Thank you for choosing me as your Celebrant, for your special occasion. It will be my honour and pleasure to work with you to ensure your Ceremony is exactly as you would wish it to be. All work is original and will remain my copyright until it is approved by you, after which you have the right to keep the work and amend it as you so wish for your own personal use. However, you do not have the right to share this work, sell it, or use it without my express permission.
No work will commence until a signed copy of the Booking Form is received together with your Booking Fee which shall be deemed acceptance of these terms and conditions.
The fee is broken down into three staged payments as follows:
Stage 1 – Booking Fee: £100 (non-returnable).
This closes off your date, time, ceremony location to any other enquirers, and allows me to begin working with you, and communicating with you about your ceremony, any initial research and time spent initially liaising with you.
Stage 2 – Draft Fee: £200
This payment ensures that I am paid for the hours of work I will have undertaken to write the first draft. It is fully expected that there will be revisions required to this draft and there is no limit to how many revisions may be required. The draft fee is due when the first draft has been emailed or posted to you and you have received it. All work will remain in draft format until you have given your final approval by email that you are happy with the work, which will then be entitled Final Script and will be used for your Ceremony. I will also provide Ceremonial Celebratory Certificates and drafts of these at no extra cost to you. I will provide your final approved Ceremony Script in a “presentation format” – properly edited, all cues removed, and presented in a professional folder for you as a keepsake.
Stage 3 -Balance of Payment:
This is due not later than 28 days prior to your event. I will provide an invoice/notification if requested.
I will confirm receipt of your Booking Fee as soon as it is received into my account and I will send you the online questionnaire to be completed by each of you. The information given will be used to construct the story of your relationship, so please ensure you only share what you are happy for your friends and family to learn about, but also please understand that the more information you share with me, the more authentic and personal your ceremony will be. As you have full editorial control over what the final ceremony script will contain, there should be no sudden surprises on your Wedding Day (unless we have already agreed to include a surprise or two!).
The questionnaire can be completed online securely. If you wish a questionnaire to be posted to you for completion, please let me know. You can return this by post or by email (which would be the most secure and safest option).
Cancellations
In the event that I have to cancel due to circumstances outside of my control, I will in the first instance attempt to secure another Fellowship Celebrant to conduct the ceremony as we have written it, and make payment to that celebrant without any additional costs being incurred by you. In the event that I am unable to secure another Fellowship Celebrant, I will refund the Balance of payment to you to enable you to find another Celebrant to conduct your ceremony.
I hope you find these terms fair and reasonable, and you have my reassurance that I will do everything I can to ensure your ceremony goes ahead smoothly.
In the event that you should want to cancel my services the following will need to be considered: None of the staged payments are refunded. I may have turned down other work to save the date exclusively for you. If the draft has been written and is in your possession, then I have the right and expectation to have been paid for this work. If the cancellation is made no later than 14 days before the ceremony is to take place, then the balance of payment will not become due. Cancellations by you later than this will mean forfeiture of the balance of payment.
The price quoted is based on information available at the time of quotation. Later changes to your requirements e.g. change of ceremony location may incur additional costs and will be discussed with you. Any increase in price will be discussed, agreed with you and invoiced at the time of change.
Where timescales permit ideally your ceremony should be completed and ready to print no later than 28 days prior to the ceremony taking place. In order for this to happen, we will each agree to respond to information requests in a timely manner, where a response to an email message or phone message is not received within 48 hours it is the message sender’s responsibility to follow up the contact with a friendly reminder.
My writing style is unique to me and will be completely different to how you or anyone else may phrase sentences and this should be taken into consideration when reading or editing your ceremony.
I will work closely with you to ensure the structure, content and flow of the ceremony reflects you as a couple and will do all I can to meet your requirements so that you have a wonderful, meaningful and personal wedding ceremony.
The content of your ceremony may be guided and assisted by you, but each draft and final copy will remain my property. You will of course receive copies to amend and a final approved copy will be emailed to you which you are free to share with family and friends, but is not to be used for further commercial activity.
I will work closely with you to ensure you are completely happy with the ceremony and feel that the ceremony is a collaboration between all of us. I agree to hold your details confidentially and not breach any laws regarding the holding, storing and use of your data.
I may from time to time contact you again via phone or email to send you further copies of your script, or on anniversaries to send you my good wishes. I may also request your feedback on my services for use on my social media sites. Data Protection Regulations from May 2018 apply, please also read my privacy and GDPR paragraph.
I will not use any photographs taken by either your photographer or by me, without your permission and will always credit your photographer for any of their images used on my website or social media sites.
GDPR – Data Protection Ruling by ICO from May 2018
There are rules and regulations that govern how companies use and retain your information, as a sole trader I am not exempt from those rules and would like to explain how I will use and store your information.
What information is being collected?
If you have sent me a web contact form submission asking for my availability and asking me about my services, I will be collecting and keeping your name/email/telephone number and the relevant information about your big day.
How do I use your data?
When someone visits my website, I use a third party service, Google Analytical, to collect standard internet log information and details of visitor behaviour patterns. This gives me information about the number of visitors to the various parts of my site and allows me to work out where I need to make improvements. I cannot identify or make any attempt to find out the identities of those visiting my website.
Once I have received your initial enquiry I will contact you via phone or email as requested by you, and then we will go from there. If you decide to use my services, I will store your data so that I can work with you to create your ceremony and ensure a smooth and wonderful day for you and your guests.
If for any reason you decide not to use my services I will delete your details (email/ or web contact form submission) from my inbox within 3 months of your initial enquiry; so please let me know if you have found a Celebrant that meets your requirements elsewhere and I will delete your enquiry within 10 working days.
Who is collecting your data?
Just me, via my web contact form submission, phone call, or email.
How is it collected?
Via my website web contact form submission, phone or email.
If you book me for your ceremony I will retain your information on spreadsheets on my personal (not shared) computer. (Devised and maintained by me, with no other third party involved). This information is also backed up onto my personal (non-shared) computer and stored in the Cloud, for additional backup and security.
And finally, I create a folder in my email account for ease of communication. I will also ask you to sign a GDPR information retention document along with your contract and booking form.
Why is it being collected?
I need to retain some of your data to enable me to work with you up to your ceremony. I need to be able to contact you in the lead up to your big day as we work together to create your ceremony. I am happy to explain all the steps I take in working with you and how and where your information is stored and used, at any time, so please feel free to ask if you have any questions at all.
How will it be used?
See above.
Who will it be shared with?
No one, unless you give me permission to share it.
What will be the effect of this on the individual concerned?
I hope the effect will be positive and allow us to keep in regular contact during our working relationship.
Is the intended use likely to cause individuals to object or complain?
I cannot think of a reason for objection or complaint if we are working together. It is best practice to maintain some form of system to record details for the duration of our working relationship.
Use of Cookies
Find out more from the experts about the use of cookies here.
Most web based or internet based businesses, apps etc will use cookies in one form or another these days, the ones that spring to mind immediately are Google and Facebook analytics. These seem to be the standard “cookies” feature of all major web browsers. You may choose to disable cookies through your own web browser’s settings however, disabling this function may diminish your experience on my website and some features may not work as intended.
Social Media
If you send me a private or direct message via any of the social media platforms, I will store the message for three months. It will not be shared with any other organisations. Social Media used may well track your viewing history but please be assured they are not sending your details to me.
You’ll find links on my website to other suppliers and to sites where I am registered as a member or supplier. These sites are not within my control and this policy doesn’t cover those links or their pages.
Affirmations and Personal Testimonials
You’ll see affirmations and testimonials In my website from couples and families who have used my services and have kindly written to me or written reviews on other sites which I manage. If you are also kind enough to write to me, I will ask your permission to share your comments all over my social media and website, because it’s nice to be liked and appreciated, and to share the good feelings with others!
I am fully trained Member of the Fellowship of Professional Celebrants, trained and qualified in January 2019.
I am insured for Public and Professional Liability (documents may be viewed if desired).