Meet Katie.
Yorkshire Dales based celebrant Katie, launched Celebrant Led after an unexpected redundancy. She joined our StriveLive incubator in Autumn 2024.
Formerly the Wedding Manager and In-House Celebrant of a very popular wedding venue in the Yorkshire Dales, she managed a team of three fabulous wedding planners and between them they delivered hundreds of weddings.
Katie is an Independent Professional Civil Celebrant, trained by the prestigious International College of Professional Celebrants.
Interview.
We caught up with Katie to hear about her business journey so far, her motivations for taking the plunge, and some of those early challenges!
What’s been the toughest challenge in starting your business?
Not having a team around me, I’ve managed a very busy department with 37 weddings in a 51 day stretch – an ops team, recruitment, revenue, budgets etc. But I stared at a blank page for a long, long time when branding my website to my client base, previously I would have called upon my Marketing Team Experts Melissa and Amie, given them a brief and they made the magic happen.
I’ve learned it’s not that easy to make that magic happen, my first attempt at branding my daughter likened to Whiskers Cat Food, she wasn’t wrong! Thankfully a one-to-one with Richard from Strive got me thinking about my client base from different angles and like fog lifting I could see exactly what I needed to do with my branding.
Why did you decide to start your business?
Well first came a very shocking redundancy for me and my team. I’d qualified as a celebrant within my role so it seemed natural that after a period of wobbling about self employment and lots of lovely people telling me I had to at least try it, I booked on the Strive Live Incubator and a Build a Website in 3 days course and went for it!
As a wedding manager I saw hundreds of weddings and how the current registrar led ceremony continuously let couples down. Ceremonies have to be held during office hours in licensed venues, the registrar will tell you they can be personalised, but in reality that’s within a very ridgid set of templates. The couple could be young, mature, gay, straight, multi-faith or blending families but they all get the same one size fits ceremony, no religion allowed and all readings must be pre-approved. I’ve seen couples dream of an outdoor wedding dashed because it was overcast and another couple told that the candles they paid a fortune for couldn’t be lit, because the registrar said no.
That’s why I originally trained as in-house celebrant to offer a more bespoke ceremony to the couples, but now I’m on a mission to revolutionise the wedding industry, show couples how to separate the legals, then have the ceremony that their story deserves, anytime, anyplace and any venue, so potentially saving them money too!
What’s your secret start-up super power?
The majority of wedding registrar and celebrants are ex teachers and they are very process led. My super power – I have a wedding industry background within the hospitality industry. Already an in-house celebrant I’ve planned and delivered hundreds of weddings so I understand the operational side from the venues POV, the suppliers POV, but most of all the couples POV – I know the smallest detail matters when you’ve had the perfect day planned in your head for years and I’ll do my utmost to make that happen with my insider knowledge.
Who (or what) has helped you in your journey?
My former colleagues especially Melissa, Amie, Rachel, Rebecca and Emily who were all navigating redundancy have been a great source of support. My partner Damien who has patiently sat through every wobble, been the most excellent proofreader and my biggest cheerleader. My LinkedIn community and my Celebrant Training Cohort have sent words of wisdom and shouts of encouragement at the right times. North Yorkshire Growth Hub for the excellent funded business courses and Richard and Paul from the StriveLive Incubator have been superb, supplying what I didn’t know I needed and making me step out of my comfort zone.
What advice would give someone thinking of starting a business?
Contact your local Growth Hub or New Business contact at your local council. I’m lucky living in North Yorkshire because mine is fantastic and there are so many opportunities to learn new business skills delivered by experts, in a supportive environment.
Where can you find Katie?
Katie lives in the Yorkshire Dales close to the Lancashire and Cumbria borders, can officiate at your Yorkshire, Lake District or Ribble Valley Wedding. If you live outside of these areas don’t panic, Katie is happy to travel throughout the UK and Internationally if you fancy a destination wedding on a sunny beach!
Website: https://www.celebrantled.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/celebrantled/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katie-flanagan-336037214/