I'd really like to see you win as a celebrant

The biggest indicator as to how I/Josh am/is going is to see which day of the month this monthy celebrancy email is sent on. If I send it on the last day of the month before so it lands in your inbox on the first day of the month, then my life is in order (or my kids haven't seen me), then my status slowly deprecates to sending the email on the 6th day of the month from the Sydney Qantas Lounge waiting on a delayed flight home after being on the road around Tasmania, New South Wales, and Tasmania for three weeks.

So, hi from the airport, let's get to the meat of this month's Celebrant Institute email.

Annual Celebrant Registration Charge

If you haven't paid your annual invoice, drop everything, go pay it right now. Search for Annual Celebrant Registration Charge in your email inbox and pay it.

Go to marriage.ag.gov.au/mcportal now!

Did you pay it already? If so, you can keep on reading.

How I used ChatGPT at a wedding fair

A few weeks ago I was at the Hobart Wedding Trail (hosted by, and works by, some of the loveliest humans you'll meet) and in my hotel room that morning I realised I hadn't set up a way to take details and follow up leads.

So I made a QR code that fired off a Zapier routine that got ChatGPT to write the couple an email and send them my fees.

Want to see how I did it? The screen share of me doing it is on the celebrant institute website now.

Do you want to be on TV, radio, and podcasts as the celebrant in the know?

My career took off when I was on the Channel 9 Today Show almost ten years ago, and I'd love to see you have similar success. My whole brand is built off the back of having a great product, delivering a great service, and exposing that product on the media - in print, on TV and radio and in podcasts.

Our friends at In The Media DIY have a course teaching you how to do it and readers of this newsletter get a big discount, and paid members of the Celebrant Institute get an even bigger one.

Find out about the course and get your coupon code on the website.

Do you need coaching on your customer sales journey

Many people have a hard time making decisions because they don't know what is important, or where the next step is. That's the value in creating a finely-tuned customer journey.

Part of my work in recent months has been in guiding wedding clients through something different and that has exposed me to many of your and my friends websites, client journeys, price guides, information packs, etc.

We need to put some work into it. I spend time every week with celebrants like you giving them feedback on their customer journey and identifying where couples could be getting stuck and not enquiring or not booking. If you'd like me to help you in that way, let's schedule a call soon.

Things not to do as a celebrant

I'm the first one to advocate for all of us to express our passion for celebrancy in our own particular way, but I will go as far as saying today that I don't think you should shoot anyone at a wedding you're officiating.

PA system advice update

Some of you requested clearer details on which PA system and microphones I'm recommending so the post on the website has been updated.

That's another monthly email from myself (Josh) and Sarah at the Celebrant Institute. As always, paid members can reach out for support on any celebrancy issue they're facing, marriage legals, marketing, business systems and support, and client liaison at https://celebrant.institute/ask

You are enjoying another Celebrant Institute production and you're receiving this email because you're a celebrant. If you aren't a celebrant then I don't know how you ended up here. If you've been forwarded this update and you'd like to subscribe for free, you can do that here.