I get asked this a lot, usually in the first few minutes of a conversation with someone who is thinking about training. They tell me they’re drawn to celebrancy. Then they pause, slightly apologetically, and say “but I’m not sure if I mean weddings or funerals.”
Here’s the first thing I want you to know: you don’t have to know yet. But it’s worth thinking it through properly, because the two paths, while they share a foundation, ask something quite different of you.
What draws people to each
Wedding celebrants are usually pulled towards the creativity and joy of the work. You get to help two people tell their story in front of everyone who loves them. And there is real craft in making a ceremony feel personal rather than generic. It suits people who love writing with warmth and a bit of flair. Who enjoy the planning process as much as the day itself. And who don’t mind the seasonal rhythm of the job (weddings cluster heavily between spring and autumn).
Funeral celebrants are usually pulled towards something steadier. You are walking into someone’s worst week and offering them a version of steadiness they can lean on. It suits people who are comfortable sitting with grief without needing to fix it. Who can write a tribute that sounds like the person who died rather than like a template. And who don’t mind that the phone can ring with very little notice.
Neither is “easier” than the other. They are simply different.
You don’t have to choose forever
Plenty of the celebrants I’ve trained do both. Some start with weddings and add funeral work a year or two in, once they’ve built confidence and a bit of financial breathing room. Others start with funerals, because the need in their community is more immediate, and pick up wedding work later as their name grows.
What I’d gently push back on is starting both at once, right at the beginning. Learning to hold space for grief and learning to choreograph a joyful ceremony are both genuinely skilled crafts. Doing justice to either while you’re brand new is hard enough without doing both simultaneously. It’s why I often suggest a three month gap between taking my funeral celebrant and wedding celebrant programmes.
Questions worth sitting with
Rather than asking “which is right”, I’d ask yourself these:
– What kind of days do I actually want more of in my working life?
– Where does my existing life experience point me? (Former nurses, teachers and social workers often find funeral work draws on skills they already have. People with a background in events or hospitality often take naturally to weddings.)
– Do I want steady, more predictable enquiries throughout the year, or am I happy with a season that’s busier than others?
– How do I want to build my income? Funeral work often becomes about the relationships you build with funeral directors as much as with families directly. Wedding work is usually more about your own visibility and marketing.
The practical side
Wedding fees currently sit higher per ceremony than most funeral fees, but wedding work is more seasonal and more competitive to be found for. Funeral work tends to be steadier across the year and, once you’ve built good relationships locally, can bring more consistent bookings, though pricing conversations there are shaped by a different set of dynamics.
Neither path is the “sensible” choice and neither is the “creative” one. They’re just different shapes of practice.
You don’t need to decide before we speak
This is exactly the kind of thing we work through together if you come to an Informed Decision Session with me. I’m not going to tell you which path to choose, but having trained celebrants across both for years, I can usually help you see fairly quickly where your energy naturally sits.
If you’d like to start exploring this in your own time first, my free guide, [Transitioning to a Celebrant Career], is a good place to begin.
Warmly,
Dinah, She/Her