Discovering Your Ideal Clients: A Guide for Modern Celebrants

In a recent masterclass, award-winning celebrant and AMC celebrant mentor Miranda Ash shared valuable insights on how identifying your ideal clients can transform your celebrancy business. Her practical approach, backed by years of experience, offers a blueprint for both new and established celebrants looking to enhance their marketing effectiveness and client connections.

As well as being an award-winning celebrant, Miranda is also a master coach, and she’s booked out solid for the next 2 years, so she knows a thing or two about attracting your ideal clients. Here she shares her insights and wisdom to help you define your ideal clients.

Why Defining Your Ideal Client Matters

“When I first became a celebrant,” Miranda reflects, “I thought I could go out there and do every ceremony under the sun.” This common approach, while tempting, proved ineffective. She learned through experience that understanding your ideal client drives every aspect of marketing and leads to more meaningful connections with couples and families.

The benefits of clear client definition extend beyond marketing – it saves time and money, creates more authentic experiences, and makes ceremony writing more intuitive when you truly understand your clients’ perspectives.

The Myth of Being “For Everyone”

One of the most common pitfalls in celebrancy, as Miranda’s experience highlights, is the belief that casting a wider net will catch more fish. Many celebrants, especially when starting out, fear that specializing or showing their true personality will limit their opportunities. This often stems from a deeper fear – of not being enough, not getting enough bookings, or not being accepted for being different.

“I took any wedding that came my way for the first couple of years,” Miranda shares, “and I had some really difficult experiences that helped me realize that wasn’t the kind of vibe or couple I wanted to work with.” This common approach typically leads to:

• Diluted marketing messages that fail to resonate with anyone deeply
• Generic ceremony offerings that don’t truly excite either the celebrant or the client
• Exhaustion from trying to be all things to all people
• Marketing spend wasted on targeting the wrong audiences
• A disconnect between the celebrant’s authentic self and their public persona

The reality, counterintuitive as it may seem, is that the more specific you are about who you serve and how you serve them, the more likely you are to attract the right clients. When you fully embrace your unique style, interests, and approach:

• Your marketing becomes more authentic and effective
• You attract clients who appreciate your specific offerings
• Word-of-mouth referrals increase as your unique value becomes clear
• You build a stronger reputation in your chosen niche
• Your confidence grows as you work with clients who truly “get” you

AMC Graduate Martin Fox Roberts turned his ‘campness’ and love of drag into his own Celebrant Niche, becoming the UK’s first Drag Celebrant – now he combines British Sign Language, Drag and Celebrancy in one business that feels authentically him and that his couples love!

Creating Your Ideal Client Profile

Miranda recommends creating a detailed profile through several practical exercises:

1. Write a Detailed Story: Create a comprehensive narrative of your ideal client, including their demographics, interests, and ceremony preferences. Miranda’s own ideal wedding couples, for example, are typically in their 30s, based in the Greater London area, and share interests in gaming, fantasy novels, and alternative culture.
2. Complete Your Own Questionnaire: Take your client questionnaire and complete it as if you were your ideal client. This exercise helps you understand their perspective and refine your marketing message.
3. Create Two Lists: Document both the qualities you want in clients and those you prefer to avoid. This clarity helps target your marketing more effectively and ensures better client matches.

Putting Theory into Practice

Miranda’s success with this approach is evident in her results. More than half of her current bookings match her ideal client profile, leading to deeply satisfying working relationships. She shares a recent example: “My last wedding of the year perfectly fits this profile – a couple into cosplay, Dungeons and Dragons, and history, getting married in a castle. We completely geeked out together, which resulted in a great friendship and made writing their ceremony so much more authentic.”

Adapting Across Different Ceremonies

While Miranda’s examples focus primarily on weddings, she emphasizes that these principles apply equally to all ceremony types. She’s successfully adapted this approach to funeral and farewell ceremonies, targeting families seeking alternative, personalized celebrations rather than traditional services.

Marketing Implications

Understanding your ideal client significantly impacts where and how you market your services. Miranda learned this lesson early when she invested in general wedding fairs with zero returns. Now, she carefully selects alternative and quirky wedding fairs where her ideal clients are likely to attend. Before investing in any fair, she recommends visiting as a guest first to assess the audience fit.

Evolution Over Time

An important note from Miranda is that your ideal client profile can and should evolve. What works now might change in a year or two, and that’s perfectly normal. The key is maintaining awareness of who you most enjoy working with and adjusting your profile accordingly.

Practical Steps to Get Started

If you’re struggling to identify your ideal client, Miranda suggests:

• Reflect on past ceremonies you’ve particularly enjoyed
• Consider the types of clients you naturally connect with
• Document specific details about their demographics, interests, and ceremony preferences
• Use this information to guide your marketing decisions and brand development

Looking for inspiration? Check out some of Miranda’s ideal client ceremonies.

Go where you’re celebrated!

Defining your ideal client isn’t about excluding potential business – it’s about focusing your energy and resources where they’ll be most effective.

As Miranda’s success demonstrates, it’s often the celebrants who dare to be different – who embrace their love of alternative ceremonies, their quirky interests, or their unique approach – who find the most fulfilling and sustainable success. Her story of connecting with couples over shared interests in gaming, fantasy, and alternative culture shows how leaning into your authentic self can create not just professional success but genuine connections and enjoyment in your work.

Remember, there are couples and families out there looking for exactly what makes you unique. By trying to appeal to everyone, you risk connecting with no one. Instead, celebrate what makes you different and let it guide you to the clients who will value your distinct approach.

Remember, this process takes time and might require some trial and error. The key is to remain open to learning from each experience while staying true to your authentic celebrancy style.