Is A Celebrant The Best Career For Over Sixties?
What Is A Celebrant?
A Celebrant helps people to mark important life events. This can be anything from a Wedding, Funeral, Naming Ceremony, Divorce Healing Ceremony, Rites Of Passage, or anything that clients would like to acknowledge or celebrate.
The Celebrant plans the ceremony, writes the ceremonial script and presides over the ceremony itself. They should be organised, creative, calm and enjoy meeting people. Most importantly they need common sense, the ability to think on their feet and excellent communication skills.
Who Can Be A Celebrant?
Anyone over the age of 18 can be a Celebrant, although many tend to be over forty and most of the students I trained were in their fifties, sixties and beyond. It is an excellent career as it can be part time, working around your life and commitments, or a full time job. It is incredibly rewarding, both emotionally and financially and no two days are ever the same!
Wedding Celebrant
Joining two people in marriage is a great joy and a real honour. Wedding Celebrants will meet the couple and have an in-depth conversation about what the couple would like their wedding to be. This will include venue, catering, number of guests, music, service, ambience, etc. Some couples require the Celebrant to do just the basics, service planning, ceremonial script writing, and officiating at the ceremony. Others will ask them to do more including helping find the venue, caterers, photographers, etc.
Funeral Celebrant
Telling the life story of someone who has died is a privilege, and is one of the last things that anyone can do for them. The Celebrant must listen carefully to loved ones conversations so they can build up a picture of the person. This enables them to provide a service that is as unique and individual as the person themselves. Although it can be emotional, Celebrants play an enormous part of the service weaving together little anecdotes and stories, making them seem like a 'real' person, not just reciting details and information about them.
Naming Ceremonies
Welcoming a new baby into the world is always a wonderful occasion. Celebrants help their clients create ceremonies that are joyful, happy and welcome the baby into the wider world. Perhaps it might be held in their home or garden, on the beach, a park. Ceremonies are generally quite short and informal as other children are often present. Sometimes clients may choose to have Guide Parents (similar to God Parents without religion). They may create a time capsule for the baby to open when they are older.
Skills And Qualities Of A Celebrant
Celebrants need many skills and qualities, which it is why it is often suited to older people, who have already acquired many life skills. They need to be able to communicate well with their clients, both verbally and non verbally. They should be able to adapt to any changes and think on their feet, finding solutions for any issues that may arise. They must be calm, respectful and trustworthy, clients may need to tell you personal and sensitive information.
Training
There are many ways you can train to be a Celebrant. These include distance learning courses, which you can study in your own home and at your own pace.Some people prefer to train at intensive weekend courses which are face to face with your tutor and other students. There are also on-line classes where a tutor will teach a group of students at home.
Many trainers only train in one or another area (for example wedding or funeral) but it is possible to train for all ceremonies. Given that the vast majority of skills are the same, this seems like a good idea to me. Some people think they may only wish to cover Weddings or Baby Naming ceremonies, but may find Funerals not too daunting at all when they have a little more experience.
Enriching and Rewarding
Whichever you choose, you will find working as a Celebrant both enriching and rewarding, as you become the central part of your clients most important event. Creating a ceremony that captivates the audience whether you are joining two people in marriage, welcoming a baby into the world, or saying a final goodbye. It is an honour.
I would love it if you could follow me :) Please click the 3 lines on the left at top of the page and then click follow x
Thank you for stopping by 💝💝💝 Lily x
If you would like to know more about the role of a Celebrant I have a pdf book available for purchase
https://www.craftcourses.com/courses/the-art-of-a-celebrant-1
