How to transition to working as a celebrant

[howtohelphusband]

DH works full-time as a teacher and wants to retrain as a celebrant. I can't work out how to make this possible, if he retrains in his current job he won't be able to take any time off to do anyone's funerals. But if he leaves we won't have enough income while he builds up his business.

He could maybe find something more casual eg supermarket delivery driver, but he has a three-month notice period and I doubt those casual jobs would wait three months, so I'd imagine he'd have to give up his current job with no other job lined up to go to which is worrying financially.

Any ideas on how to transition?

I used to be a funeral arranger and I'd say the most difficult thing will be getting his first gigs. Because of the nature of the job, I only ever booked celebrants I knew, as I had to be confident they would do a good job on the day (can't redo a funeral!) I used to get contacted frequently by new celebrants who wanted business.
If he goes ahead, I would suggest that on his business website he includes short clips of him speaking in some capacity, as when I was researching new celebrants it helped to get an idea of the persons style and their voice.
All of our non-religious celebrants charged a fee (unless it was a child's funeral where they would waive their costs).

I know two people who work as celebrants. One has been doing it 10 years and uses it to supplement her pension - she's late 70s which is her USP, some people prefer an older woman. She generally gets enough funerals for the amount of work she wants to do, but it's not reliable - you get dry spells, you have to tout for business regularly, and it can be a cut-throat industry in terms of gossip and bad-mouthing others. Being 'busy' brings its own problems.

The other person uses it to supplement her income as a carer. She came to it when the market in her town was already saturated, and is struggling to get jobs.

Neither is earning anywhere near 30k from it, and both say it can be quite taxing emotionally and you tend to work many evenings and weekends as that's when people are free.

Think carefully. It's extremely hard to make a living at this. A friend of mine has recently started and seems to be doing okay, but he has a niche target market and is investing heavily in marketing, exhibiting at wedding fares etc. I really hope it works out for him.

I doubt you get many bookings just sending your details into funeral directors/wedding venues - they will prefer to work with celebrants they know.

It's not as simple as X bookings @Y fee = Z salary. Like all businesses, it will have costs that come out of the fees, leaving profit. Eg
Liability insurance
Registration fees
Travel costs
Marketing costs
Accountant fees
Public Music license if he is providing music at his ceremonies, plus music library membership

Recommend income protection insurance
Decent vehicle
Appropriate clothing (unlikely to be tax-deductible)

Pension, tax and national insurance

I suspect that is Glastonbury Goddess temple, they provide a full legal wedding/handfasting package with lots included. I can assure you that anyone charging £999 for just the ceremony will not be very busy !!
I do approximately two handfastings and 1 funeral each month. The funeral usually involves pastoral visits. The handfastings are generally done at ritual sites or events.
I am a Druidess, High Priestess and a Volva so have the luxury of word of mouth in our community. Also as I have done quite a few funerals, I am recommended by local funeral directors and the local crem. As a hospital visitor/chaplain my name is known there too. As someone else said you need to get your name out there. The regulars tend to be booked. So when he trains, visit the local funeral directors etc.

That's so interesting @nevertrustanyoneagain what a lovely thing to do for people. It's beautiful that you do hospital visits too.