Celebrant celebrating after award nominations
"This means a lot to me as I believe this is my calling in life."
Debbie Bates has been celebrating after being nominated for two awards in the 2021 The Celebrant Industry Awards (TCIA).
The 49-year-old from Sedgley has been nominated for the Rising Star and the Client Services award categories of the awards, which recognise those delivering excellence as nominated by fellow celebrant colleagues, industry suppliers, couples and families.
Public voting for the awards, which are announced on May 31, will be open from Monday to May 21, before being reviewed and judged by an independent panel made up of industry experts.
She spoke about her role and what went into being a celebrant.
She said: "A celebrant is someone who can conduct funerals, weddings, baby namings and other services, and are an alternative for people.
"If they don't want, for example, a vicar, they can have a celebrant, who can put in some religion or no religion based on needs, and they get a very personal service.
"That means the services are written exactly how the family wants them and are quite bespoke."
Mrs Bates said she had been inspired to become a celebrant two years ago after attending a funeral for her cousin, which was conducted by a celebrant.
She said: "I used to work frontline on the ambulance service, while also working at the registry office as a registrar doing weddings.
"The funeral for my cousin was wonderfully done and made me think about becoming a celebrant, which started with funerals, but then moved onto weddings because of my prior experience.
"I'm not a religious person, but I'm very open-minded and happy to conduct religious services if they are needed, but also without if that is what is requested."
Since beginning her new journey as a celebrant 18 months ago, Mrs Bates said she had found her calling in life and spoke of her pride at the award nominations.
She said: "I'm chuffed to bits, to be honest, as it's nice to be acknowledged for something that combines everything I'm passionate about in life.
"I like to provide the best service I can for a funeral or a wedding and I want people to walk away thinking that was amazing.
"I also want to bring more attention to what a celebrant is as I'm not sure a lot of people know what the role is and I want to help educate people about it."
To find out more about the awards and to vote, go to thecelebrantdirectory.com/awards
