance, and it is worth noting some small business insurers only provide this if a certificate as proof of celebrant training is shown.
Funeral directors do not care if I have trained as a celebrant
In years gone by when there were fewer celebrants, some funeral directors may not have been too concerned with about using trained funeral celebrants. Availability and willingness to conduct a funeral service for a similar fee paid to a Priest, or a Vicar was all that mattered.
There are too many celebrants
Thought or fact? There are many celebrants in some areas and not enough in other areas. Claims from funeral celebrants and even funeral directors that there are too many celebrants are based on what information? The amount of weekly visits received from celebrants to funeral directors? Do these celebrants inform funeral directors on what styles of ceremonies they create? Do funeral directors even ask? Are they aware there are different kinds of celebrants, are they interested in working with different kinds of celebrants?
Can You Become a Celebrant Without Any Training?
If you have made the decision to become a celebrant can you become a celebrant without any training? Yes you can, but should you become a celebrant without any training is the important question. If you have decided to, or been influenced to become a celebrant without any training, consider the above information.
Starting any business is hard, and if a business is started without any training, how will you be prepared and informed for what the role entails? Social media will give the personal opinions of many working as celebrants (mostly funeral celebrants) who haven’t had any celebrant training. Some who got lucky as they aren’t bound by the same financial or geographical restrictions others face. Some observed other celebrants and decided to take on the role.
Some are from business backgrounds, many are from academic backgrounds, some are life coaches, some are grief counsellors, wedding planners and event organisers. There are some who have retired from the military or the police force. All these jobs, roles and positions required training, yet some decided to become a celebrant without training.
Currently celebrants do not require any academic qualifications to train or to work as a celebrant. Wedding and funeral celebrants are unregulated which is why so become a celebrant without any training. In the future, funeral celebrants will most likely be regulated and this will involve some form of training. Why is there a pride in stating no training was undertaken for a role which requires much more than writing a ceremony? Surely there is more pride to be found when proudly stating a training course has been taken as this shows research, preparation, dedicate to learning and an understanding of what the role of a funeral celebrant fully involves.
Training to take on such an honourable role which requires so many skills and attributes not only prepares and educates for the role, but it also provides certification which will enable you to get the insurance required to work as a funeral celebrant. All funeral celebrants should have public liability insurance and many small business insurers won’t insure without proof of training. They require a certificate before they will insure celebrants.
The people we design, create and lead ceremonies for only get one chance to say goodbye to their loved one. Many however have second or third weddings as their original marriage ceremonies were memorable for the wrong reasons. Untrained celebrants can and do provide their clients with memorable and professional ceremonies which are perfect for them just as trained celebrants do. Trained celebrants with little, inadequate, or outdated training will also provide memorable ceremonies.
Ask yourself what the benefits are of not taking any training over training to become a funeral celebrant with the exclusion of the price. Can you put a price on information which will set you in good stead to do all the role demands?
Personalised Celebrant Training
Personalised celebrant training will provide you with all the information needed to become a successful and popular celebrant.
Excellent celebrant training as we provide here at Choice Celebrant Training will prepare you for scenarios and situations celebrants will encounter. Role playing exercises and information given for challenging funerals are essential knowledge. Training prepares you for much more than just writing and reading a ceremony.
All our courses include up to date marketing advice and we have our own Graphic Designer and Web Designer who has over 10 year’s experience of working with wedding and funeral celebrants.
All our Celebrant Trainers are established and experienced wedding and funeral celebrants, one is also a Funeral Director. All have business and marketing experience which is passed on to all student celebrants.
We run celebrant CPD courses for both wedding and funeral celebrants, and we have a Celebrant Community offering support, help, advice, and regular Zoom presentations on many different subjects.
Taking a celebrant training course will prove to prospective clients you are a professionally trained celebrant. Every student celebrant is the future of celebrancy.
Deciding to become a celebrant without any training is a personal choice, is it your choice which will be beneficial to you on your celebrant journey? Why not look at the training we offer and call for a no obligation and informative chat before your make your choice.
Main Image by The Good Funeral Guide on Unsplash
Middle Image by Marianne Chua
