Although
paper and printing of programs is expensive, providing each guest with a
ceremony program is worth considering. Especially in the case of ceremonies
that are strange to the people concerned, the ceremony program allows them to
participate in a way which just listening to the ceremony won’t do. It is also a way of educating these same
people who are being exposed to the ceremony for the first time. Today they are
onlookers, tomorrow they might be your clients.
The other
reason for providing everyone with a ceremony program is more self-serving. In
printing out the ceremony program, your name, as the presiding celebrant, will
figure prominently on the cover and throughout the ceremony itself. It is one
way of advertising yourself without seeming to do so.
This, of
course, presupposes that you have a computer and a printer and intend compiling
and printing the programs yourself. Some clients, who are computer literate,
will be happy to set out the ceremony, and even provide you with appropriate
graphics. For the most part, though, you’ll be on your own. You can start off
with a few templates to show your client, adding to these as your business
expands.
Needless to
say, if you can’t provide this service yourself, the most you should do, by way
of self promotion, is compile one program for the clients themselves. You can
do this by either having the copy prepared by someone with a computer and a
printer, or ask a professional to do it for you. Make this a highly decorative
copy that the recipients will want to keep as a memento of the occasion. You might even like to provide a presentation
folder and include in this not only the program of the ceremony, but also the appropriate
certificate.
In the matter
of how many programs you need to prepare for the individual ceremony, on the
one hand you will want to make sure that you have enough. On the other, you
don’t want to have them running out of your ears. Just remember that when you
ask clients how many guests will be present at the ceremony, they are more than
likely to give you the maximum number of people whom they’ve invited or who
they think will attend.
The actual
number that attends might be significantly smaller. The other thing to remember
is that many of those attending will be couples and children. Supplying about
two thirds of the number the client quotes, will probably cover all those
people who really want to keep the program. The rule of thumb is, that if guest
number is small, you should have enough for everyone. If the number of guests
is large, a substantial number will not want one, or will be happy to share
with a partner.
Extract from 'How to be a Profitable Celebrant'
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