I feel passionate about Civil Celebrant Connection and am fully committed to doing all I can to make this community thrive and to support and nourish our celebrants.
About Our Founder – Sam Goodchild
Here’s a brief timeline of my career as a professional celebrant:
- 2013 – 2014 – trained as a non-denominational, multi-faith minister
- May 2014 – officiated at my first ever wedding
- July 2014 – officiated at my first ever funeral
- October 2016 – was offered the position of Funeral Celebrant Tutor at a Celebrant Training Organisation
- June 2017 – achieved my NOCN Level 3 Certificate in Civil Celebrancy in the UK
- June 2017 to Feb 2022 – Lead NOCN Assessor for a celebrant training organisation
- April 2018 – June 2020 –Director of Training for a celebrant training organisation
- November 2020 – December 2022 – Ran a Sacred Celebrant Training School for celebrant ministers
- August 2024 – achieved my NOCN Level 3 Diploma in Namings and Couples Celebrancy
- As at January 2025 I’ve delivered over 1200 funerals and more than 70 weddings and namings ceremonies
When I first trained…
When I first trained, I was told ‘you can choose your own hours’, ‘be your own boss’ and ‘live life on your terms’. It sounded like a dream come true.
In many ways it is. I love being a celebrant and I enjoy being self-employed.
However, it is not a 9 to 5. It is hard to switch-off. After we’ve trained it can feel like we’ve set sail out to sea all alone.
That’s how I felt back in 2014 when I started out.
What no-one told me!
When I started out, no-one mentioned:
- How all-consuming this job can be
- The paranoia when the phone doesn’t ring
- The stress when the phone doesn’t stop
- Feelings of rejection when ghosted by clients or rebuffed by funeral directors
- Compassion fatigue
- The rising panic when searching for house numbers in the dark or off-the-beaten track rural wedding venues
- Unresponsive clients
- The need to vent!
- The sheer mortification when you make a mistake
The list goes on……
All of the above are normal for a celebrant to experience during their career – but that doesn’t make it any easier.
What helped...
What helped me was meeting new celebrants when I was delivering training for a celebrant training organisation. Networking with some of those celebrants and making one or two close celebrant chums, I remember reaching the stage where I knew my celebrant chum well enough to leave my first ‘mini panic’ voicemail. My chum immediately sent me a message of encouragement. From then on, we began leaving mini-messages for each other when we’d had a bad day, had broken down in tears after a funeral, or were lost looking for a client house or venue, and although it didn’t make those problems go away – there was a feeling of support and camaraderie.
An idea...
After more than 10 years as a full-time celebrant, I’ve made celebrant friends, supported new celebrants and met celebrants at every stage of their journey. During this time, the themes and thoughts which kept reoccurring were: We need a community. We need support. We need others who know exactly what it’s like.
Then an idea came to me; ‘What if I created that community?’
As a busy, full-time working celebrant, I shelved the idea. But it kept re-surfacing and soon it had started to take shape. I couldn’t ignore it any longer! I realised I wanted to create that community of professional celebrant chums who would feel connected, covered and supported.
And so Civil Celebrant Connection was born!
Our Professional Mentors
At Civil Celebrant Connection, two highly successful, experienced and qualified celebrants have joined Sam on the professional mentorship team:
Jon Matson-Higgins
Funeral Celebrant Mentor
Jon is a full-time, experienced, and qualified ordained non-denominational minister and award-winning celebrant.
Jon launched his funeral celebrant career in Brighton making his mark in a highly competitive market of excellent, well-established long-term celebrants. He quickly built a busy, full-time celebrant practice becoming the ‘go to’ celebrant for numerous local funeral directors.
Moving to Peterborough in 2024, Jon started again from scratch. Applying what he had learned previously, Jon was able to rapidly establish himself in his new area and gained a reputation as a competent and reliable professional, working full-time in under a year.
His expertise and high standards were soon recognised when he was nominated for and then won celebrant of the year 2024/2025 for the Central England Prestige Award.
Jon has been able to draw on his skills and experience in his work prior to his Celebrancy career. He was as a complementary therapist at Brighton Holistics and went on to hold the position of Principal and Senior tutor up until January 2021.
During Jon’s early nursing career and work in complementary therapies, he specialised in palliative and end-of-life care which has been invaluable in his work with bereaved families.
Jon also gained extensive ceremonial experience as the verger at St Paul’s Church, Covent Garden for a number of years. (Including attending to and participating in many weddings and funeral services)
Jon has a passion for education and standards. He has mentored local celebrants offering support and practical advice wherever they are on their journey.
Jon’s relevant qualifications:
- Non-denominational Ministry training and ordination.
- NOCN Level 3 Diploma (RQF) in Funerals Celebrancy,
- NOCN Level 3 Diploma (RQF) in Naming and Couples Ceremonies,
- NOCN Level 3 Certificate (RQF) in Civil Celebrancy,
- Level 3 Diploma (RQF) in Grief and Bereavement Counselling,
- Level 2 Diploma (RQF) in Safeguarding.
- Certificate in Funeral Service Business.
- Certificate in Funeral Service Management.
Julia Hawkes
Namings and Couples Celebrant Mentor
Julia is acknowledged as an expert professional in the field of celebrancy, recognized for her exceptional work with couples and families. Since completing her celebrancy training in 2017 (NOCN Level 3 Diploma in Celebrancy: Naming and Couples/Level 3 Diploma in Funeral Celebrancy)
Julia has established a very successful Cotswold wedding business which continues to thrive year on year. She has also delivered in-person and online wedding training for a Celebrant Training Organisation.
During her celebrant career she has accrued many industry awards including several TWIA awards (The Wedding Industry Awards) Most recently she was awarded the ‘Outstanding Couple & Family Celebrant’ at the 2023 Association of Independent Celebrant Awards and was runner up in the category of ‘Outstanding Contribution to Celebrancy’ in 2024 (AOIC) .
Julia is known for her compassionate and personalized approach, creating meaningful ceremonies that reflect the unique stories and values of the couples she works with. Her warm, empathetic and inclusive approach allows her to connect with couples from all walks of life, making them feel understood, listened to and supported throughout the wedding planning process.
Julia has a strong commitment to the celebrant profession and has always supported local celebrants and those new to the profession. She co-hosts a local networking group and acts as a listening ear to many! Prior to working as a celebrant Julia worked as a teacher, deputy head, educational advisor, senior consultant and county lead for education. With a background in writing and delivering training, quality assuring practice, advisory support, team management and educational mentoring she brings a wealth of educational experience to her celebrant mentoring role.
The personal qualities that Julia brings to her Celebrant work are also the qualities she brings to each mentoring relationship. Julia says “I take great pleasure in being able to combine my previous work experience with my current Celebrant wedding work. Offering mentoring to fellow wedding celebrants who are looking for the support of an experienced and established wedding celebrant to develop their business and ceremony skills has been an obvious and very satisfying role for me”
