A new approach to gifts for special occasions is a trend towards making the celebration THE gift.
This is especially popular as a gift for older people - think about special birthdays and anniversaries.
Older people often do not want more "things" but they may really appreciate the family or close friends getting together to arrange a special celebration with a ceremony.
A professional civil celebrant can be your emcee and work with you to create a ceremony that meets your needs and your budget.
Like a well designed stage play, a special event may cost from $600 to $2000 or more. This may seem a lot, but is it really if the price is spread across a lot of people and the event has longer lasting benefits?
A $ 600 ceremony package can be covered by
- 20 participants donating $ 30 per head OR
- 50 participants at $ 12 OR
- 100 participants at $6 per head
A $ 2000 ceremony package can be covered by
- 20 participants donating $ 100 per head OR
- 50 participants at $ 40 OR
- 100 participants at $ 20 per head
The refreshments to accompany the ceremony do not need to be expensive. They can be covered by guests bringing or purchasing their own eg having a picnic or barbecue, bring a plate lunch, or going to a club or restaurant after the ceremony.
You may be wondering why it costs so much to have a professional for a ceremony that lasts perhaps an hour. A celebrants spends a lot of time and has expenses when preparing for a special event. These include things such as:
- material costs for CDs, DVDs, “this is your life” or guest appreciation albums, hire of equipment, etc
- hourly rates for interviewing the Guest/s of Honour
- hourly rates for talking with those who have offered to participate in the event
- hourly rates for event planning and preparation, emailing drafts to confirm information and processes
- hourly rates for travel etc.
Plus of course all the normal costs of running a small busines - phone, fax, internet, advertising, motor vehicle, clothing, training, insurance, registration, copyright licence and so on. An independent professional civil celebrant does not get support from government, church or other organisations.
A TCN professional civil celebrant can take the responsibility of the ceremony off you and ensure that the group gift is a memorable occasion.