🎄 December hits and suddenly half the nation is either:
a) panic-buying Terry’s Chocolate Oranges, (except Kate T who thinks a chocolate and orange combo is an abomination) or
b) panic-buying diamonds.
Which means one thing for working celebrants (and people training to be celebrants):
🎉 ENGAGEMENT SEASON IS UPON US.❤️❤️
If you’ve ever wondered why your inbox goes a bit feral around New Year, it’s because Christmas is still the UK’s number one time for proposals. The tree goes up, the ring comes out, and by 27 December couples are already Googling “what is a celebrant,” “how do I book a celebrant,” or “can I get married without a registrar.”
So here’s how to make the very most of it — without feeling salesy or weird – or like an extra in Love Actually! (Which, BTW, Kate T has never seen!).
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🎁 1. Prep Your Website BEFORE the Proposal Tsunami
Your website is about to get its annual traffic spike.
So:
- Update your homepage with a ‘Newly Engaged?’ banner
- Make sure your wedding ceremony page actually says what you do, not just “I like coffee and long walks”
- Add recent photos if you have them (or update your library pics until you do)
- And refresh your contact page so people can actually find out how to book you
Remember: December proposals → January enquiries → February bookings.
If your website still screams “2017,” you might as well hide your diary under the sofa.
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🎄 2. Get a January Offer Ready (But Make It Make Sense)
We’re not talking “25% OFF UNTIL MIDNIGHT.”
We’re talking something grown-up and professional and appropriate – couples don’t need high-pressure sales, they need to get to know, like and trust you… then they’ll buy!:
- Explicitly invite them to a free 20-minute ‘get to know you’ Zoom to chat
- A winter 2025 ceremony discount
- A “book before 31 Jan and get a wedding rehearsal included” deal (or some other offer that you’re happy to fulfill on).
Make it valuable, not desperate. You know what you’re worth and how much better their ceremony will be with you at the healm
✨ 3. Attend — or Create — a Winter Wedding Fayre
Wedding fayres aren’t just for florists and people who enjoy clipping fairy lights to a trestle table.
A well-timed January fayre equals:
✔ couples newly engaged
✔ couples newly overwhelmed
✔ couples desperately trying to understand the difference between “celebrant,” “registrar,” and “someone on TikTok with a ring light”
Go as a supplier, collaborate with a venue, or — if you’re feeling bold — host your own micro-fayre with a photographer, florist and cake maker. It doesn’t need to be big. It just needs to be full of couples who’ve had a ring on for less than six weeks.
💍 4. Talk About It on Socials (Yes, Even If You Hate Socials)
You don’t need to point at text boxes.
Just post something like:
“Got engaged at Christmas? Congrats! Here’s the one thing you should know about choosing a celebrant instead of a registrar…”
Then give them something genuinely helpful.
(Not “like and subscribe,” we beg you.)
Try:
- What a celebrant-led wedding actually is
- How a personalised ceremony works
- How, with a celebrant, you can host your wedding ANYWHERE
- The joys of a ceremony that isn’t squeezed by time-restrictions
TOP TIP – for added Omph! Make sure you tie these in with some SEO boosting blogs.
📝 5. Refresh Your Packages for the New Year
Now is a great time to reconsider:
- Pricing
- What’s included
- How many meetings
- Optional add-ons
- Travel
- Rituals (lite!)
Christmas proposals trigger New Year, New Organised Person™ energy.
Couples love a clean, clear offer.
📸 6. Use the Engagement Boom to Grow Your Portfolio
Suggest an engagement shoot ceremony snippet with local photographers.
A mini “vow to your future selves.”
It’s romantic, it’s Instagrammable, and it puts you in front of people before they’ve booked a celebrant.
Also: it’s just lovely.
🍾 7. Talk to Venues in January
Venues get overwhelmed in Jan/Feb too — which means they’re suddenly very open to collaborating.
Pop in. Drop them your details. Offer to run a free talk or Q&A about celebrant-led ceremonies.
Not “salesy”, more:
“Here’s how we can help your couples have a less conveyor-belty, more meaningful day.”
Some venues really get the value of having go-to celebrants.
🪄 8. Get Your Own 2025/26 Diary in Order
Christmas proposals often turn into peak-season bookings.
You need to know:
- What weekends you’re keeping
- What holidays you’re taking
- What you’re actually available for
Because nothing says “professional” like knowing whether you’re free on 23 August without rustling through a dog-eared paper diary from WHSmith.
🎓 9. If You’re Training: This Is Still Prime Season for You
If you’re feeling really brave you could book a couple of wedding fayres… because they may well book you now but the wedding’s not going to happen until next yera of the year after… by which time you’ll really have your act together.
Make sure you’re feeling slick-rick about your pitch though – yes we do have a Wedding Fayres model in your course, you lucky people!
If you’re feeling too timid – maybe hook up with a celebrant out of your area and offer to come and be their side-kick at a wedding fayre for the day… shadowing rules OK.
Basically, watch the pros in action before it’s you doing all the writing, organising and emotional shepherding.
⭐ 10. Ride the Wave
January is busy.
February is frantic.
March you’ll wonder why you ever thought weddings were “seasonal.”
Lean into it, prep for it, enjoy it.
And remember: every Christmas proposal is a future ceremony waiting to happen — and a chance for you to create something genuinely meaningful (and not remotely tinsel-covered, unless they ask for that).
If you’re reading this thinking,
“Right, 2026 is the year I actually take celebrant training seriously,”
then come and join Match & Dispatch.
We’ll teach you all the ceremony craft, writing skills and business savvy you need to turn January’s engagement boom into real bookings — without ever feeling salesy or weird.
Now we’re off to gorge on vegan Christmas pud and brussel sprouts! Yum!
Big love
Kate & Kate x
