Alternative ceremonies that could skyrocket your celebrant earnings

The riches are in the niches, they say, and that certainly seems to be the case for Celebrants, results of a recent industry survey suggest that offering alternative ceremonies could boost your income as a celebrant.

Here at The Academy of Modern Celebrancy, we actively encourage our celebrants to lean into their uniqueness and carve out a niche for themselves, and it seems that doing so could be a lucrative move for your earning potential.

Niching down as a Celebrant

When people think of celebrants, they tend to think of only 2-types: wedding and funeral celebrants, but the reality is, there are so many other types of celebrancy; for one, there are Naming celebrants who offer naming ceremonies, adoption ceremonies, and family ceremonies.

There’s also a huge array of variation and niching within wedding and funeral celebrants. For Wedding Celebrants, there are standard weddings, elopements, and renewal of vows, as well as celebrants who offer specialist ceremonies like handfasting, pagan ceremonies, LBGTQI+ inclusive ceremonies, singing celebrants, celebrants who will also be your Master of Ceremonies, and even a drag queen celebrant who promises to ‘drag you down the aisle’!

There are myriad types of clients, all seeking something special and unique, offering lots of ways to niche down from the types of clients that you serve, your style and the way you deliver your ceremonies to the types of specialist ceremonies you offer.

What types of alternative ceremonies are popular?

The 2024 Celebrant Growth Report conducted by the Academy of Modern Celebrancy showed that Renewal of Vows was by far the most popular type of alternative ceremony offered, but there was a surprising number of celebrants offering:

• Pet Funerals and memorials,
• Commitment ceremonies,
• Adult renaming/ gender affirmation ceremonies
• Anniversary ceremonies

Some of the more unique alternative ceremonies on offer included:

• Wise Woman or Sagesse ceremonies (to mark the menopause or celebrate elders),
• Divorce ceremonies (to heal the wounds of parting and mark a new beginning)
• Corporate naming ceremonies

Celebrants are expanding beyond their traditional roles to encompass all types of celebrations for individuals, couples, families and communities.

How much can I earn from alternative ceremonies?

Celebrants offering alternative ceremonies alongside their standard ones can add a lucrative income stream to their earnings; 50% of celebrants who offer alternative ceremonies charge between £250-£500 per ceremony.

A quarter of celebrants offering alternative or specialist ceremonies charge between £500-£750 for them, and the top celebrants earn between £750 and £1500 a ceremony.

Due to the type of ceremonies on offer, it’s likely that celebrants can increase the number of bookings they take and fit these around their normal work to provide a nice bump in their income.

How to promote alternative services as a Celebrant

If you decide to offer additional services as a celebrant, it’s important to promote them. Most celebrants in our survey responded that their website was the best source of leads for these types of services, so make sure you add them to your list of services.

Since alternative ceremonies are, by their nature, novel or unique, they may require explanation. Create a page to describe each service and link from your homepage and services.

You can also promote your services via your social media channels, and remember to talk about them with your clients and community.

If you’re marketing-minded, and your idea is quirky or interesting enough, you might even be able to secure press interest, so contact some journalists and see if they’re interested in running your story, especially around special interest days.

How many alternative services should I offer as a celebrant?

Whilst it might be tempting to create a laundry list of services that you ‘could offer’, we recommend thinking about additional services that it makes sense for you to offer, e.g., if you’re a funeral celebrant who loves cats, perhaps you could offer pet memorial services for feline friends?

Or, if you’re a wedding celebrant, you could put together anniversary ceremony packages to mark special anniversaries i.e. Golden Wedding anniversaries or promote vow renewal ‘do-overs’ for couples that got married during the covid lockdowns.

Generally, the more intentional and specific you can be with your alternative services, the more successful you’ll be in promoting it and in getting bookings.

Inspired?

If you need help marketing your Celebrant business, check out our Celebrant training & CPD courses.

If you’re thinking of becoming a celebrant, check out our industry-leading training.