My name is Ellie Farrell, and I’m a Celebrant Trainer, and I have been one for around 13 years. I am the founder of Choice Celebrant Training. It seems these days there are many celebrant trainers, with new training businesses appearing everywhere. If you are interested in training to be a celebrant, how do you know which training company or person is right for you?

I’m a Celebrant Trainer, Get Me Out of Here!

Online searches for celebrant training will show results for a large amount of established, lone working celebrant trainers and companies. It seems there are a certain amount of celebrants starting their own training businesses, which can be equally welcoming and concerning. Welcoming if they are training celebrants in specific styles of ceremony and ritual, concerning if they are lacking in the experience, knowledge and requirements to train people to be the future of celebrancy. Why, ‘I’m a Celebrant Trainer, get me out of here’? well, I’m a Celebrant Trainer who is very different to others. I have ‘earned my stripes’ as the saying goes, and I want to make a difference as people require more than Christian based ceremonies.

When people embark on celebrant training, they expect to be able to work as a celebrant once the training has been completed. What if the training didn’t teach you all you need to know about your preferred style of ceremony writing? Most celebrant training teaches the same course content to every person who signs up. What if you want to be an alternative, spiritual, Pagan, subculture based or specialising celebrant? Where can you learn these styles of ceremony creation? The answer, from me I’m a Celebrant Trainer in addition to being a celebrant and a ceremonialist.

A celebrant is a person who writes and performs ceremonies. A ceremonialist designs, crafts and performs ceremonies using rituals, creating space, holding space and much more. Celebrants may also do this, but ceremonialists are specifically trained in the creation and delivery of ceremony and holding space.

Research Celebrant Training

There are online only courses, residential courses, group training and 1-2-1 training. It can be frustrating, and off putting for those seeking wedding and funeral celebrant training. Choosing the right person or company to train you is essential and cost effective. I have trained many celebrants who orignally trained elsewhere and found what they were taught wasn’t adequate for their needs.

Questions to ask include asking about their experience

Are they working as a celebrant(s)?
How many ceremonies have they created and performed as a celebrant?
Why did they decide to become a Celebrant Trainer?
Have they got an adult teaching qualification?
How long have they been training celebrants?
How many celebrants have they trained?

The training they offer

What kind of celebrant training do they offer?
Do they offer individualised training such an alternative/spiritual?
If so, what experience have they got in these/ your required area of celebrancy?
Is it mainly video watching or coursework based?
Is it self-guided training or with a Celebrant Trainer?
Can you choose who you want to be your Celebrant Trainer if it is a company, or are you assigned any Celebrant Trainer?
What course materials do they provide?
How frequently are the course materials they train from updated?
Can you contact others who have been trained by them?
Are you guaranteed to receive a certificate because you paid for a course or do you receive one based on the work you put into the course?
How long is the course completion timeframe?

Support and your learning

Would you choose to receive directed training on an individual basis, or would you prefer to choose group training learning the same content as everyone else on the course?
Is there a yearly fee to stay a member of the association/training company?
Do they offer member discounts on additional courses?
Do they have CPD or celebrant refresher courses?
How important is it to you to receive a nationally recognised qualification in celebrancy, even though currently they aren’t any requirements to have a nationally recognised qualification to work as a funeral or wedding celebrant?
Do they offer post-training support with 1-2-1 access to their Celebrant Trainer?

Ellie Farrell, Experienced Celebrant Trainer

As a Celebrant Trainer, I specialise in alternative ceremonies (obviously) handfasting, subculture based ceremonies, Goth themed ceremonies, Pagan ceremonies (I am a Pagan Priestess), spiritual ceremonies and life centred funerals. I am an award winning established celebrant, working across the UK, based in Whitby North Yorkshire.

I have four celebrant businesses, and I am the Founder of Choice Celebrant Training, the first (and currently the only) training company to train people based on what kind of celebrant they want to be. All of our training is unique to each person.

We are the originators of self-guided, personalised and alternative celebrant training
Choice Celebrant Training

My experience as a Celebrant Trainer

Working as a celebrant and a Celebrant Trainer is my full time job
I have been a celebrant for around 14 years, and I have led hundreds of ceremonies
I was asked to become a Celebrant Trainer by the CEO and Lead Tutor of the company who trained me to be a celebrant. Back then I was required to have created and led 100 ceremonies before I was considered to train to become a Celebrant Trainer.
I have a teaching qualification, and an adult teaching qualification
I have been training celebrants for around 13 years
I have trained over 650 celebrants

The training I offer

I offer 1-2-1 video call based wedding, funeral, handfasting and life events celebrant training
I teach alternative, spiritual, Pagan and modern training, all chosen by each individual who trains
As an original alternative celebrant who specialises in handfasting, and possibly the only Goth Celebrant in the UK (a big claim but I am unaware of another), I am exceptionally experienced to offer this kind of training
Training isn’t video based and completing ceremonies if part of it
All training sessions are between each student and Celebrant Trainer
You can choose who you want to be your Celebrant Trainer as I have two other Celebrant Trainer’s working with me.
Course materials provided included how to design a ceremony
Course materials are updated twice a year
You can contact others who have been trained by myself or by those working with me
Certificates are earned through demonstrating the necessary skills required to work as a celebrant
Course completion timeframes vary between 5 and 10 months depending on what kind of course you take

Support and your learning

The training I provide is determined by what kind of celebrant you want to be, this is why group training isn’t available. All training is personalised to each person
There isn’t an annual fee to be part of the celebrant community we have created
Discounts are available on additional courses
CPD (continued professional development) and refresher courses are available
As there currently isn’t any requirement to hold any national recognised qualifications in any area of celebrancy I do not teach unnecessary information. I teach student celebrants all they need to know to instantly start and maintain their business
I give post-course support to all who I train, and also support and advise celebrants who ask for advice

There are Too Many Celebrants

‘There are too many celebrants. There isn’t enough work to go around.’ This statement is commonly read, said and heard in social media groups and in conversation. It is correct if the statement reads:

‘there are too many celebrants creating the same style of ceremonies as each other, because this is what they were taught to do in their training’.

How many coffee shops are there? Lots across the UK, but new ones are still opening in towns and cities. A cappuccino can only have a few personal taste changes such as decaf coffee, type of beans, adding sugar or sweeteners, flavoured syrups or non-dairy milk; but it is still a cappuccino. What if a new coffee shop opens and it offers a completely different kind of cappuccino. Would you try it or stick to the same drink everyone else buys?

We also need more alternative, progressive, creative and unique celebrants. People deserve choice, and I’m a Celebrant Trainer who gives student celebrants the opportunity to choose.

For further information on celebrant training (or recommendations for a new kind of cappuccino), please contact me.