From Chaos to Ceremony: Simplifying the Client Journey for Celebrants

For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved stories. Especially love stories! 

I believe that I have a skill for taking a love story and re-telling it in a succinct, creative and possibly more dramatic and amusing way than the participants in that love story might.  

All this means that I am a great celebrant!

I also love all things ‘celebrancy’ and will happily chat about weddings and our role in them, all day, every day. Supporting other celebrants reach their potential as celebrants is another passion.  Which makes me a great Local Leader for The Celebrant Society (TCS). 

What I don’t love, and what I am not good at, is admin. Which is where 17hats comes in and saves the day, or multiple wedding days! 

Admin Overload and Avoidance as a Marriage Celebrant

Being a sole trader, working in events that mostly happen outside of ‘business hours’, my inbox and indeed my ‘work days’ are anything but linear. At any hour of the day, I am engaging with couples just starting out their wedding planning, to getting to know my couples VERY well, to celebrating their love stories at their wedding. All whilst making sure that I am doing everything required to ensure that they are legally married. 

Then, there is the admin that comes with running and, hopefully, growing a business. I am also liaising with my fellow TCS Leadership Team Members and supporting our members with any and all questions that they have about celebrancy. Throw in some online shopping, all business-related obviously, and you have an inbox that could (and did) quickly spiral out of control! 

This is where 17hats comes in, turning all that chaos into calm, helping me create a much more organised and approachable experience for both my couples and myself. 

What is The Celebrant Society?

The Celebrant Society is a professional association that helps celebrants to start, build and grow successful businesses in a very supportive community. We’re the work colleagues, Cele-Besties and support crew that you NEED as sole traders and solo-preneurs. Through our annual conferences, regular meet-ups, online catch-ups, expert webinars, and members’ forum, we provide our members with the space to ask all of their questions. With a membership of close to 500 members, with experience ranging from decades to months in the business, we are a priceless resource of knowledge and insight, guided by the principle of ‘Community over Competition’. 

Which is why one of the FIRST things that our members recommend new celebrants do is to set up a CRM! It’s a classic, ‘learn from our mistakes’, and get a CRM early on. This is why The Celebrant Society have partnered with 17hats because so many of our members are already full-fledged 17hats devotees and cannot imagine running their business without it. 

Before 17hats, where chaos reigned supreme! 

And here’s why…

Like many a celebrant before me, I started my celebrant business with a DIY website that, well, was basic! And I added a third-party widget form for potential couples to enquire with me. This arrived in my inbox, and I had to log in to that third-party site to get the couple’s details. We then emailed back and forth to set up a time to meet. After this, I sent them a booking form and invoice that I also cobbled together with an online form to gather their information. 

Begrudgingly, I compiled this information into a spreadsheet, a paper diary, a paper wall planner, my phone’s calendar and an ever-increasing paper trail stuffed into manila folders. 

Of course… this ‘system’ very quickly became overwhelming and unsustainable.

I had very little information on 

• How my couples found me
• What stage of planning each couple was at
• If I were making money or even breaking even

The consequences of this were feeling very overwhelmed and ‘out of control’. I was missing IMPORTANT deadlines, double-handling paperwork, appearing unprofessional and frankly, not loving my business. 

And there was a not-so-little voice, being the overwhelming number of TCS Members, that kept telling me to ‘get a CRM!’ 

Enter 17hats and EVERYTHING in one place

One afternoon, I was sitting with my wise fellow celebrant, friend, and 17hats Ambassador, Zee Scott. I was peering over her shoulder as she zipped through her celebrant admin, never missing a date and with encyclopedic knowledge of all of her couples and what she needed for each one. Her screen was well laid out, in a pleasing text, evoked a strong fashion sense (I love a hat!) and was labelled 17hats. I wanted what she was having!  

I signed up for 17hats and dove straight in. Like all new systems, 17hats took a little time to get to know each other, but with all my colleagues at The Celebrant Society, and the 17hats online guides, I quickly established a SYSTEM!  And with that, my paper wall calendar and overwhelm went in the bin where they belonged.

How 17hats enables me to be a better Wedding Celebrant 

With 17hats, every touch point with my couples was suddenly in ONE place. 

Prospective couples enquired on my website, via my 17hats form. 

No more lost leads, as 17hats emails me whenever a new enquiry comes in. 

From here, with the 17hats template emails, I can easily communicate with them to meet in person and then hopefully, convince them to book me. 

Suddenly, I was no longer juggling multiple platforms! 

I had one streamlined system that kept everything in one, aesthetically pleasing place. 

After meeting with a couple, sending them a Quote, Booking Form, and Invoice was one email. Once they said yes, they electronically signed the form and paid their Booking Fee. 

I not only looked more professional, but I was getting paid faster! I also had much more confidence in my Terms and Conditions and Invoicing terms. 

Every interaction that my couple had with me via 17hats, they received my personalised reply email assuring them that I was indeed onto it. The emails are written in my voice and are completely automated! 

Being able to focus on the ‘good stuff’.

As a celebrant, we require a great deal of information from our couples. 

Some for purely admin purposes, and ensuring that we are meeting every legal requirement.  And then, my favourite part, all the good, creative, funny, and love-filled elements that make up their love story. 17hats collates and keeps all of this information in one place. 

This means that I get more time to spend doing what I love. Writing my couple’s ceremonies and mentoring fellow celebrants through TCS. 

Accessing info anywhere and keeping it safe. 

As I said, my workdays are never the same, and I often need to access my couple’s details away from my office (see dining room table!). With 17hats, I can access everything I need anywhere and at any time. The 17hats app allows me to check my calendar anywhere, write a ceremony at my local cafe and triple check the time of today’s wedding on my morning walk. Again, all in one place and password-protected. 

How 17hats enables me to be a much better Marriage Celebrant and Mentor

Alongside the thrill and genuine joy that I have in celebrating love stories as a celebrant, is the satisfaction that I gain from mentoring fellow Australian Marriage Celebrants as the Melbourne Local Leader for The Celebrant Society. 

In our role helping celebrants grow and build their ideal celebrant business, we want to link our celebrants with the best software in the business. Which is why The Celebrant Society are so proud of our partnership with 17hats. Setting up a new business is expensive! Especially when gaining your celebrant qualification and accreditation in Australia is a lengthy and expensive process. By partnering with 17hats, we are able to help celebrants build their businesses in a far more organised and efficient way. 

We are acutely aware that we all have different skills. Where some of our members may be very handy with a sewing machine, they may need support to take full advantage of all that 17hats can provide… and by ‘some’ of our members, I mean ME! Hand on heart in my handmade dress, I know that I am not using my 17hats to its full potential. 

However, I know that within TCS, we have the experts who can help me build on how I use 17hats to streamline even more of my celebrant tasks. 

This is why we have developed our Member-to-Member Directory, where 17hats Ambassadors and experts can provide assistance in setting up, ongoing management and one-off tech support to their fellow Celebrant Society Members. We also offer live annual showcases and training at The Celebrant Conference.

In my role as a TCS Local Leader, usually with a coffee or glass of Prosecco in hand, I know that I can’t answer every question, but I do guarantee that I can find the person who CAN answer that question. All because my brain and walls have clear space that used to be taken up with my chaotic admin in my pre-17hats life! 

Thank you, 17hats, for changing my business life for the better.

Dee Wild – Queer Marriage Celebrant

Dee Wild is a Queer Marriage Celebrant based in Melbourne, Australia. Instead of spending time on admin, she prefers crafting authentic and creative ceremonies for her couples. In her hands, ‘we met on Tinder…’ becomes an epic re-telling of a couple’s love story. It’s down to those automated 17hats questionnaires!

Visit the Links Below to Learn More About Dee:

Website: https://www.deewild.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deewildcelebrant/