By Nancy Battenburg
Civil Marriage Celebrant and AFCC Vice President
Darwin NT
Over the past couple of years in particular, there has been much discussion about professional celebrants, but here is the dilemma. The word ‘professional’ has so many different meanings to people, and technically, celebrancy is not deemed to be a profession. Oh we can argue left, right and centre that it should be – but those who have worked long and hard on their university degrees, their serious and stringent registration processes and their ongoing learning and training accountabilities are probably not going to be too accepting of civil celebrancy as a profession.
However, few would argue that civil celebrancy should, and must, be governed by professional standards, standards that ensure that not only do the couple get a quality service for their dollar, but that there are methods of ensuring that the standard is visible, transparent and understood by every celebrant in the country.
But what does that actually mean? I view the dilemma across several key areas, but each is probably governed by that concept of fair and equitable ethical practices. If two words should be linked, it should be ‘ethics’ and ‘professional’ for those who believe in moral, principled, fair and equitable practices are surely those who understand the concept of professionalism.
Training
The hard work of Rona Goold must be acknowledged in the training sector and the full Certificate IV in Celebrancy is a vast improvement on the simple expectations of the past. Presumably once the new training schedule kicks in during 2010, there will need to be a significant initial commitment by people interested in celebrancy. At least an attempt will be made across a number of relevant areas to improve basic and core understandings by potential celebrants. The question remains though – what do we view as a minimal standard for civil celebrancy? Will this be sufficient to raise the bar of quality across civil celebrancy? I guess the truth will be discovered over time, once we view the effects of the new-look celebrants past 2010.
I think we are also entering a new era of ongoing professional development. Where once basic content in celebrancy units was essential to ensure minimal standards of celebrancy practice, now celebrants are looking for a wider range of skills across business-oriented areas, presentation skills and beyond. The attention to individual performance-enhancing skills is now emerging, and this is surely a good sign for civil celebrancy to be taken very seriously by society.
Preparation
This is a nebulous area and one where professional standards might be less articulated, and more a perception by the individual celebrant. This is one area where ethical treatment of clients is highly important, from the very first meeting, through to the preparation and planning of the paperwork, ceremony and beyond. How I treat those clients, what standards I set for myself, even my understanding of local community standards – these all count as ethical and professional practice. The difficult part is that there are no hard and fast rules, no guidelines to guide us, no determination about what constitutes professional behaviours – yet we all seem to know when unprofessional behaviours are evident!
Presentation
Similar arguments could be made about the actual presentation of the ceremony. There will always be arguments about PA system use (or not), voice projection (or not), celebrant attire, confidence in front of a crowd, management of difficult elements, choreography of the event, etc. It is the package that counts though – the links through to the preparation and planning, the attention to detail and the embedded determination to provide an integrated and quality service. An often commented upon aspect is the courtesy and respect shown to the traditions of ceremonies – where the parents of the child are acknowledged during a Naming ceremony, where parents of the bride and groom are mentioned and thanked, where the deceased and his life are treated with respect.
Attention to detail
Nothing can destroy a celebrant’s reputation more quickly than for a couple to find that the paperwork has not been lodged in a timely manner – and the marriage is not yet registered and the completion of their grand event has been treated in a cavalier fashion. It is the overall attention to detail that counts - the correct spelling of people’s names, the checking and triple checking of documents, the attention to legal requirements, the determination that every bit of paperwork will be pedantically correct.
Celebrancy is not for everyone, and we already know those wonderful celebrants who seem to have their act together. The emerging trend is an acknowledgement of the never-ending nature of skill development in celebrancy, and that too is not just heartening, but indicative of a new-look celebrancy. Where celebrants as a group acknowledge that there is always something to be learned, whether it is basic information about running a successful rehearsal, gaining sufficient skills to develop a website, examining contractual agreements and accounting practices, or developing voice projection skills, it surely bodes well for professional approaches to celebrancy in the future.
Our thanks to Nancy for her thought provoking Opinion articles.
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