On the touchy issue of asking multiple Celebrants for an interview…

Nine times out of ten, couples who flick through my website and read my testimonials book me as soon as they can. They don’t need to meet me – they already get a great vibe from my site’s tone and manner, and they also know that with such an open and easy style I get booked very quickly – they don’t want to miss out!

But occasionally a couple will ask to meet me for an “interview”. Oh dear. What to do?

An interview typically means spending an hour sitting at a table with someone knowing there can only be one of two outcomes:

a) I’ll never see them again, (sad face), or
b) I’ll become an integral part of the biggest days of their lives and everlasting memories (yay! happy dance!).

Awkward!

After spending an hour hearing about the couple’s history and their dreams, I get excited about what I can bring to their ceremony.

Which readings I’ll recommend, how to incorporate their special family members, how I’ll work with the photographer to get the most spectacular shots…

So when I get a message saying another Celebrant “got the job”, it hurts. Not only because I’ve gotten to like the couple – really like them – but also because they’ll never get to see the magic I could have woven into their day.

And it’s a quandary every Celebrant faces.

I don’t like declining the opportunity to meet with couples. But after four years in the business, I have now made it policy that I don’t do “interviews”.

The number 1 reason I no longer do interviews

I don’t like awkward.

I only like rapport, and knowing that every minute I spend with a couple is invested in building mutual respect and trust that they are in totally capable and professional hands.

Of course I understand how important it is to like your service provider for such an important occasion.

And I know how obnoxious it sounds when I decline an interview.

But I hope that this open letter will help soften any upset my policy might cause.

There are Celebrants who do interviews. There are also many that don’t. Each Celebrant is free to choose what is right for their own business. But in discussions with other Celebrants, this is what I know:

• 90% don’t like doing interviews – it is time they can’t get back or be compensated for if they don’t “get the job”
• It turns what should be a feeling of celebration into a “job”
• Many Celebrants who do interviews feel they have wasted their time when couples do not even get back to them! Not even to thank them for their time! (Yes, it happens!)

Anyway, I guess that in being transparent and forewarning you that I don’t do interviews up against multiple Celebrants, you have more information about my services before contacting me.

However…

If you have read this far and still think I’m the Celebrant for you BUT you still want to be sure we have a connection before booking me, I’m still happy to meet with you! I will ask, however, that you bring your original birth certificates and completed NOIM form to our meeting so should you decide to go ahead, we can move on with the paperwork on the spot.

I hope this is a fair compromise, and that it helps in your decision-making!

The above is all said with love,
Anita