What It’s Really Like to Train as a Celebrant with the AMC

Ever wondered what it’s really like to train as a Celebrant? We’re taking you behind the scenes to share 3 AMC graduate experiences of training with us. We share the highs and highs of following your dream and grabbing life with both hands.

Whether you’re looking to bring more variety into your routine, find meaningful work that touches people’s lives, or discover a creative outlet that works around your existing commitments—training as a celebrant with the Academy of Modern Celebrancy (AMC) represents an investment in your own future happiness.

Finding Your Path to Celebrancy

Many people discover celebrancy at unexpected moments. Charlotte Green found her calling after experiencing profound loss: “Three and a half years ago, my husband died. As a family, it felt really important to do a ceremony for him that was really fitting and very honoring of his life. I think the thing that I learned was just how healing and therapeutic in the longer run a ceremony like that can be.”

For Wedding Celebrant Tony, inspiration struck at his own wedding: “Five and a half years ago, my wife and I got married, we had a wedding from a humanist celebrant because we were not religious. The ceremony was just so personal, it was about us, it was our story. Our audience or guests felt so engaged throughout the whole ceremony… A light bulb went off.”

Julie Kemp, who had worked in business development and event management for 35 years, found her way to celebrancy after redundancy during COVID-19: “I had a light bulb moment at my uncle’s funeral, which inspired me to become a celebrant.”

Balancing Training with Life’s Demands

One of the most common concerns about training for a new career is fitting it around existing commitments. The AMC’s flexible learning approach addresses this brilliantly.

Tony explains how he managed his training whilst maintaining his full-time job: “I think I did the wedding course in about three months. Because of the way it is, you can piecemeal it, you can watch the tutorials, and you can make your notes. I then generally watched it again, then started my assignments. But you can do it in piecemeal. So I could spend an evening or two a week and perhaps some time on this Sunday doing it. You don’t have to spend every single night on it. You can fit it in and around everything else you’re doing.”

Julie specifically chose celebrancy to accommodate her family responsibilities: “My son starting school was a deciding factor in choosing celebrancy as a career.” She appreciated being able to “complete her training while on furlough” which gave her the perfect opportunity to transition careers whilst balancing family life.

Support That Makes All the Difference

The journey to becoming a celebrant isn’t one you take alone. The AMC prides itself on creating a supportive community for trainees and graduates alike.

Charlotte highlights this aspect: “I do feel part of a bigger team. When you go out to funeral directors, or when you go out to do ceremonies, you stand on your own, it feels like you stand on your own, but actually, it does feel like I’ve got my little team behind me. And that’s a really, really lovely feeling.”

She shares a telling example: “I did a funeral on Monday. And I had a question that came into my mind, literally a few minutes before I was setting off. I just put it on to a WhatsApp group of people from the academy who I’ve done some extra training with. And I got like three replies in about 10 minutes.”

Tony also values the community aspect: “The Q&A sessions were brilliant… There are people that are just starting out, they’ve got queries that people like myself who have graduated can learn from. And then you’ve always got a mentor there that’s been doing it for years and has all of that knowledge to bring across.”

Starting Anew: Midlife Career Changes

Many people worry about changing careers later in life, but celebrancy embraces the wealth of experience that comes with age.

Tony, with 30 years in accountancy, found his professional skills transferable: “I’ve always had to do presentations and meet with managers, budget managers, shareholders. Once I started doing my acting, I found that my presentation skills had improved a lot. Because if you can perform in front of 200 people, all eyes on you, you can present something to a roomful of people.”

Julie’s extensive business development and event management background naturally complemented her new career: “I feel that my previous experience in business development and event management will be beneficial in my celebrancy career.”

For Charlotte, her 12 years in healthcare supporting mental and physical health provides a strong foundation for supporting families through emotional ceremonies: “I’ve spent over 12 years working with people supporting mental and physical health and well being, so that was really important to me, helping other people.”

Read More: A light-filled, creative, gift of a journey: Charlotte Green on becoming a funeral celebrant

The Rewarding Reality of Being a Celebrant

Becoming a celebrant offers multiple benefits that appeal to people at different stages of life and with varying goals.

Flexibility and Work-Life Balance

Tony, who’s thinking ahead to retirement, values the freedom celebrancy will give him: “It’s more around health as well, and wellbeing. We all know what it’s like to work nine to five, five days a week, year on year, and to be able to manage my own time and do things when it suits is better for my health and wellbeing, as well as my family.”

He also appreciates the variety of settings: “I’m actually looking forward to the different venues. Being a celebrant means you can perform a ceremony anywhere… So I’m going to perform a ceremony, once I’m done, I can visit the local area, and enjoy that.”

Julie emphasizes how her celebrancy career works around her son’s school schedule: She’s enjoying her daily routine of taking her son to school, working as a celebrant, and doing additional work at night or on weekends.

Creative Fulfillment

Charlotte found celebrancy rekindled her creativity: “I’ve also rediscovered and uncovered parts of myself that have been dormant or squashed down by the work that I’ve done in recent years. So particularly things like creativity, it’s been so lovely to do more creative stuff around it.”

For Tony, who has always enjoyed performing in amateur dramatics, celebrancy offers another outlet for expression: “I love performing.” he shared with us!

Personal Growth

Charlotte views her training as a profound gift to herself: “My own personal journey into it, I feel like it’s doing the training has been an absolute gift to myself, I feel like I’ve learned a lot about myself.”

She advises potential trainees: “If you can see this as a real investment in yourself and a gift to yourself, and go in with that mindset, you know, the journey is an amazing, a lovely one.”

The Training Experience

AMC’s training is comprehensive and practical, focusing on real-world skills.

Tony appreciates the focus on creative writing: “The skills I’ve learned through the course, though, are the creative writing. That’s where my learning was. Because I was a bit concerned, am I going to be able to come up with something that’s good enough? And because you must write at least two scripts.” Fret not, your mentor is with you to support you on your journey, providing valuable feedback and suggestions.

Charlotte values the blend of pre-recorded expert tutorials and personal mentorship: “When you have elements of the training that’s pre-recorded, a lot of the core things that you need to learn can be learned really well. But the benefit of pre-recorded stuff is that you can self-pace, and you can also get some incredible industry experts to teach you.”

Julie highlighted the practical nature of the training: “She mentions the practical aspects of the training, such as assignments that required her to think on her feet and research different cultural ceremonies.”

Building Your Business

The AMC doesn’t just teach celebrancy skills—it helps graduates establish successful businesses.

Charlotte explains her early marketing approach: “No one wants to think about death rarely or talk about funerals unless you really have to. So it’s an interesting one, I suppose what I’m doing really is, is just starting the conversation a little bit, and gently showing people what I do and what goes into having a celebrant lead ceremony for a funeral.”

Julie worked with the Academy on her marketing strategy, including working with wedding venues and funeral directors.

Tony had a methodical approach to building his business: “Basically the first year, I’m focussed on getting the enquiries turned into bookings. I wasn’t expecting a flood, I expected at the start it would be a trickle. So I focused on building the business, my reputation, my contacts, and all my networking.”

The AMC Difference

The Academy of Modern Celebrancy stands out for its comprehensive training and ongoing support. As Charlotte notes: “That combination of really good quality teaching and a real family feel of support.”

The supportive community continues after graduation, with Julie noting: “The family-like atmosphere at the Academy, where everyone celebrates and supports each other.”

Tony has experienced this first-hand: “My mentor was there whenever I needed. I sent off an email with questions, it was answered really promptly. And if I needed to chat, she was there.”

Take Your First Step Into Celebrancy

If you’re inspired by these stories and ready to explore a fulfilling career that can work around your life, the Academy of Modern Celebrancy offers industry-leading training that combines flexibility with excellence.

Our courses provide access to expert tutors, a supportive community, and all the practical skills you need to succeed—whether you’re looking for a full career change or a rewarding side hustle.

Visit our course pages to explore our comprehensive Master Celebrancy Training, Wedding Celebrant, Funeral Celebrant, and Naming Celebrant training programmes. With flexible payment options and self-paced learning, your journey to becoming a certified celebrant can begin today.

Don’t just dream about a career you’ll love—take the first step and discover if celebrancy could be your calling.