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Butterfly Ceremony

Monday, October 14, 2013

Celebrant fees

Hi guys, I hope you are all well and those of you have up coming weddings or any celebration I hope that everything is going to plan. At the end of the day you want a memorable occasion with everyone commenting on how beautiful the dresses were or how great the food at the reception or the cake was to die for or wow what a lovely ceremony. All these things to make any occasion wonderful do not have to cost the earth but make sure you get what you pay for...........Professionalism, experience, expertise, knowledge and presence. These are the qualities you should look for in any wedding provider. I too often read on bridal sites on Facebook about brides wanting a "cheap" celebrant "They are all so expensive and so old!" "I know one that charges $295" I read about these as I get referred by my clients. Not that I am cheap! No way am I cheap. I am not expensive but not cheap! And maybe the "so old" ones are more experienced and this is their passion, their life, their full time job not just a weekend job to get a few extra bucks on top of their other employment like the younger ones! I cannot believe that any Celebrant could charge less than the Registry Office charge of $507.00 where you do not get a choice of ceremony, where there can only be a dozen people attending the ceremony, where there is no warmth or caring or personal touch between the officiate and the bride and groom. That is not a memorable ceremony! Those that charge less than that price are not being true to their profession nor to their peers in that profession. Recently I have had a couple that were so unhappy with their elcheapo celebrant that they came to me with five weeks to go before the wedding. This celebrant did not even give them any indication of what their ceremony was to be like, gave them nothing, no wedding book, sample vows or poems and have not contacted them and when she did after an email from my client she said she had been too busy. This is not acceptable. This celebrant might be very busy with all these cheap weddings but where is the warmth, the caring, the personal touch. They may as well go to the Registry Office. I would like to finish by adding something that I always place in my wedding book, the book I give my clients after they engage me as their celebrant. In it, it has lots of readings, poems, rituals, ceremony choices and vows and so much more. Please read what I have written below and when you are looking for a Celebrant just think twice as to what is more important. Not all in a day’s work "Why do Officiates charge so much for a half hour of work?" (Please keep in mind that Ministers, Priests, etc. collect a salary plus receive an honorarium. ...an Officiate does not. Our fee is our income.) It takes an average of 10 hours of work per ceremony: - Consultations - scheduling - Emails, phone calls - Sometimes research for a particular ceremony (Definitely the benefit of tons of research over the years + education / training) - Ceremony prep, proof-reads, approvals, updates, modifications, last minute changes, re-approvals - Ceremony practice time - travel time + mileage to & from rehearsal - Waiting before rehearsal -coordinating rehearsal - travel time + mileage to & from wedding - Waiting before ceremony - performing ceremony - Sometimes mingling after ceremony - Paperwork, paperwork... paperwork. ..Overhead costs (including advertising) - (not to mention the time lost with their own significant others on the weekends, some Friday night & Saturday and Sunday, when significant others are at home) Average 10 - 15hrs per ceremony Here's the most important part: Your Officiate is a licensed professional without which there would be no marriage. It is the least expensive cost in the typical wedding, yet the only part that is really required. You can have a wedding without flowers or centrepieces. You can't have a legal marriage without an Officiate. Be careful where you cut your corners! :) ************************* Not forgetting the Celebrant's PA system. The most common complaint that the Attorney Generals Dept gets from couples is that on the day of the ceremony it could not be heard. To keep up to date with the latest and most proficient and reliable systems it costs money. I started with a great system but it only took CDS, now my latest system a Mipro 202 is small but has a great sound and also is capable of taking either a USB, Ipod or Iphone and MP3 to play the ceremonial music. take care guys warm regards Glenda Davison CMC JP www.coastalcelebrations.com.au glennie50davison@aol.com 0414839269

1 comment:

  1. We’re passionate about recording all those precious moments that make up your special wedding day

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