Celebrant, Vlady Peters, Redcliffe, Qld.
Tuesday, January 28, 2020
Saturday, January 25, 2020
Celebrating Chinese New Year
Celebrated
Chinese New Year
with a meal of Chinese food.
Apparently different meanings and symbolisms are attached to different foods.
Apparently different meanings and symbolisms are attached to different foods.
We
decided on Chinese
dumplings which represent wealth and rice cakes which represent a higher income. We could do with both wealth
and higher income.
Because
the flour used for the Chinese food is rice flour, the texture of the food is
quite glutinous and very different from the European dumplings, for example.
Here is a picture of Chinese lucky foods compliment of www.chinalights.com
Thursday, January 9, 2020
Business Fees
As a celebrant, setting a fee for
your services will be one of the things you need to decide early. You will want
to set a fee which you feel will cover your running expenses, plus allows you
to make a profit. But you need to take into consideration what clients will pay
for your services, given the competition already in existence.
Fortunately, finding out
what other celebrants are charging should not be too difficult. But in setting
out your fees you need to know how your services differentiate from those of
your competitors, and why clients will come to you rather than go to another celebrant.
Before you begin to play
the numbers game, you need to know a few things about yourself and your
business. This will include:
1. What is your aim in becoming a celebrant?
2. Why should clients come to you, instead of using
any one of the other officiants around?
3. What particular strengths and talents have you got
to help you in the running of your celebrancy business?
4. What are some of your weaknesses which might work
against you?
5. Who are your potential clients? How old are they
and how well off are they?
6. How do they perceive the business of celebrancy
generally?
7. In what way will they be better off by coming to
you than by going to another celebrant?
8. What fees do the other celebrant charge?
9. Can you charge more and still attract clients?
10. Can you charge less and still be profitable?
11. Can you offer clients something more or something
different than they will receive from other celebrants, that will be of
significant benefit to them?
12. What exactly are clients looking for – saving money,
better service, convenience?
In the beginning, when
you have no criteria for setting your fee, your only option might be to charge
a similar price as other celebrants. You will need to have some idea of how
they came upon that particular figure. It could be that they have streamlined
their business to such an extent that they can provide their services much more
cheaply than you will be able to. It could also be, that like you, they’re
flying blind, and without knowing it, they’re losing money even though they’re
getting the bookings.
You will also need to
justify your prices not only to yourself, but also to your client. Most will
ring a number of celebrants to find out what fees they can expect to pay.
Instead of becoming defensive, embarrassed or just plain angry, recognize that
the client has every right to ask you why your charges are so much higher or so
much lower than the other celebrants they have spoken to. Work out your own
reasons, then you will be able to face these questions with confidence rather
than indignation.
Once you have some
figures of the costs involved in running the business of celebrancy, you can
determine your own fee structure, remembering though, that your client will
have the last word. You need to convince clients that the fee is worth what
they’re getting. In the case of many ceremonies, which are little understood,
the client’s perception is that they’re paying hundreds of dollars for ten
minutes of the celebrant’s time. It is up to the celebrant to ensure that the
client is made aware of all that goes into those ten minutes. Crucial to that,
is your image for professionalism and expertise.
In the beginning when
bookings are few and far between, some celebrants decide that any booking is
better than none. With that in mind, they will ask for the lowest fees which
clients are willing to pay, undercutting every other celebrant in the area.
They will also travel anywhere to get these bookings. At this stage they may be
aware that, in fact, they are losing money, instead of making it. Their
thinking is, that when they have established themselves they will then ask for
a higher fee. More often, though, such celebrants are not keeping any records
to show whether they’re making money or not. And just how much money they’re
losing in the meantime.
Sooner or later these celebrants
find that while they’re extremely busy, they have nothing to show for it when
it comes to money. Their low fees will often also be reflected by their
services. The celebrant is too busy and too poor to provide anything but
sub-standard service. When he eventually raises his fees, the type of clients
he’s been attracting will go elsewhere. As everyone knows, it’s a lot easier to
drop your fees without affecting your client numbers, than to raise your fees.
At the other extreme is
the celebrant who tries to recoup all his expenses in the first year of work,
using the few clients he gets in which to do it.
Whether you charge a
high or low fee should be dependent not on what you’d like to get, but rather
how good you are. By all means charge high prices if you’re sure that your
clients are getting their money’s worth. Most celebrants, like most small
business people are frightened of pricing themselves out of the market.
However, you should be able to charge what you think you are worth.
To decide that, you need
to know just how much time you’re spending on the ceremony, and just how good a
service you’re providing. If you know that your service is better than those of
other celebrants who are charging higher fees, then by all means charge those
fees yourself. It’s preferable that you do fewer ceremonies and get paid for
them, than that you perform many ceremonies and are losing money while doing
so. What is vital is that the client perceives the quality of your service is
worth the fee.
As a new celebrant,
testing the water, you can make an introductory offer, stipulating that these
prices will only last so long, and then the fee will go up. If, after the
introductory offer expires, you find that your services are better than those
of other celebrants around you, ask for the fee that compensates you
accordingly.
Based on How to be a Profitable Celebrant
Tuesday, December 31, 2019
Monday, December 23, 2019
Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Plan a wedding day like no other. Create a wedding ceremony that uses words that speak to you. Invite your friends to a wedding reception they won't want to leave. Go off to a honeymoon from which you'll return ready to celebrate some more.
1,000+ Answers to your Wedding Question - Smashwords
Celebrating Love's Special Moments - Smashwords
You can be a Successful Officiant -Smashwords
How to be a Profitable Celebrant: Practical Tips on Running a Profitable Celebrancy Business - Smashwords
Wedding Your Way - Smashwords
Honeymoon! A Sizzle or a Fizzls - Smashwords
Wedding Words:
Perfect Words for Your Wedding Ceremony - Smashwords
Saturday, December 21, 2019
Live Healthier - and Sexier
Probably
Christmas is the wrong time of the year to be talking about food in a sensible way. Because
wherever you may be, the Christmas fare will include some foods that are far
from healthy. Or if they start off as being healthy in their natural state, by
the time they’re cooked – possibly in litres of oil – they are neither healthy
nor recognisable.
But,
if despite the Christmas dinner to come, you’d like to know which foods are
really healthy, here are some:
As
far as meat is concerned, fish
is seen as low in calories, high in protein, and full of vitamins and
minerals.
Then there’s the eggs
which are so full of protein and essential nutriments, that some experts have
named them nature’s multivitamin.
And how about the humble
potato? Apparently it contains a little bit of almost every nutriment you need - and are incredibly filling. (Often spoiled in being cooked to death in a vat of oil)
If
by now you’re thinking ‘give me a break! How about something that I’ll actually
enjoy eating. Well,
there’s always the dark chocolate. It is high in minerals and antioxidants,
believed to provide many health benefits.
Back
to the real food. There’s
the beetroot. Beloved by the Australians – and many Europeans – but leaving
a lot of other countries cold, they are considered one of the healthiest foods
on earth, filled with folate, magnesium and vitamin C.
Another runner
for the healthiest food on earth – and a totally of a different colour – is, I’m sure you’ve guessed it, spinach. You might have laughed when you saw Popeye do
his amazing deeds after consuming a tin of spinach, but in actual fact spinach
is packed with energy and vitamins.
But
do you know what else is so great about these six foods? They’re not only good
for your health, they are also good for you love life. Cross my heart. In my
research for ‘Cool Food for Hot Lovers’ I’ve identified around 100 foods that
help the lover in action. And the above are just a few of them.
Compliment of http://1.bp.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, December 10, 2019
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