What You'll Find Inside

• The real fee tables. What graveside services, full memorials, and celebrations of life actually pay, by service type.
• Three income scenarios. Side practice, serious part-time, and full practice, with the annual numbers for each.
• Why funerals beat weddings. Year-round demand, weekday work, and a referral system that replaces advertising entirely.
• What one service really involves. From the first phone call to the follow-up card, hour by hour.
• The honest part. Who this work is for, who it isn't for, and the skill that matters more than public speaking.
• Your first 90 days. A simple roadmap from training to your first paid service.

Written by Someone Who Actually Does This

I'm Keri, a Celebrant Academy instructor and the owner of Flower City Ceremonies. Since 2014 I've officiated more than 400 ceremonies across Rochester, Buffalo, and the Finger Lakes: weddings, memorials, and celebrations of life. I'm also a graduate of the very training I now teach in, so everything in this guide comes from rooms I've actually stood in, not theory.

Real guidance from a real officiant because the moment is the whole point.

But Could I Really Do This?

If you can listen well, write honestly, and stay steady in a room full of feeling, you already have the raw material. This work isn't about being in the spotlight. It's about helping a family make their person feel known, and that is a learnable craft. The guide shows you exactly what it takes, with zero sugarcoating.