On the occasion of your secular ceremony, you have decided to hire a professional officiant. But you may have noticed that the rates charged are quite different.
So how much does a secular ceremony officiant cost? What are the different rates? What is the right price for an officiant, celebrant or master of a secular ceremony? Here are a few things to better understand and make your choice in an informed way…
Tarif, prix et coût moyen d'un officiant laïque
The service of performing and celebrating a secular ceremony by a professional officiant costs on average 780 euros (survey of 93 french professional officiants).
Beyond or below that, analyze in detail the content of the services offered in order to understand the elements or services that increase or decrease the rate.
For the record, the 2016 Lay Officiant Study showed that the service averaged 793 euros in 2016. You can find all the information about the officiant profession and the rates of their services in the book “Laic ceremony officiant, a new profession in figures” (Available on Amazon: http://www.amazon.fr/dp/2955494925 or in Kindle format: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B01DVY6FJ6)
Le temps, c'est de l'argent !
The rate a professional officiant charges reflects the time he spends on your project. So it assumes the level of quality of his or her service: the more time he or she spends preparing your ceremony, the more assurance you will have of personalization. Some celebrants may in fact use a general outline (of the “text with holes” type) that they personalize in a more or less summary manner.
In fact, and even though the average secular ceremony lasts 30 minutes, the latest study on the officiating profession showed that a professional officiant spends between 25 and 50 hours to prepare and perform your ceremony.
Also, to ensure your satisfaction, a “good” officiant will have performed the following tasks:
- Meet you for the first time;
- Analyze your request;
- Research and develop rituals specific to your couple, or corresponding to your beliefs;
- To write the framework of the ceremony;
- Meet with you again, one or more times, to better understand your couple, to specify the course of your ceremony and to imagine the many details that will make your wedding a unique event, in accordance with your aspirations;
- Write the content of the ceremony;
- Contacting, coordinating and possibly training, or even meeting, the different speakers;
- Traveling to the ceremony location and assessing the feasibility of the project;
- Arrive early on the day of the ceremony to get ready;
- And finally, only at the end, officiate the ceremony!
Beyond the time spent preparing a ceremony, it is important to note that the level of detail and quality of personalization also depends on the following:
- The ability of the officiant to listen to you and understand your expectations and your story (empathy, the "psychologist" side) ;
- The ability of the officiant to write more or less quickly and more or less well;
- The literary style of the officiant.
Pourquoi le prix varie d'un officiant à l'autre ? Les composantes du tarif...
Billing sometimes varies by a factor of 1 to 10 depending on the professional!
There are several criteria that can account for this price difference:
- Experience: of course, a novice officiant will be less demanding than an experienced officiant;
- Notoriety: would you like to solicit a “star officiant” or even a “star officiant”
- Involvement in the preparation of the ceremony: number of appointments, time spent preparing;
- Travel expenses, possible lodging;
- Level of personalization: drafting of a 100% original text or “hole text” reproduced at each ceremony;
- Full-time professional activity or weekend “supplemental income” type secondary activity;
- Equipment provided: some officiants include basic equipment (lectern, ), less items to buy or rent!”
Choisissez votre officiant sur ce site
First, follow these tips to guide you in your choosing the perfect officiant for your secular ceremony and follow each of the steps, namely:
- Be sure to define your need and selection criteria
- Choose the right person
- Choosing the price
.
You can select your officiant on this site using the price filters.
Officiant, un métier, une entreprise et ses charges
To our knowledge, no officiant is an employee of a company. So if you call upon a professional officiant, he will necessarily be under a self-employed status, or intermittent of the spectacle.
In any case, when you pay a service 500 euros, the officiant must deduct at least 25% to pay his social security contributions and taxes.
He must also deduct the operating expenses of his structure: advertising costs, various operating expenses (rent, electricity, water, professional liability insurance, etc.).
Overall, it is estimated that all business expenses amount to 40-50% of turnover.
So you understand that if you pay 500 euros to an officiant who is going to work 25 hours for you, his net income is 10 €/hour. Knowing that secular ceremonies take place mainly in the summer, and on Saturdays, the full-time professional officiant must also live the other days! For this, his rate will have to increase…
So, finally, 500 euros for the officiant of your secular ceremony is expensive?
Démarche conseillée pour choisir le célébrant de votre cérémonie
In order to purchase a risk-free business benefit, be sure to follow these common sense elements:
- Define precisely the budget to allocate to the officiant’s position. An amount between 600 and 900 euros will allow you to find the right professional for you!
- Scan the pages of this directory and preferably choose the officiant present in the department of your ceremony to reduce travel costs;
- Contact and compare up to 4 officiants, 5 officiants maximum. Beyond that, there is not much point and will waste your time (as well as that of the officiants).
- Trust your intuition, the contact with the officiant must be warm, simple, natural, and be very attentive to the commercial speech!”
Request proof, images, videos, testimonies of former brides and grooms.
> Check that the officiant is well registered in the trade register. He must present you with a SIRET number.
> Sign a commercial contract where the service is described in detail;
> Do not pay the entire service when you order. A deposit of 30% seems reasonable.
> Then let yourself be guided, and enjoy your ceremony!
