commemorative BMD certificate service

[behindthefrogs]

All GRO certificates including the one that you originally provided with are copies of the register entry and as such have the same appearance and colour.  There can be some variance in the way the information is entered on to the certificate which varies from computer printed, through photocopied from the register to handwritten.

David

[Ruskie]

I would think that anyone who is interested in this service would probably already have purchased the certificate. It may be an historical certificate or a recent one.

They could then forward a scan or photocopy of this to you depending on how hi-tech you intend to go (having various options might be a good idea).

I suppose if there is a specific certificate they wished to have 'done' but they didn't have the certificate, you could offer to purchase it for them and add the £9.25 to your fee. But as David has pointed out, there may be times when you don't know which is the correct birth, marriage or death to know which certificate to purchase  ....

I agree with baggygenes that you would have to offer a quality product to stand out from the crowd with this - maybe even hand written/drawn in ink on really good paper/parchment, including hand drawn/painted decorative embellishments. (calligraphy style) You could also offer various styles such as illuminated manuscript style, Victorian style, art-deco style, or 'personalised' style etc etc. 

This would take it out of the realm of anything that the Register Offices could supply or that most people would have the ability or perserverence to undertake themselves. Time involved would make this very costly I imagine and I don't know if your abilities extend this far. I can't guess at how many people would be interested in anything like this.

A framing service would also be an additional thing you could consider. (Those plaster cast, guilded, framed baby feet - pink for the girl and blue for the boy, come to mind  )

It is a nice idea, but I think it would have to be something very special and you would have to put some work into marketing this service.

My imagination might be running away with me a bit, but these are just my thoughts .....

[bloogy]

thank you for that ruskie thats a very helpful reply! you have given me some great ideas.

im going to give it a shot, buy enough stock to do 20 or so certificates and see if they sell.

i'll try it where they supply me with all the details first and see what happens...

[Ruskie]

Good luck with it bloogy! 

[Billyblue]

Bloogy, why don't you contact your 'local' record offices which supply this service, to see what kind of response they get?

Out here in Oz, these special certificates are available from some Reg. General departments too, for a price, and I think the most popular ones are probably christening / birth ones but I may be wrong.  I guess marriage certificates would be a good bet, too, for newly married as well as for anniversaries.

Dawn M

[Ray T]

Is there not a copyright issue with reproducing bmd certificates commercially?

[baggygenes]

Is there not a copyright issue with reproducing bmd certificates commercially?

I don't know but I would think yes for the form but not for the information on it

[Craclyn]

Afraid I am unable to see the point. For me the whole point of buying a cert is to be sure I am getting the GRO version. What use is someting transcribed into a pretty frame?

[Billyblue]

Afraid I am unable to see the point. For me the whole point of buying a cert is to be sure I am getting the GRO version. What use is someting transcribed into a pretty frame?

Contrary to our beliefs, the GRO and similar don't exist to supply info for family historians!
Many people (living) apparently want to buy these certificates in a memorial presentation, for sentimental purposes.

    

And Ray T would be correct - as the information is publicly available (for a price but public nevertheless) it is not copyright.  What is copyright is the way it is presented.

Dawn M