About celebrancy
“The more you praise and CELEBRATE your life, the more there is in life to CELEBRATE.” Oprah Winfrey
As a lot, the Aussies are known more for their creativity and sense of adventure than their piousness. Professional Celebrancy was created by the Australian government in 1974 as a third option for weddings (after church and government officiants). It grew quickly. Today, almost 10,000 certified Celebrants lead the majority of weddings and funerals in Oceana, and offer a wide menu of ceremony options.
Celebrancy then moved into North America just before 9/11, and took off immediately. It was a natural fit in a culture with a cornucopia of heritages, a growing discomfort with organized religion, and a preference for individual expression. Celebrancy offered something fresh and new: the ability to include non-traditional elements, and to celebrate a wider variety of contemporary life events.
The hallmark of a Celebrant ceremony is that you (the client) have ultimate power and control: you own the ceremony. Your beliefs and values are paramount. The celebrant’s beliefs are immaterial.
Celebrants aren’t affiliated with any particular religion. Ceremonies are designed to be inclusive and welcoming.
Training and qualification
Celebrancy is still in its infancy. Where training programs are available, they tend to be somewhat focused on administration, and limited to marriages and funerals. 
The gold standard in Celebrancy Training is set by the Celebrant Foundation and Institute (CFI) in New Jersey. Training takes the better part of a year, with a solid focus on ceremony design and ritual development outside a religious context. With both an educational and experiential focus, the program covers traditional rites of passage (birth, marriage, death) and also extends to non-traditional events such as divorce and retirement ceremonies, pet memorials, vow renewals, and even business wakes.
The CFI goes deeper. That’s why, for CFI graduates like myself, its all about the ceremony and our clients’ experience. After we graduate, we receive ongoing professional development and work as a community to share ideas and learn from each other.
Today, there are over 400 CFI trained American and 15 Canadian Celebrants (of which I am one). Check out some of them here
