Before you dive into training, it's crucial to grasp what a Wedding Celebrant does. Wedding Celebrants are skilled professionals who craft and officiate personalised wedding ceremonies. They work closely with couples to create ceremonies that reflect their unique love stories, beliefs, and traditions. You can get some FREE celebrant training like this FREE discovery  module "The Career-Changing Skills Identifier". This will give you a comprehensive insight into the job and skills needed to be a self-employed professional Wedding Celebrant. Learn more here.

Step 2: Explore Wedding Celebrant Training Courses

To embark on this exciting career, you'll need to enrol on a Celebrant Course. These courses provide comprehensive training in ceremony design and public speaking, and legal requirements. There are lots of different courses provided by a wide variety of private providers. They are not all the same. When searching for a "celebrant course" or "wedding celebrant training UK," make sure to consider course content, the style of teaching, flexibility, duration, and cost. Some courses offer a qualification where you will need to submit 8 or more pieces of coursework for internal and external verification. However, a qualification is not required to be a Professional Wedding Celebrant in the UK and it can take up to 2 years to get your certificate. Also, you do not need to become a "member" of any organisation to work as a Professional Celebrant. Many training organisations offer "membership" but their benefits are often over-stated. For example, inclusion in a celebrant directory which will be seen by very few couples, or a trainer who will create your website for you (except it will look like every other person they trained and it will lack key important features for success).  These sorts of so-called "benefits" and are really marketing tools to get you to purchase their training. Many of the benefits some celebrant organisations offer can either be achieved cheaper elsewhere or even for free and or are not really benefits you will ever use.
So beware! 

Some courses are more practical and skills based than others and therefore provide competency certification rather than something more academic. For example, not all courses will train and develop students in the skills to run an effective client meeting, nor do they all teach in detail the sales and marketing skills needed to get bookings as a new Wedding Celebrant. Some courses use a "one-size-fits-all" approach and therefore will not give you honest and constructive one-to-one development and feedback. Instead, it is more of a "sheep dip" approach. You are also advised to check how current and experienced your tutor is as some training providers use tutors with very little recent Wedding Celebrant experience. 

As you research training options, you'll find that there are different types of Celebrants, including Wedding Celebrants and Funeral Celebrants. Many Celebrants find it very successful to do both as the peak period of weddings is in the summer months and the peak period for funerals is in the winter.

Celebrant Training School offers discreet courses in becoming a Wedding Celebrant and becoming a Funeral Celebrant. This allows people to focus on learning about one specialism at a time. However, bundle offers are available so that you can save money on enrolling on more than one course at a time. As you get lifetime access to the course and there are no time limits, you can start your second specialism when you feel ready to do so.  

Some Celebrants may only ever want to do Weddings or Funerals, but it can be good to know how to do both as it gives your career and business flexibility. Whilst being a Wedding Celebrant is more profitable, working in the funeral industry is largely recession-proof and so can bring lower risks.

For now, let's focus on becoming a Wedding Celebrant. 

Step 4: Train to Be a Wedding Celebrant

Once you've selected the right course for you, dive into your training. With the best courses you'll learn how to get bookings, how to run client meetings, how to create beautiful and meaningful wedding ceremonies, manage the logistical aspects of officiating weddings, and perfect your public speaking skills. Keep in mind that training can be intensive, but it's an essential step in becoming a skilled Wedding Celebrant. You will also need to know what you need to do to start your business, how to keep the right side of the tax and business laws.

Step 5: Gain Initial Practical Experience
While training equips you with knowledge and skills, gaining practical experience is equally important. Consider offering "launch discounts" or pro-bono wedding ceremonies so that you can gain confidence, get great photos from real weddings and testimonials. Being strategic with your pricing is vital as many newly trained Wedding Celebrants struggle to get bookings because they underestimate the importance couples place on online reviews and getting good value-for-money.