The Association of Independent Celebrants Ltd (AOIC) is a vibrant and forward-thinking Trade Association for professional celebrants across the UK and overseas.
As the one and only registered trade association for celebrants in the UK, our objective is to provide our members with the support and resources they need in order to create truly special ceremonies for every one of their clients. This includes offering a huge number of membership benefits to all celebrant members, along with assistance for newly trained celebrants for as long as they feel they need it.
As your representative trade body we can truly call ourselves ‘the voice of the celebrant’, speaking up for celebrants collectively whilst supporting every one of our celebrant members as individuals.
From the President
May I offer you a warm welcome to the AOIC website. I am the new President as of October 2022, and with the retirement of our Executive Chairman I will be covering this role, alongside our Company Manager Kim Franklin, for the next year. Kim and myself benefit greatly from the support of the strong AOIC team, made up of experienced committee members, staff, directors and patrons.
The AOIC is a non-profit making, forward thinking and friendly trade association (not a training company). Run by our members for the benefit of of our members, as well as the wider celebrant community, we work hard to be the ‘voice of the celebrant’, and hold pride in supporting and representing independent celebrants from all denominations and beliefs.
We are a kindred association of the National Association of Funeral Directors (NAFD), and associate members of other associations in the funeral industry: the National Society of Allied and Independent Funeral Directors (SAIF) and the Funeral Suppliers Assocaition (FSA). Kim, myself and other members attend meetings to represent our membership and keep up to date with what is happening within the industry.
The AOIC is also on the Executive Committee of the Wedding Celebrancy Commission (WCC), a body that will actively represent your collective concerns to government and will ensure the press and general public fully understand and appreciate the different dimension that celebrants bring to wedding ceremonies. We encourage wedding celebrants to join together in your regional areas with the support of AOIC to be able to share costs of attending the larger more costly wedding fairs and seek to promote our members through media. We are currently doing a lot of work for the proposed Wedding Law Reform.
Well known for the support we give our members, they are able to bring any relevant issue to us should help or guidance be needed. Joining the AOIC means that all of our members are signing up to a code of practice policy. This provides a clear Code of Conduct framework for members to work within and the reassurance to funeral directors and the public, of having some recourse, should they have cause for complaint.
It is my responsibility to ensure that the AOIC principles are complied with. We take all complaints and concerns regarding the conduct of our members seriously, but likewise, if a complaint is unfounded then we are here to support the member and represent them when faced with the challenges of such a complaint. Continued professional development is a cornerstone of the AOIC and any relevant CPD will always be offered in the event of a complaint procedure.
The AOIC goes from strength to strength and grows not only in numbers but how we operate and benefit our members. We were the first association in the industry to provide Celebrant Support (a professional counselling service free of charge), and Professional Indemnity insurance in addition to Public Liability insurance, and is still one of the only associations to automatically provide cover within its membership fee. Not only as an investment in your practice and professionalism, but also with regulation fast coming round the corner for the funeral industry, we feel that being a members of an association like ours is very important, and in particular, that all celebrants have Professional Indemnity insurance, given that we live in a ‘no win, no fee’ litigation society and claims may be raised for the most unexpected of occurrences.
If you are not yet a member, we would encourage you to join us to secure the benefits of our supportive and rapidly growing association.
A non-profit making and friendly trade body – run by celebrants, for the benefit of celebrants.