The Celebrant Survival Podcast: Recent Episodes
The Celebrants Collective
Even the best job in the world has its fair shares of struggles, so don't struggle alone! Let's dig deep together and shoulder the daily challenges of celebrant life together. Hosted by, Claire Bradford and Natasha Johnson, the co-directors of awesomeness at the Celebrants Collective, each episode is bursting at the seams with useful tips and advice on everything from running your celebrant business to growing in confidence as a professional celebrant.
Subscribe, listen, enjoy and review!
In this latest episode, Natasha and Claire chat about the latest Tying the Knot Marriage Law consultation period and what it means for wedding celebrants in England and Wales. They discuss what celebrants (and anyone else) can be doing right now to help with the consultation and also what (if anything) we can do as celebrants to future proof our businesses and to be as ready as possible for future changes.
They also discuss
- what the reforms could mean for individual celebrants and celebrant training organisations
- why wedding celebrants shouldn't panic or make any rash decisions right now
- the possible time frames of the next steps for the legal process
The Celebrant Survival Podcast is hosted by experienced celebrants, Natasha Johnson and Claire Bradford of The Celebrants Collective, supporting celebrants worldwide with professional training, mentoring and community. A safe space for celebrants to share, ask for help and ultimately to grow. Come and grow with us!
Episode links
Read The Tying the Knot Consultation here
Answer The Tying The Knot Consulattion Questions here (before September 24th 2026)
APOLOGIES: We had some dodgy mic settings on this recording and throughout the episode you'll hear background noises, rustling, mouse tappings and varying audio levels but we decided the episode was too important to delay publishing it.
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Want to hear more from us? โจ Join our awesome membership for celebrants
Want us to help you grow and nurture your celebrant business? Come and join Claire and Natasha for monthly group coaching and webinars and oodles of resources to help you as a celebrant. Plus our own private community. For ongoing support for celebrants who don't want to do this alone!
๐๐พ๐๐ปCheck out our benefits here.
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๐ Train as a celebrant
Come and train with Claire and Natasha and learn and understand how to be a celebant in your own unique way. Join our community of global trainees and graduates now working in their respective funeral and wedding industries.
๐๐พ๐๐ปCheck out our wedding and funeral celebrant courses here.
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๐ Free resources for celebrants and wannabe celebrants
Thinking about training as a celebrant? Come and join our free FREE 'So You Want To Be a Celebrant' two day workshop and find out EVERYTHING you need to know about celebrancy ๐๐พ๐๐ป Upcoming Dates & registration form here
Plus you can download our 'So You Want To Be A Celebrant' bumper guide filled with top tips and loads of useful information about how to be a celebrant.
๐๐พ๐๐ปSign up for your guide here.
Already a celebrant? Need a bit of a business and confidence boost? Check out our free course here.
๐๐พ๐๐ป Confident Celebrant Course sign up
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๐ Do us a favour, please!
Please rate, review and follow the podcast, it really helps us reach more celebrants and build a bigger and better community for us all. Thank you! And feel free to follow and connect with us via our socials below.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/celebrantscollective
FB community for celebrants
FB community for people thinking about training
We look forward to connecting with you one way or another!
Tags: celebrant podcast, wedding celebrant business, how to become a celebrant, celebrant training, celebrant marketing, celebrant confidence, self employed celebrant, celebrant burnout, building a celebrant business
In this longer than usual but much-needed episode, Celebrant Survival hosts Claire and Natasha talk openly about celebrant burnout: how it really shows up, why it's so often misunderstood, and the emotional cost of doing deeply meaningful work on repeat.
Drawing on their own experiences, they explore the signs they ignored, the myths that kept them pushing through, and why burnout is as much about depletion, as it is about workload.
This is an honest, compassionate conversation for celebrants who love their work but feel tired, flat or quietly overwhelmed and who need permission to change how they work, not abandon it. They also look at the quiet ways that burnout can drain joy, creativity and confidence from even the most etsbalished and successful celebrants.
The Celebrant Survival Podcast is hosted by experienced celebrants, Natasha Johnson and Claire Bradford of The Celebrants Collective, supporting celebrants worldwide with professional training, mentoring and community. A safe space for celebrants to share, ask for help and ultimately to grow. Come and grow with us!
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The Creative Celebrant Workshop 2026 is here!
Earlybird tickets are still on sale for our upcoming Creative Celebrant Workshop (March 16โ18).
This three-day workshop is for celebrants who feel creatively tired, stuck in familiar patterns, or ready to rethink how they work โ not to push harder, but to reconnect with their creative voice in a supported, practical and inspiring way.
We'll be exploring: โ creative burnout and how it shows up โ fresh approaches to ceremony writing โ breaking out of autopilot โ and finding ways of working that feel more sustainable and more you
โจ Find out more and book your place here
_____________
Want to hear more from us? โจ Join our awesome membership for celebrants
Want us to help you grow and nurture your celebrant business? Come and join Claire and Natasha for monthly group coaching and webinars and oodles of resources to help you as a celebrant. Plus our own private community. For ongoing support for celebrants who don't want to do this alone!
๐๐พ๐๐ปCheck out our benefits here.
_____________
๐ Train as a celebrant
Come and train with Claire and Natasha and learn and understand how to be a celebant in your own unique way. Join our community of global trainees and graduates now working in their respective funeral and wedding industries.
๐๐พ๐๐ปCheck out our wedding and funeral celebrant courses here.
_____________
๐ Free resources for celebrants and wannabe celebrants
Thinking about training as a celebrant? Come and join our free FREE 'So You Want To Be a Celebrant' two day workshop and find out EVERYTHING you need to know about celebrancy ๐๐พ๐๐ป Upcoming Dates & registration form here
Plus you can download our 'So You Want To Be A Celebrant' bumper guide filled with top tips and loads of useful information about how to be a celebrant.
๐๐พ๐๐ปSign up for your guide here.
Already a celebrant? Need a bit of a business and confidence boost? Check out our free course here.
๐๐พ๐๐ป Confident Celebrant Course sign up
_____________
๐ Do us a favour, please!
Please rate, review and follow the podcast, it really helps us reach more celebrants and build a bigger and better community for us all. Thank you! And feel free to follow and connect with us via our socials below.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/celebrantscollective
FB community for celebrants
FB community for people thinking about training
We look forward to connecting with you one way or another!
Tags: celebrant podcast, wedding celebrant business, how to become a celebrant, celebrant training, celebrant marketing, celebrant confidence, self employed celebrant, celebrant burnout, building a celebrant business
In this episode of the Celebrant Survival Podcast, Claire shares the highlights of her celebrant year and looks at the things which ticked all the boxes and the things that ticked none at all. She talks about how the highs and lows have made her feel and what she's learnt from it all.
This episode is for wedding and funeral celebrants, whether you're newly trained, fully booked, or feeling stuck, overwhelmed or burnt out.
The Celebrant Survival Podcast is hosted by experienced celebrants, Natasha Johnson and Claire Bradford of The Celebrants Collective, supporting celebrants worldwide with professional training, mentoring and community. A safe space for celebrants to share, ask for help and ultimately to grow. Come and grow with us!
Want to hear more from us? โจ Join our awesome membership for celebrants
Want us to help you grow and nurture your celebrant business? Come and join Claire and Natasha for monthly group coaching and webinars and oodles of resources to help you as a celebrant. Plus our own private community. For ongoing support for celebrants who don't want to do this alone!
๐๐พ๐๐ปCheck out our benefits here.
_____________
๐ Train as a celebrant
Come and train with Claire and Natasha and learn and understand how to be a celebant in your own unique way. Join our community of global trainees and graduates now working in their respective funeral and wedding industries.
๐๐พ๐๐ปCheck out our wedding and funeral celebrant courses here.
_____________
๐ Free resources for celebrants and wannabe celebrants
Thinking about training as a celebrant? Come and join our free FREE 'So You Want To Be a Celebrant' two day workshop and find out EVERYTHING you need to know about celebrancy ๐๐พ๐๐ป Upcoming Dates & registration form here
Plus you can download our 'So You Want To Be A Celebrant' bumper guide filled with top tips and loads of useful information about how to be a celebrant.
๐๐พ๐๐ปSign up for your guide here.
Already a celebrant? Need a bit of a business and confidence boost? Check out our free course here.
๐๐พ๐๐ป Confident Celebrant Course sign up
_____________
๐ Do us a favour, please!
Please rate, review and follow the podcast, it really helps us reach more celebrants and build a bigger and better community for us all. Thank you! And feel free to follow and connect with us via our socials below.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/celebrantscollective
FB community for celebrants
FB community for people thinking about training
We look forward to connecting with you one way or another!
Tags: celebrant podcast, wedding celebrant business, how to become a celebrant, celebrant training, celebrant marketing, celebrant confidence, self employed celebrant, celebrant burnout, building a celebrant business
In this reflective and honest episode, Natasha opens up about her three biggest highs and three standout lows from her 2025 wedding year. From unforgettable ceremony moments and personal wins, to the challenges that tested her resilience, she shares it all with warmth, humour, and the real-talk celebrants love.
Packed with warmth, honesty and a touch of celebrant humour, this episode is a comforting reminder that every year brings growth, lessons and plenty to smile about, whether you're a seasoned pro or new celebrant?
Tune in for stories, takeaways, and a little behind-the-scenes peek into life as a working celebrant.
In this very topical episode, Claire puts her funeral celebrant hat on as she tackles the subject of direct cremations. With the increase in direct cremations and the appeal to some people of having a 'no frills', easy disposal of their remains after death, it's a topic that affects the funeral industry as a whole. As worrisome as it might seem on the face of it, Claire looks at how funeral celebrants can embrace this 'new' addition to the funeral landscape and how celebrants can use it to their advantage. She looks at how celebrants can create new opportunities for ceremonies for people who have chosen the direct cremations route, and in particular their families who are left behind and still want a way of closure. Listen now for some great tips and ideas around direct cremations and why Claire thinks this can be an opportunity for real positive change in the funeral sector.
Statistical sources cited by Claire:
https://www.sunlife.co.uk/funeral-costs/
https://www.funeralservicetimes.co.uk/features/2024/01/26/sunlifes-cost-of-dying-report-is-in-but-is-it-accurate/
https://www.goldencharter.co.uk/news-and-info/2024/direct-cremations-popular/
If you love our episodes please do consider leaving us a review. It really makes our day and helps other celebrants to find us. Thank you!
Other ways to engage with us;
- Our Celebrants Collective Membership, where we run monthly celebrant webinars covering a whole range of useful and interesting topics which will raise the level of your celebrant practice and business.
- Our wedding and funeral celebrant training, for those of you who would love to train with us as a celebrant.
- Our amazing Facebook community of over 3K celebrants worldwide or our celebrant traning community for people interested in becoming a celebrant.
In this episode, Natasha talks about the importance of ceremony sound and why as celebrants sometimes it's not enough to solo rely on our naked voices to deliver our ceremonies. Natasha shares the story of a ceremony incident which not only left her devestated but which made her vow to never have repeated again. In this episode she also talks about what voice projection actually is, as opposed to what most people think it is and why as celebrants we need to take more respoinsibility for our voice delivery, if we don't already.
If you love our episodes please do consider leaving us a review. It really makes our day and helps other celebrants to find us. Thank you!
Other ways to engage with us;
- Our Celebrants Collective Membership, where we run monthly celebrant webinars covering a whole range of useful and interesting topics which will raise the level of your celebrant practice and business.
- Our wedding and funeral celebrant training, for those of you who would love to train with us as a celebrant.
- Our amazing Facebook community of over 3K celebrants worldwide or our celebrant traning community for people interested in becoming a celebrant.
Back in March 2024, Claire set off on a dream of a lifetime as she walked the whole length of the Camino de Santiago from France to Spain. As well as wanting to know what it was like, how she did it and how she found it, lots of people wanted to now how she managed to leave her celebrant work behind and pick up where she left of on her return. Well, in this episode Claire shares all of her insights from her break, her experiences on the Camino and also what it was like to take on such a massive undertaking, physically and mentally! It's fair to say that the Camino taught Claire a lot about life and celebrancy than she realised it would!
If you love our episodes please do consider leaving us a review. It really makes our day and helps other celebrants to find us. Thank you!
Other ways to engage with us;
- Our Celebrants Collective Membership, where we run monthly celebrant webinars covering a whole range of useful and interesting topics which will raise the level of your celebrant practice and business.
- Our wedding and funeral celebrant training, for those of you who would love to train with us as a celebrant.
- Our amazing Facebook community of over 3K celebrants worldwide or our celebrant traning community for people interested in becoming a celebrant.
In this episode, Claire and Natasha try their best to not sound like horrible child-haters (they're not!), whilst they talk about the worst and the best bits about having children at ceremonies. They look at what can happen when kids are present at ceremonies and how as a celebrant you can prepare yourself, the guests and their families for a smooth service. Sometimes though, prepared or not, when children are involved plans do not always go to plan! Claire and Natasha share their experiences, and what they do to try and ensure sure that everyone is happy!
If you love our episodes please do consider leaving us a review. It really makes our day and helps other celebrants to find us. Thank you!
Other ways to engage with us;
- Our Celebrants Collective Membership, where we run monthly celebrant webinars covering a whole range of useful and interesting topics which will raise the level of your celebrant practice and business.
- Our wedding and funeral celebrant training, for those of you who would love to train as a celebrant.
- Our amazing Facebook community of over 3K celebrants worldwide or our celebrant traning community for people interested in becoming a celebrant.
In this episode, Natasha looks at four ceremony elements which can really affect the success of the ceremony itself. You may have been there yourself. You've written/prepared what you think is the perfect ceremony, the best one yet, you're prepped, poised and ready but when it comes to the actual ceremony itself, it just falls flat. And sometimes it can leave you scratching your head wondering why it might be. Well, tune in to this episode to hear Natasha share the four things which she feels can radically alter the way that a ceremony lands and what, if anything you can do about it.
Ps. Apologies for the erractic sound quality in some parts. Natasha was recording on a new to her device!
If you love our episodes please do consider leaving us a review. It really makes our day and helps other celebrants to find us. Thank you!
Other ways to engage with us;
- Our Celebrants Collective Membership, where we run monthly celebrant webinars covering a whole range of useful and interesting topics which will raise the level of your celebrant practice and business.
- Our wedding and funeral celebrant training, for those of you who would love to train as a celebrant.
- Our amazing Facebook community of over 3K celebrants worldwide or our celebrant traning community for people interested in becoming a celebrant.
Check out the latest episode where Natasha and Claire answer a series of common questions that they've come across or are asked a lot. They start off by looking at the question "Should I put my prices on my website?" Followed by "Am I too emotional to be a celebrant?" And finishing off with "I hate social media, do I really have to be on it to get work as a celebrant?" Three juicy questions, right? Tune in and hear what that have to say.
On another note, they really enjoyed recording this type of episode, so if you've got a burning question that you'd love them to answer, let us know and they will!
Email: hello@thecelebrantscollective.com
Website: www.thecelebrantscollective.com
In this episode, Natasha talks about working with wedding planners and her experiences of working with them, and why she thinks that having a good working relationship with wedding planners can be really good for business. She looks at how wedding planners can help to push referrals your way, which can increase your overall number of bookings, as well as how helpful wedding planners can be on the wedding day itself. And because with the good, sometimes comes the bad and the ugly, she talks about the potential negative sides of working with wedding planners too.
In this episode, Claire talks about how she has been gearing up for her trip of a lifetime, walking the 500 mile Camino de Santiago in Northern Spain.
Before she left, Claire shares about what led her to want to want to do the Camino in the first place and how the idea crystallized into a solid plan. We also hear about what she's had to do in order to manifest this dream and the praciticalites of bringing a dream into a reality when you work as a full time celebrant and celebrant trainer.
It's such an inspiring listen about life, about what motivates us, and about how we all can and should advocate for the things that we want in life, because at the end of the day, life is too damn short to be putting things off, waiting for tomorrow, waiting for a better time.
It's a corker of an episode and be warned, you will come away full of inspiration and ready to kick your own plans into action!
In this revisited episode, (first recorded by Natasha in episode 12!) Claire and Natasha tackle the controversial and oft-cited statement that there are too many celebrants. They look at whether there really are too many celebrants, the accuracy in being able to make such a claim and whether actually the situation is far too nuanced for a blanket statement such as this. They also look at what celebrants can do if they feel like their work is under threat or if they are based in an area with lots of celebrants.
In this latest episode, Claire challenges you to think or rethink how you plan your time off away from your business. If you're thinking, 'time off? What time off?,' then this episode is for you! Being self-employed requires us to manage so many things within our business, and one of them is our time management and also managing our time off. But many celebrants and self-employed people per se, find this a difficult thing to do. Listen to this episode for Claire's top advice on how to avoid burnout, how to protect your precious time-off and how to recognise that time away from your business is actually a good thing, even if you can't quite see it, or fully appreciate it.
In this episode, Natasha gets stuck into the topic of 'ghosting.' She looks at what ghosting is and why this frustrating and sometimes annoying occurence happens. She looks at what might be going on with some couples and families, which might explain why they never get back to you. And she also looks at some of the things that celebrants might or might not be doing which stops couples from getting back in touch with the celebrants they initially reached out to.
In this episode, Natasha talks about why she recognises her business as a successful one and she shares what she's done to grow it into one. With 17 years worth of celebrant experience under her belt, Natasha gives her insights into how she created success on her own terms and what she's learnt from growing a business that works for her and helps her to achieve her goals.
In this episode Natasha and Claire talk about the joys of celebrant connection. Of what it is like when celebrants come together online and also offline and how positive it can be for your celebrant growth and confidence. They look at the different ways that celebrants can connect, how to connect with the right groups for you, and what different types of meet-ups offer on a personal and business level. They also take time to look at the negative side of celebrant connection from gossip and bad talk, to negativity online too.
In this first of a two-part series, Natasha and Claire get to grips with celebrant communication by looking at how celebrants communicate with one another. Celebrants are so used to communicating with clients and families and other funeral and wedding colleagues, but how do we communicate with our fellow celebrants? How do we reach out to our celebrant neighbours and make connections with them, or not? In this episode they look at what happens when new and wannabe celebrants take the plunge and get in contact with celebrants either in their area or someone who they might have come across online. Claire and Natasha look at some of the no-nos of cold calling and emailing celebrants, as well as sharing advice for celebrants on the receiving end of lots of cold calls, emails, and DMs from new or prospective celebrants.
If you're a new or wannabe celebrant and you've got questions that you want answers to, why not join our 'So You Want To Be A Celebrant,' Facebook, here.
In this episode, Natasha talks about her experiences of being a wedding celebrant in Spain and the challenges that celebrants working here can face. Having been a celebrant there for almost 17 years and built a successful celebrant business from scratch, Natasha talks about both the highs and lows of being a celebrant in the Costa De Sol. Yes, it's not all sunshine! In fact, there can be too much sunshine! Listen to this episode to hear her top 4 "challenges" of working in the sun. There's one quite obvious one!
In this episode, Claire talks about her experiences of having ADHD and how it affects her as a celebrant, in both the good and bad ways, and what she does to manage her ADHD alongside her work. Claire talks about the aspects of work that she really struggles with, how they show up for her in her wedding and funeral work, and what strategies she has in place to help her. This is a great episiode for fellow ADHD celebrants, those who suspect that they might have ADHD or anyone who simply is interested in learning more about the experiences of a neurovidergent celebrant, and to gain a better understanding of it.
In this episode, Natasha and Claire look at the different ways that celebrants can move away from celebrancy.
They talk about retirement and how empowering it must be to come to the decision that youโre ready to take your final ceremony. When is the right time? Or do you just know in your heart that it is?
They also look at pivoting away from celebrancy, which means not saying goodbye but making celebrancy something that you do alongside something else. This might be in the case of a celebrant who has been working or trying to work as a full time celebrant but has found for whatever reason, it isnโt working, or somethingโs come up. It might mean that there are other things that need prioritising, alongside your celebrant work.
And lastly, they discuss stepping away from celebrancy altogether. Not retiring but leaving the profession to pursue other goals, perhaps with a view to one day returning, or not.
Itโs a really interesting and fascinating episode where they both consider their own futures as celebrants and weigh up how much time they feel they have left doing what they do, and also pondering the feelings involved in making such a big decision.
In this episode, Natasha breaks down the process behind getting paid as a celebrant by looking at when to get paid, how to get paid and what to do when you don't get paid on time! Recognising that this is an important part of your celebrant business, Natasha talks about what she does within her own business and also other popular methods that other celebrants adopt. She looks at how she handles these key transactions to ensure a clear, easy and efficient payment process not just for her wedding clients, but also for herself, as the business owner, with the key aim of being paid easily, on time and with zero stress.
Natasha references 17hats a lot in this episode (obviously, because she's obsessed with it!) and how she uses it for invoicing and keeping at track of payments. If you're interested in knowing more about 17hats, you can read our blog post about it here.
In the spirit of this podcast, surviving celebrant life, Claire and Natasha discuss a topic which affects so many celebrants, themselves included. In this episode, they look at the impact of being a celebrant who experiences menstrual cycles, perimenopause or menopause, and how it can affect day-to-day celebrant life and work. They share their experiences and the mechanisms that they have in place to cope with the physical and mental challenges that stem from these cycles, and they talk about how it can influence their celebrant practice, too.
In this episode, solo-host Natasha talks through the process she went through when she recently raised her prices. After years of advocating for other celebrants to charge their worth, Natasha finally took her own advice and realised it was time to raise her prices to the level that they ought to be at. She's now getting bookings at her new higher rate and couldn't be happier. Listen to this episode to hear Natasha walk through the three easy-ish steps that she took, which will help you to see that raising your price is often something we make more difficult than it really is.
In our latest podcast episode, Claire talks all about celebrant trainees and training prospects for the year, what they can expect and also importantly, what they should expect. It can feel lonely and scary when youโre on the verge of making a big move but this podcast episode will make you feel a whole lot better! Claire gives some awesome insights into the world of celebrancy and celebrant training and looks at why 2023 is a good year to make the leap for so many different and awesome reasons.
In this hour-long special, Claire and Natasha look back at their summer of 2022, a year which saw them hold record numbers of weddings (not to mention Claire's funerals too!), as a result of the pandemic and postponements from previous years! They dicuss the highs and the lows and what this year of celebrancy has uncovered for them them. They look at the lessons that they've learnt, the big fat no-nos and the things that they are not in a rush to repeat. But they also look at all of the joy that they had during this time too. This epsiode will hopefully get you thinking about your own celebrant activities over the year and help you to work out how you want to move forward for 2023. The things you want more of and the things you definintely don't!
In this episode, Claire talks about the pitfalls of comparing your results to other peopleโs - and what you can do instead. Comparisonitis is nothing new. We've all been there. And we all need to hear Claire's sage advice!
In this episode Claire and Natasha take a look at social media and discuss how we use it and navigate it as celebrants, particularly in the wake of Queen Elizabeth's death. They talk about the different ways that celebrants show up on social media and the 'expectations' that some celebrants may have about how they think they have to be on their platforms. They also chat about how they chose to not mark the Queen's death on the Celebrants Colletive platforms, their general treatment of world events and how they mark them personally and professionally online.
In this episode, Natasha takes a look at how people approach the task of finding themselves a celebrant. And whilst she talks about it from a wedding celebrant's point of view, it actually can apply to all sorts of people looking for a celebrants. In her 15 years as a celebrant, Natasha thinks she has identified three main type of celebrant shoppers, with three quite different approaches to 'purchasing' their celebrant. With a better understanding of how some couples go about this process it can give celebrants a better idea of who their ideal clients are and the habits they have, which make them ideal or not!
In this episode, Claire and Natasha reflect on the inescapable news about the shape of the economy and the rising costs of living, and they look at how this might affect us a celebrants. There is not one country that isn't experiencing some form of inflation or rising prices and living costs, and with many only just back on their feet after the pandemic, it's understable that some may be worried. Claire and Natasha look at ways that we can keep our celebrant businesses running as usual, and taking action to make sure that our businesses stay afloat during a period of uncertainty.
In this episode, Natasha wants to get you feeling much better about SEO, especially because there's so much good that can come from it when you make yourself best friends with it. But the thing about SEO is that it gets a bad rap and most people end up thinking that SEO is confusing, difficult, unmaneagable and complicated. But Natasha's here to tell you that it's not true!
In this episode Natasha explains why all celebrants need to get onboard with SEO and why it's a good move for all small business owners. And she also debunks three big myths about SEO that do more harm than good.
If you're feeling a bit iffy about SEO but know you want to have a better grasp of it, then this episode is for you!
Want to get further stuck in to SEO? Check out our resources.
Our live SEO webinar workshop with Justine Coombs
https://www.celebrantscollective.eu/celebrants-collective-live-sessions/
Our SEO 101 for Celebrants
https://www.celebrantscollective.eu/seo-101-for-celebrants/
There one where feathers were ruffled. Come and join Natasha and Claire as they talk about Natasha's Mexican wedding. Find out what kind of bride Natasha was and about the engagement that led them on the path to marriage in the first place. This laugh out loud episode (aren't they all?) will leave you in no doubts that Natasha was unapologetically herself and did not steer away from having their day, in their way!
In this episode, Natasha interviews Claire about her wedding day. Claire casts her mind back to her special date in August 2000 where she shares her wedding journey and how she got married in the way that she did. They talk about the decisions made and whether Claire has any regrets about how they got married. Claire also spills the beans on what she would do now if she renewed her wedding vows, as well as dicussing the way that her own wedding has shaped her as a celebrant.
In this latest episode Claire is in the hot seat again and this time she is talking about her funeral process and how she works with funeral clients.
In this episode Claire talks about: * Where she gets most of her funeral enquiries from. * What she does once sheโs in touch with funeral clients. * Where she has meetings with her clients and what she says and does in her meetings. * The things she is SUPER mindful of when meeting with clients. * How she keeps herself organised with her work process and the software she uses. * What she does on the day itself and how she carries out the funeral service, manages music etc. * How she receives payment for her services.
This is a great listen if youโre new to the funeral celebrant industry or youโve been in the industry for a while.
In this episode, it's Claire's turn to share her process of working with her wedding couples from start to finish. She talks about where most of her enquiries come from to how she responds to them. She also walks through the process of turning couples into clients. Claire then talks about her ceremony creation process and what she does on the big day and beyond! It's such a great listen, whether you're a new or more experienced celebrant. And don't worry funeral celebrants, Claire's going to share how she works with funeral clients in an episode of its own.
In this episode, Natasha shares her working process with her wedding couples from start to finish. What she does when she gets an enquiry and how she moves the couples through the process of becoming clients. Then, once booked in, she talks about her ceremony creation process and script-writing process, finishing up with what happens on the day and thereafter. Sharing how we work as celebrants can help other celebrants to see how their own processes work and to decide whether there's room for improvement. Enjoy!
In this episode, solo host Claire talks all about celebrant training and the things you should look out for when you're looking into training as a celebrant. She looks at the pros and cons of the different types of celebrant training and gets you thinking about all the questions you should be thinking and asking! This is a must-listen to episode if you're thinking about training as a celebrant sometime soon! And of course, if our celebrant training stands out for you, you can get more information about it, here.
In this episode, solo host Natasha talks all about systems and processes. No, not in the boring way that makes you yawn and want to hide under your duvet, but in a fresh and fun way, which will inspire you to tidy up your processes and elevate your business success. Natasha helps you to break down your step by step processes from enquiry to booking and beyond, to see what's not working for you, what is working for you and what more you could be doing. With your business processes making up the backbone of your celebrant business, this is a must-listen-to episode. Enjoy! In this episode, we do touch on software systems and as always our big recommendation is 17hats. Boy, do we love it. And we know you would too! If you use this link, you'll get a 50% saving! Win-win.
In this episode, Claire and Natasha talk all about celebrant creativity, in particular, five top takeaways that attendees from their 2021 creative workshop took away with them. These five tips will help you to think about the different ways that you can unlock and tap into your creativity and how you can boost your creativity to new levels. They also talk about this year's Creative Celebrant Workshop, which you can find all the info about here.
In this episode, Natasha runs through three of her most horrific, heart-stopping mistakes that she's made as a celebrant and what she's learnt from them all. She also talks about why it's important to reframe mistakes and to use them as a learning opportunity to make changes and improve your way of working. There may be a lot of perceived perfection out there but this episode shows that nobody is perfect, all celebrants make mistakes and talking about it and normalising it is the best way to deal with them.
In this solo-hosted episode, Claire talks through ten awesome principles that celebrants should take on board when it comes to being a celebrant and creating ceremony. These guidelines can be absolute game-changers for giving you a great foundation as a celebrant or for bringing some clarity and focus to your practice if you feel a little out of sorts. These guiding principles make up a whole module of our celebrant training course, so whether you're thinking about training to be a celebrant or you're a celebrant already, you're in for a big treat!ย
In this very first episode of 2022, Claire and Natasha look at the year ahead and how they prepare themselves personally and professionally. They share their top tips for starting the year off gently and intentionally, and they also chat about why they think resolutions and radical change are not the best way to kick start a new year. Listen to this episode if you want to get focused on your year ahead without feeling overwhelmed.
In this episode, Natasha and Claire talk about the importance of ending the year on a high by acknowledging what has happened in the year. It's all too easy to see one year end and another begin, without tuning into the key events of your year and how it all panned out for you. Claire and Natasha share their top tips for bringing their year to an end, for reviewing their business and honouring everything that's happened. Helping to pave the way for an awesome new year of doing what you love.
In this episode, Claire and Natasha whip themselves up into a frenzy as they get ready to celebrate the first ever World Celebrants Week (November 15th-21st). Because celebrants need a whole week, right? They look at the aims of the week, what it means for celebrants and they outline ways that the week can be celebrated by both individual organisations and celebrants alike.ย And don't worry if you listen to this episode past the date, you'll still be able to pick up some good social media prompts for raising awareness of celebrancy on your own social media platforms, at anytime of the year.
Please excuse the strange scratching sound of Claire's earring rubbing on her headphones for the first 9 minutes.
In this episode, Claire and Natasha look at our roles as celebrants. Although traditionally, celebrants peg themselves as wedding, funeral and baby-naming celebrants, we are in fact first and foremost celebrants. This means we have so much scope to define and refine our offerings to whatever it is we choose to do. Not what we think we must do. From their own experiences, Claire and Natasha discuss why they don't do baby namings, and for Natasha, funerals, and how they have refined their own roles to include the things they love to do and importantly, don't like doing. They also look at celebrants' wider working practices and how it's within our own power to shape and define how we work as celebrants to be as fluid and functional as possible.
In this latest episode, Claire and Natasha chat about celebrant awards and take a look at the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to industry awards. They chat about their own experiences of awards, as entrants and judges and the emotional rollercoaster that awards can take you on.
They also discuss the nature of awards in general and how they can be a good thing on a personal, business and industry level but they also get into the 'dark' side of awards. The negativity, the comparisonitis, the lack of integrity, and other factors that can rub the shine off of awards. It's a cracker of an episode that leaves no award stone unturned. So tune in now to listen.
In this episode, we welcome back Heidi Thompson from Evolve Your Wedding Business as she shows celebrants why marketing your business without a plan is a recipe for disaster. Heidi's no-nonsense plan of action will help you to have a better understanding of your own marketing needs, where you're going wrong and how you can put it right. And don't be put off by the idea of a marketing plan, as when you hear Heidi's idea of one, you'll realise it doesn't have to be as complicated as you think!
Heidi is going to be presenting a free webinar on this at the Book More Weddings summit this coming October 18th. You'll be able to learn from her and over 20 other wedding educators who'll be sharing their business gems for growth without overwhelm.
Grab your free ticket here.
In this episode, Claire gets to grill Natasha! You'll hear all about Natasha's idyllic childhood which set her on course for celebrancy and how she took the leap into the celebrant world itself. From London to Mexico to Spain, you'll find out what drives Natasha to do what she does and what she's really passionate about when it comes to being a celebrant and her work with Claire at the Celebrants Collective.
In this latest episode Natasha puts her old BBC journalist hat back on as she interviews co-host Claire. From the hot-seat, Claire shares a slice of her past, her life pre being a celebrant and how much of her past life is still very relevant now as a celebrant. She even gives advice to her newly trained self! Claire also chats industry stuff too, what she likes, what she doesn't like and what she can't wait to see happen! Enjoy this episode!
In this solo hosted episode, Claire pulls out all of the stops on a mission to help you become your own biggest cheerleader. As celebrants we can have a lot of hurdles in front of us when it comes to developing and growing our celebrant business, but often one of the biggest hurdles is OUR SELF! Claire takes a look at how we get in our own way and shares some awesome top tips to help you stop being your worst enemy! Dive in, listen now and learn how to become your own best friend!
In this solo-hosted episode, Natasha takes a look at what happens when clients want a simple, fuss-free, stripped back ceremony. As celebrants we can be so focused on adding all the bells and whistles that panic can kick in when clients want the exact opposite of this. During this episode, Natasha busts some myths about simple ceremonies and gives some tips on how you can adopt a 'less is more' mindset when you need to.
In this jam-packed episode, Claire speaks to award-winning funeral celebrant and grief trainer Rosalie Kuyvenhoven about all things funeral. They discuss the discrepancies between the way that funerals are perceived and the actual realities of funerals. They look at creativity within funeral work, the growing trend of Zoom funerals and the rise in Death Cafes too. As well as discussions about the funeral industry itself. Whether you're a funeral celebrant or not this is a fascinating episode on life and death and our work in these areas as celebrants.
When it comes to marketing your celebrant business, if you want to and if you have the means to, you could spend a ton of money on it! But not everyone wants to or has the means to! In this episode, Claire and Natasha navigate the ins and outs of paid marketing - everything from directories to Facebook ads, to help you think about how to pick the right avenues for you without burning a hole in your pocket.
In this episode, Claire and Natasha go deep as they explore the long-lasting effects of Covid-19 and the pandemic and how it has affected us on both a human and celebrant level. They also look forward to a post-covid future and what lessons as celebrants we'll be taking with us.
In this episode, Claire and Natasha delve into all things celebrant creativity. Looking at the good, the bad and the ugly sides of creativity and how celebrants can be hindered during their creative processes. Tune in now for top creative tips and advice.
In this latest episode of the second series, Claire and Natasha pull back the curtains at the Celebrants Collective and take a look behind the scenes at everything that's been going on over the last year. From expanding the Collective to building a celebrant community online, we chat about what makes us tick as celebrants and what downright gets on our wick. (We did not mean that to rhyme!). And just so you know, we giggle and whoop, way more than we probably ought to.
In this latest episode, Natasha answers a question submitted by a Celebrant Survival Podcast listener on the subject of how to dress as a celebrant for your ceremonies. An awesome question, right? One which Natasha has answered in her usual Natasha-ristic way. Find out why she thinks everyone needs to stop having opinions on how celebrants dress and how she thinks celebrants should really dress for success.
In this episode, Natasha looks at what happens when your dream couple, who ticks all the boxes and who you quickly bond with, does't go ahead and book you! It sucks, right? But believe it or not, rejection is a very healthy, normal part of the celebrant booking process and Natasha gives some tips on how to reframe the rejection and get over it quickly and easily.
In this episode, Natasha looks at how the coronavirus pandemic will affect celebrants and the celebrant industry. From how celebrants work, to how the growth of the industry will be affected, there is not one celebrant who hasn't been or won't be affected by this pandemic.ย
At least once a week Natasha gets asked this question, whether it's via email, DM, PMs or carrier pigeon! And understandably, it's a question that's on the minds of most people setting out on their celebrant journey, and even those already with some skin in the game. But as straightforward as this question might be, the answer is anything but! And so in this episode, Natasha looks at why this question is difficult to answer and what celebrants should be bearing in mind instead.
Natasha is joined by her first ever podcast guest, the awesome Heidi Thompson of the Evolve Your Wedding Business community, who shares all of her insights, wisdoms and knowledge on working with your ideal wedding clients.
Knowing who your ideal clients are, is one of those areas in business that can leave you scratching your head, or maybe even pulling your hair out. But Heidiโs no-nonsense, actionable approach will not only inspire and motivate you, but will set you on a clear path of action. Enjoy!
Check out Heidi's book here.
In this episode, Natasha takes a look at both the business and the ceremonial side of doing wedding rehearsals for your clients. She looks at the pros and cons of rehearsals and whether wedding celebrants should be offering rehearsals as standard, as an option or not at all! And for those who do run rehearsals, Natasha looks at how you factor them in in your overall pricing.
In this episode, Natasha helps you to look ahead to how you want to end this final quarter of 2019? Have you even thought about it yet? Well, if not, don't worry, this episode is for you. It's never too late to set intentions and put goals into place, but before you do that you need to take a moment to look ahead and decide how you want to feel when this year comes to an end. Natasha will take you through a quick an easy process for setting up for an awesome end to the year.
In this episode, Natasha not only invents new words, but she delves deep into the hows and whys of celebrant business confidence and spills the beans on how gaining business confidence is the key to moving your business forward as a celebrant and reaching the levels of success that you want. Check out this page for more on celebrant business confidence.
In this episode Natasha shares her four top tips for maximum sanity on social media. There is no doubt that social media has revolutionised the way we market ourselves and our business. Clients now have more ways than ever to come across us and engage with us before booking and more ways to get in touch too! But on the flip-side of this, social media use for business marketing can cause overwhelm, frustrations, worry, stress, confusion - stuff that we shouldn't really need to be experiencing just to have a presence online. So listen now for Natasha's top tips for keeping yourself sane on social media.
PS: As mentioned in this episode, Natasha uses Later for social media scheduling and LOVES it. Use this link to gain yourself 10 additional posts per month!
In this episode, Natasha digs even deeper into the things that she has learnt during her 12 years as a celebrant, the things that she touched on in episode 13. From experiencing a lack of confidence, epic fails, crappy days and crappy people, this episode explores common themes that ALL celebrants and officiants experience at one time or another.ย
In this episode, Natasha shares her own celebrant journey and looks back on some of the things she's learnt over her twelve years as a celebrant. Everyone has a different path but many experiences are common ones and sometimes hearing what others have done is the inspiration or kick up the butt that you need to get yourself where you want to be! Listen to this episode to hear about Natasha's highs and lows and what she's learned along the way.
In this episode, Natasha tackles another weighty and controversial subject -ย the idea that there are TOO many celebrants. Are there really too many celebrants and how many is too many? She also looks at what effect a saturated market might have on other celebrants and gives advice of ways to look at the 'situation' differently.
In this episode Natasha explores the idea of ceremony script-writing and how much emphasis we place on its importance for our role as a celebrant. She looks at how scripting for ceremonies has become such an important element in the creation of ceremony, that it might possible overshadow everything else that goes into creating a ceremony. Tune into this episode to hear this fascinating discussion on creating scripts vs creating ceremony.
In this episode, Natasha talks about all things related to money that we as Celebrants don't talk about enough. From setting prices, sticking to prices, raising prices, to having the confidence to talk proudly and passionately about what you charge and why. We celebrants are sometimes our worst enemy! Listen now for some top tips on building up your confidence surrounding money, from how you think about it, speak about it and ultimately, how you earn it.
In this episode, to gently ease into 2019, Natasha selects three of her favourite life and business quotes, breaks them down and shows how you can use their sentiments to focus your mind for a solid year ahead. You can have all the software, technology, the talent, enthusiasm and passion in place, but if your mindset is not your strongest asset, then it can make everything else redundant and all your efforts fruitless. Who doesnโt love a life quote? Find out what three quotes she picks and why. What's your favourite life/business quote and why?
In this episode, Natasha looks at how to carry out a full review of your Celebrant business, but more importantly why you should be doing it at all. It's all good and well to make plans for the year ahead but how can you make plans for the future without looking at how your business has faired in the recent past and present?
Natasha looks at how to systematically carry out a review of your business, to assess all areas of it and to identify weaknesses and issues before you even start to plan ahead. And she shares her own horror story which has helped her to massively review a particular work process and in turn has shaped some of her plans for next year.
So if you're about to start reviewing your business, or hadn't even given it a thought, this episode is for you!
And once you've listened, please do leave a review or rate us on iTunes or Stitcher.
It can be a real worry when you notice that the number of bookings you have, appear to be less than your previous year, or for the same period of time in a previous year. Or you could be a new Celebrant who is worried about the number of bookings or lack of bookings received, especially when youโre not reaching the targets that you set. Particularly. for more experienced Celebrants who have perhaps enjoyed quite a few years of stability and consistent booking patterns, it can be quite alarming when out of nowhere there is a drop-off in bookings. In this episode Natasha looks at three positive, actionable things that you can do to get back on track.
Websites, websites, websites - itโs all we talk about nowadays, isnโt it? But, letโs be fair, itโs for a pretty damn good reason! Websites rule, right? And frankly speaking, if anyone wants to get anywhere in whatever business they happen to be in, their website is where they will want to focus a lot of their attention, the place which all avenues lead to.
There are however a lot of myths that surround websites. Ideas floating around which are taken as granted, ideas which people assume are facts and which can lead to some damaging assumptions about how we set up and run our business websites.
And despite my really boring podcast title, this episode really is full of some awesome advice!
I discuss five myths about websites which need to be addressed and kicked to the curb ASAP. I also run through some quick tips and practices that you can start putting into place TODAY to get your website working the way it should do and boosting your online presence in the best way that websites can.
In episode five of the Celebrant Survival Podcast, Natasha looks at how pricing is an area which affects all Celebrants no matter their experience and she goes through four no-nos that Celebrants should avoid when it comes to pricing.
Pricing is something which is extremely important as a Celebrant, yet some Celebrants dislike getting into complicated discussions about it. Some even feel that itโs a little awkward to discuss a job that they love so much in such stark monetary terms. But no matter how much you love your job and would do it for free, you are still carrying out a service which you need to remunerated for, and in such a way that you are not only making money from it and covering your overheads but that you are also making a profit and enabling yourself to make a living from it.
In this podcast episode, Natasha looks at
- Why you shouldnโt set your prices in isolation or undercut your Celebrant colleagues
- What factors need to be taken into account when setting prices
- How often you should review your pricing
- Why you need to be confident with your services and your pricing.
Listen to this episode now and let us know your thoughts on pricing. Are you confident with how you price your services? Or do you feel like you charge too much? Or too little?
Whilst as Celebrants we understand the expense that goes into holding a celebratory event, whether it's a wedding, funeral, baby-naming or other service, being asked to reduce our price does create a potentially awkward start to a working relationship.
Everyone has their reasons for why they ask for a discount and sometimes there is not a simple response. Sometimes, it's not about simply saying 'no' (even if that is your intention) but giving thoughtful, informative answers which get to the root of people's enquiries.
In the fourth episode of the Celebrant Survival Podcast, Natasha explores this topic of 'discounts.' She discusses the negativity surrounding the D-word and how it has the potential to derail a working relationship before it's even begun. She also looks at
- Our reactions as Celebrants when we're asked to discount our prices
- What it means to you and your business to agree to a discount
- When it's okay to agree to a discount
- How to respond when you're asked to reduce your prices
Listen now for top tips and advice, brought to you by the Celebrants' Collective.
In episode 3, of the Celebrant Survival Podcast, Natasha talks about about the topic of professional career development for Celebrants.
She looks at the different ways that we can get onboard with ongoing career development, from informal routes to more formalised training and the benefits of them all. And also why itโs so important to undergo some level of professional career development, however you choose to do it.
Itโs not a secret that the Celebrant profession is a growing one. Whatโs not to love about the amazing job that we have? And so with its growth, we need to take onboard new techniques to make ourselves stand out from the crowds. In this episode Natasha looks at
- Why it is essential to market yourself as your โ authentic self.โ
- How to get couples to book you for โyouโ and not just because they need/want a Celebrant.
- How to implement personality-led changes to your marketing.
- Examples of Celebrants who use their websites and marketing authentically.
Natasha then rounds off this episode with a book review of She Means Business by Carrie Green.
This podcast is brought to you by the European Celebrants' Collective
In our inaugural episode of the Celebrant Survival Podcast, with an eye on the new year ahead, Professional Celebrant Natasha Johnson looks at five top tips forgetting your business year off to an awesome start.
- She looks at why you have to look back before you can look forward
- Why a business plan isnโt a plan until itโs down on paper
- How to make sure your website is ready for action
- Why you need a business blog and how to organise it
- And how planning your social media content can get you off to the right start for the rest of the year
Natasha then rounds off this episode with a book review of The Complete Celebrantโs Handbook: How to officiate weddings, memorials and more, from beginner to professional by Han Hills.
This podcast is brought to you by the European Celebrants' Collective.
