Beyond The Ceremony Podcast Ep 3: Why Does Celebrancy Matter?

Join us for a heartfelt conversation about the meaningful impact celebrants have on life’s most significant moments! 

In this episode, host Laura Crockett welcomes fellow AMC mentor and celebrant sister, Tara the Celebrant (Tara Heath-Arnold), to explore the profound importance of celebrancy.

Tara shares her journey from a fast-paced corporate career in financial recruitment to finding her true calling as a celebrant. 

After completing a Master’s in English Literature and taking time to reassess her career path, Tara discovered celebrancy (thanks to her husband’s suggestion that she should “marry someone like John Barrowman!”).

Highlights

💎 The Emotional Significance of Ceremonies – Tara and Laura discuss why celebrant-led ceremonies create such profound connections during life’s milestone moments.

💎 Being a “Safe Pair of Hands” – Why celebrants must be prepared for both when things go right and when they don’t quite go according to plan.

💎 Cultural and Religious Flexibility – How independent celebrants can weave together different traditions, faiths, and cultural elements to create truly personalized ceremonies.

💎 The Beauty of Ongoing Relationships – Tara shares the joy of being invited back to mark multiple milestones with the same families, from weddings to naming ceremonies.

💎 Transferable Skills – Discover how skills from previous careers—public speaking, people engagement, and storytelling—can make celebrancy a perfect second career.

💎 Finding Your People – Why consistency and visibility matter in building a successful celebrancy business, and how “your people will find you” when you’re authentic.

Whether you’re considering celebrancy as a career path or simply interested in understanding what makes celebrant-led ceremonies so special, this conversation offers valuable insights into the heart and soul of this meaningful profession.

Tara’s Advice for Aspiring Celebrants: 

“If your gut instinct is telling you this is right for you and you have the right skills for it, then go for it, but give yourself time as well… You’ve got to be consistent, you’ve got to be visible, and you’ve got to take the highs with the lows… Your people will find you.”

Considering celebrancy as your next career move?

Tara offers this advice: “If your gut instinct is telling you this is right for you and you have the right skills for it, then go for it, but give yourself time… It takes time, and you’ve got to be consistent, and you’ve got to be visible, and you’ve got to take the highs with the lows, because that’s what life is.”

Take our quiz and find out if celebrancy could be your perfect career path!

💒 Beyond The Ceremony Podcast: Modern Celebrancy. Unfiltered. 💒

Everything you need to know about how to succeed as a modern celebrant. From top tips on how to create unforgettable ceremonies, to success stories from some of the best in the biz, we will give you a behind-the-scenes look into life as a celebrant. Hosted by Laura Crockett, Award-winning Celebrant, radio personality, and celebrant mentor at the Academy of Modern Celebrancy.

Learn more about The Academy of Modern Celebrancy here.

MEET TARA

After a long career within the financial recruitment industry, progressing from the position of Sales Support to Regional Director, Tara decided it was time to step away from the corporate world.   

She then completed a bucket list ambition to study for a master’s in English literature before retraining as a Celebrant in 2019.   

 Since then, Tara has applied a multi-layered approach to building her business and, in the last five years, has developed some excellent relationships across the wedding and funeral industries.  

Tara is extremely passionate about her career within the Celebrant world and is not only an experienced wedding and funeral Celebrant, but she is also a champion and lead mentor for the Academy of Modern Celebrancy,  a role that she loves.   

Tara lives in Malmesbury, Wiltshire, with her husband Jules, their two dogs Mitchell and Mindy, and their two Norwegian Forest Cats Zeus and Zelda.   

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MEET YOUR HOST, LAURA

Laura has been an independent celebrant for 5 years and absolutely loves it. It makes her so proud seeing how far she’s come in that time. Laura feels like she’s found her calling and is so excited to keep progressing and growing her Celebrant business! Laura creates all kinds of ceremonies, including Weddings, Funerals, Vow Renewals, and Naming Ceremonies. Before she was a celebrant, Laura was a breakfast radio presenter, so her happy place is either at the front of a ceremony or sitting behind a microphone!

At home, Laura is married to Johnathan (a primary school teacher and her biggest cheerleader) and a mummy to two boys – Woody and Dougie. Laura is also a dog mum to Betty and Barney, the cockapoos! They can often be found curled up by her side when she’s writing scripts or lying by the radiator in the office when she’s on couples calls! 

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