I’ll give you the honest answer first, because I think prospective celebrants deserve straight talk rather than a sales pitch dressed up as advice: legally, no. Celebrancy is not a regulated profession in the UK at this time. Anyone can call themselves a celebrant and start taking bookings tomorrow, with no training at all.
So why does training matter? Let me explain what I’ve seen over the years, both as someone who trains celebrants and as someone who spent thirty years coaching businesses before I ever became one myself.
What “unregulated” actually means in practice
Because there’s no legal requirement, the quality of celebrants out there varies enormously. Some are wonderful and self-taught. Others have simply decided this looks like meaningful work, put up a website, and started without ever learning how to structure a ceremony, hold space for a grieving family, or handle the moment when something goes wrong on the day (because something eventually will).
Families and couples generally can’t tell the difference from a website alone. They find out when they meet you, in the consultation, in how you handle their story, and on the day itself. That’s where training shows, not on a certificate.
What accredited training actually gives you
My training is all either NOCN-endorsed or CPD-accredited, which means it’s been assessed against an external standard rather than one I’ve simply decided is good enough myself. Practically, that gives you two things: a credential that means something when a family or a funeral director is deciding whether to trust you, and, more importantly, a genuinely structured foundation in the craft itself.
That foundation covers things that are very hard to pick up by trial and error: how to structure a ceremony so it holds together emotionally as well as logistically, how to write a tribute or a set of vows that sounds like the people involved rather than like a template, and how to navigate difficult family dynamics without making things worse. It also covers the business side properly, which most training providers barely touch. Given my background before celebrancy, that’s an area I don’t skip over.
A word on the wider picture
You may have seen that the Ministry of Justice is currently consulting on wedding law reform, sometimes referred to as the “Tying the Knot” consultation. It’s a genuinely significant piece of work and it may, in time, change how ceremonies are legally recognised in England and Wales. But whatever comes of it, it won’t change what makes someone good at this work: skill, judgement, and proper preparation. That part has never depended on regulation, and it won’t start to.
So, do you need qualifications?
Not legally. But if you want families to trust you with the most significant days of their lives, and you want the confidence to handle whatever those days throw at you, proper training isn’t a box-ticking exercise. It’s the difference between performing the role and actually being ready for it.
If you’d like to see what that training involves, my free guide, [Transitioning to a Celebrant Career], is a good starting point, or we can talk it through directly in an Informed Decision Session.
Warmly,
Dinah She/Her