Have a website - whilst funeral celebrants do not need a website to get bookings via Funeral Directors, engaged couples will contact you directly and will expect to look at your website before even contacting you. There are some great and affordable website packages available - you do not need to pay a website designer (or celebrant training organisation) to do it for you. It is more important to have a system that you can update and manage yourself in an efficient & sustainable way. I will be doing a focused blog post solely on website at a later stage. But in brief, the main things you want your website to do is a) be visually inspiring, b) to communicate your personality & values, c) educate how couples can book you & achieve a legal marriage certificate, d) how much you cost and lastly, e) how to contact you. 

Have a social media presence - marketing theory suggests couples will check you out 8 times before they even send you an email. As well as looking at your website they will check you out also on social media. Generally speaking the over 40s are likely to use Facebook, over 30s will use Instagram and the over 20s will TikTok. You need to use social media effectively and efficiently in order to educate, to inspire and to introduce yourself and what you can do as a wedding celebrant. Do not follow lots of other wedding celebrants as this is a quick way to achieve an "echo chamber with group think". You need to build a community of other wedding professionals who will be your work colleagues and allies. Again, look out for more specific blog posts on how to get your social media right in order to build business. At the moment, I can see my Instagram account collecting new followers on private accounts. This is a sure sign of potential clients who are checking out and scoping potential celebrants. When this starts to happen on your Instagram account (as opposed to just other wedding professionals following you), you know this is when your social media activity is doing its job and helping to drive your business forward. 

Join Wedding Directories - when many couples start their planning journey they often use online directories to help. Many have great apps which couples can use to send enquiries out to suppliers quickly and easily. There are many different directories out there, some will give you free listings at first to try them out and then ultimately, if they appear to be working, a paid-for subscription can really be worth it. Like a website, however, they do need managing and updating. You also have to be lethal with paid subscriptions...if they are not paying for themselves, then cut them out. It is like any other form of advertising. If it works, continue, if it doesn't pull it. Not all enquiries from directories, however are the same. Whilst I get 10 times more enquiries via Hitched.co.uk compared with The Celebrant Directory, I know I will only be able to secure 1 in 5 bookings from Hitched, compared with 1/2 of all Celebrant Directory enquiries. How to secure bookings from enquiries is a huge topic which again we will explore in greater depth later. 

Visiting wedding venues - If you are only particularly interested in working at local wedding venues, then making an effort to visit them (out of wedding season) is a must-do. You need to be armed with a nice little pack of goodies, including leaflets, business cards, information sheets and branded pens. It never fails to surprise me how many wedding venues do not know much about what a celebrant can do. They may have had the odd celebrant in the past, but no one like you. Some venue co-ordinators have a perception that all wedding celebrants are pagan hippies who insist on talking too much and doing handfasting. Fine if this is your style, but if not, you have to re-educate them. You need to explain to them how having a celebrant to recommend to couples could increase their wedding bookings because often, the local registrars may be fully booked on those dates they are yet to sell. I personally, enjoy working across the north and south of England and so never made this a priority for me. However, whenever I go to a new venue I have been booked, I connect with them via social media and email a week before the wedding and then the first thing I will do as I arrive at a venue is to give the wedding co-ordinator my pack of information and goodies. Invariably they will watch the ceremony from afar and I will have a nice chat with them (if not too busy) afterwards to get feedback. When I get future bookings for couples using the same venue, I know then that this strategy is clearly working.

Attend Wedding Fayres - attending local wedding fayres is also a must-do for those wedding celebrants wanting to just work locally. But not all wedding fayres are the same. Some regional events in exhibition spaces attract huge crowds but many will already be a long way down the road in their wedding planning. Ideally, you are looking for couples who have yet to book their venue and thus their ceremony. Consequently, wedding fayres at venues which are primarily designed to promote bookings for the venue are better value gigs. Some venues will offer space for celebrants free of charge, whilst others may charge you for "exclusive and recommended listing" with them. Just like paying for advertising, this decision needs to be ruthless and commercial....does it pay for itself. Sometimes, you just have to try. But if it doesn't work...pull it.