In this Full Day LIVE Remote Workshop, you will learn the skills necessary to create and launch a successful Wedding Officiating Practice to meet the needs of today's busy couples. The success of your officiating business depends on deliberate and intentional steps you need to take to make that happen. Check out the Modules (below) for a full breakdown of what will be covered in this powerful workshop.

Workshop Duration

• This is full day LIVE Remote Workshop

• Starts at 11:00 a.m. EST

• Ends at 4:00 p.m. EST

• With one 15 minute break

Workshop Dates

• See Calendar For Upcoming Dates

• One-on-one Workshop dates available upon request (the price is the same).

Who Should Take This Workshop

Officiants, aspiring Officiants and Celebrants or anyone who would like to join the exciting world of wedding officiating but just don’t know what to do or where to begin.  

Your “classroom” is wherever you choose to make it – at home, a local library, a beach house in the Jamaica – anywhere you have access to the Internet.  Your facilitator Aretha Gaskin designed this workshop give participants the opportunity to connect with her and learn as much as possible in the allotted time.

Workshop Modules

• See BELOW for all Workshop Modules.

Workshop Facilitator

This workshop will be facilitated by Aretha Gaskin, Multi Award Winning Wedding Officiant, Certified Celebrant and Speaker.  To learn more about Aretha's work and to check out her officiating company, please visit Weddings By Aretha.

To learn what the wedding industry and couples are saying about Aretha, click here.

Check out Aretha in The New York Times.

Workshop Cost — $697

Credentials

Officiating a wedding ceremony is perhaps one of the most important jobs you can do.  It has to be perfect and the balance between delivering a beautiful ceremony and ensuring that you have the appropriate credentials to make it legal and binding is crucial.  Every state, county, borough and township is different and their requirements may be different.  Performing a wedding ceremony that is NOT legal and binding is a sure-fire way to destroy your business.  Don’t be an amateur!!

MODULE 1:  CREDENTIALS

1. Getting the appropriate credentials

2. Legal Requirements

3. Tips on officiating outside the US

4. How to become a Celebrant

5. The difference between a Celebrant and an Officiant

6. Don’t be an amateur!

BEHIND THE SCENES

A close look at all of Aretha's credentials.

Workshop Cost — $697

The Client Inquiry

Having a plan in place for handling client inquiries can be the difference between having a fully booked calendar of weddings to wondering if there are any couples out there!  This is the place where many Officiants drop the ball and this could spell disaster for your business before it even gets off the ground.  Putting together a clear, repeatable process will maintain your sanity while keeping your couples happy for the duration of the ceremony planning process.

MODULE 2:  THE CLIENT INQUIRY

1. How to get those inquiries rolling in

2. How to craft an effective website Inquiry Form

3. The types of inquiries and their appropriate responses

4. 10 tips to turn your inquiries into booked clients/weddings

5. 10 things you should NEVER do when handling an inquiry

6. Best practices for handling inquiries

7. 5 swipe files that'll get the consultation booked

BEHIND THE SCENES

A behind the scenes look at Aretha's handling of inquiries

Workshop Cost — $697

The Consultation Process

It is crucial that you do things right during the consultation as this is the number one thing that couples use to determine if they’re going to book you for their wedding ceremony.  Your job during the consultation time is to educate and empower them while giving them a good idea of what it would be like working with you.

MODULE 3:  THE CONSULTATION PROCESS

1. The anatomy of a successful client consultation

2. The different types of couples and how to handle them

3. Should you do in-person or remote consultations

4. How to make sure that this is your ideal couple

5. 5 things you MUST discuss during the consultation

6. The #1 item that will get you booked even before the consultation is over

7. How to include a "Call To Action" before ending the consultation

BEHIND THE SCENES

A behind the scenes look at Aretha's Consultation Process

Workshop Cost — $697

Your Officiating Prices

You may love weddings and have fun officiating them but unless you can get couples to properly pay you for your services, your officiating work is nothing more than a hobby.  Making a living as a professional wedding officiant is realistic but properly setting your prices is the foundation for a successful officiating business.  Pulling your prices “out of thin air” is not realistic, profitable or even appropriate.

MODULE 4:  YOUR OFFICIATING PRICES

1. How to properly set your prices

2. The consequences of undercharging

3. Deposits or up-front payments

4. To publish or not to publish your prices

5. The cost of operating your Officiating business

6. What should be INCLUDED in your prices and what should NOT

7. Best Billing Methods for your Officiant Business

8. REPORT:  Comprehensive Report on Publishing Prices

BEHIND THE SCENES

A behind the scenes snapshot of Aretha’s prices

Workshop Cost — $697

Your Officiant Website

Your officiant website is an important component to your officiating business and one of the best ways for your potential clients to connect with you.  The content of your site is not just limited to words – people are visual creatures and your images/portfolio plays a crucial role in creating a great experience for your visitors.  Why should we think that giving them a second-rate website is acceptable?

MODULE 5:  YOUR OFFICIANT WEBSITE

1.  Finding a designer – or do it yourself

2.  The 10 mistakes to avoid with your Officiant website

3.  The 6 pages your website MUST absolutely have

4.  Images and building your online portfolio

5.  Getting permission to use images (from couples)

6.  Resources for high quality (royalty free) stock images

7.  The best platform for your Officiant website business

BEHIND THE SCENES

A behind the scenes look at the big selling points on Aretha’s Website

Website Design Services For Officiants – Click Here

Workshop Cost — $697

Reviews and Review Sites

How important are client reviews to your business?  Very important!  The fact is, 90% of consumers read online reviews and 88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.  With those sobering facts/stats, overlooking the importance of curating reviews can be detrimental to your business.

On the other hand, that doesn’t mean you should fall into the trap of creating fake reviews.  With all the talk of “fake news” these days, couples are increasingly skeptical and jaded.  If you’re called out with fake reviews, the damage to your business may be irreparable.  Nobody wants to work with a dishonest business.

MODULE 6:  REVIEWS AND REVIEW SITES

1. The 4 step strategy for collecting reviews

2. The best review sites for your officiant business

3. How to properly set up and optimize your review sites

4. How online reviews can either make or break your business

5. The impact of NO review on your business

6. Why FACEBOOK Reviews matter to your business

7. Best practices for handling a bad review

8. Tools to monitor your online reputation

9. Best practices for displaying reviews on your business website

BEHIND THE SCENES

A deep dive into Aretha’s Review Collection Process

Workshop Cost — $697

Service Agreements

It’s easy to overlook the business and legal side of your officiating business, but as you make the move from amateur to professional it’s important that you protect yourself with a straightforward Service Agreement. 

NOTE:  Any information provided in this module are general suggestions and not the professional advice of a licensed attorney.  This module content is meant to provide basic ideas and considerations, all of which should be reviewed by a legal professional before being implemented.

MODULE 7:  SERVICE AGREEMENTS

1. Why you should NEVER officiate without a Service Agreement

2. 10 things that should ALWAYS be include in your Service Agreement

3. Getting your Service Agreements electronically signed

4. Tools for producing Service Agreements

5. When a new Agreement is required to protect your business

6. A review of Aretha's Service Agreement

BEHIND THE SCENES

A review of Aretha's Service Agreement

Workshop Cost — $697

Running Your Officianting Business

Running your small business is a long and winding road.  You’ll have ups and downs (sometimes in the same week or even the same day!) and you’ll gain amazing clients and lose others for reasons fair and unfair.  That’s all part of having a business.  This module covers some powerful tips for navigating the waters of being a small business owner.  

MODULE 8:  RUNNING YOUR OFFICIANT BUSINESS

1. 10 Keys to a successful and thriving officiant business

2. 10 things to NEVER do in your officiant business

3. 5 Tips for finding and booking high end couples

4. How to set up your business processes

5. Why you should always have a process in place

6. Staying organized and managing clients

BEHIND THE SCENES

The 5 Big mistakes Aretha made that you can avoid

Workshop Cost — $697

Workshop Bonuses

As a Thank You for registering and participating in the Officiant Business Workshop, I’ve compiled a cool list of bonuses that all participants will find helpful as they move forward.

MODULE 8:  BONUSES

1. Recommended Reading

2. 10 Helpful Resources

3. Sample Consultation Questionnaire

4. Sample Ceremony Questionnaire

5. Sample Service Agreements

6. Stock Images – where to find the best ones

7. 10 Marketing Tips for your Officiant business

Workshop Cost — $697