My Values
A funeral or a memorial service can be a powerful way to mark someone’s passing. Not only should a service be able to help those gathered come to terms with the absence of their loved one, but also serve as an opportunity to share in the celebration of what it was that made them unique and so important.
My intention is that every funeral or memorial service should be a perfect capsule representation of the individual you are celebrating. Those gathered should gain valuable insights into the life and passion of the deceased – and I believe it is my role to pull together the strands of their personality to create a truly holistic representation. I see myself as a conduit, to help those in the depths of grief to create a service that will not only help them process their loss, but also serve as an event that serves to unite the mourners, finding strength in their shared memories.
How I Support You
I am passionate about people. My goal is to immerse myself in understanding the person the service is about, taking the time to look into their relationships and history in order to understand who they were. Only then can I even attempt to create a eulogy and a service that represents them fully. My intention is always to work with professionalism and compassion, building a relationship with you in order to deliver the ideal service to suit your needs and the requests of the deceased. I shall support you throughout every step of the process.
How can I help you? In my experience every funeral is a unique opportunity to celebrate the life of the deceased. How can we accurately represent the deceased and the myriad relationships in their life which all contribute to making them who they were. I will work closely with you to find out all I can about your loved one, speaking to others until I can pull together a clear idea of who they were and what made them tick.
What is it that you would like to see in a service? Would you like music, singing, or performance? Was the spoken word more important, which voices could we incorporate and how can these work together? Perhaps you would like a more organic shared experience, with spontaneous shared memories? All of these things take coordination and planning, and having a professional on hand to pull these things together can remove unnecessary stress from what is already a difficult day.
Though some people have a very clear idea about what it is they would like, others need more support in helping the ideas come forth. I can assure you that I will go out of my way to create a service that offers more. Unique services to represent unique lives.
Together we will help pull together the ideal service, one that offers support to all, opportunities for shared grief and sadness, but also a feeling of celebration.
If you are living with a terminal illness you may be struggling to speak to your family about your funeral wishes. Everyone you love will be processing the enormity of what you are going through, and talking about your funeral preferences might be just too hard right now. I would like to support you in relaying your wishes to your family. Working with professionalism and compassion at all times, and at a pace that suits your energy levels, I can take details on your preferences, even creating a piece of writing with you to deliver at the service. After you have passed, I can either pass on all the information to your family, or work with them to create the service. In addition to creating the service details I can also support you in developing any particular messages or words for passing on to your loved ones.
Many people now choose to hold a celebration of life service, often a few months after the passing of the person. People have had time to start processing the loss, but can now come together to celebrate the shared time they had together.
Generally speaking, a Celebration of Life gives you more freedom in the kind of event you would want to hold. Whereas a funeral if often constrained by the time allowance of the venue, a Celebration of Life has no such restrictions. Working with you I can help in all aspects of event planning, from advising and selecting the venue, to providing decoration, sourcing performers, writing the service and then serving as a master of ceremonies on the day.
FAQs
There is lots of confusion as to what the role of a funeral celebrant is and how this compares to a Priest or Funeral Director. Hopefully this selection of questions will help answer some common queries, but if you have any outstanding queries please do not hesitate to contact me.
Typically, a funeral celebrant will be used when the deceased family do not want a traditional religious service and are conducting the service in a non-religious venue, for example a crematorium or natural burial site. That is not to say that a celebrant cannot include prayers or blessings if this is what the family would like. A funeral celebrant’s role is primarily to lead and officiate the ceremony, but in addition to this there are also many supportive roles that the celebrant will undertake leading upto and after the service, offering guidance and compassion throughout.
Often a celebrant will come recommended from the funeral director. Alternatively, you can choose to select your own celebrant and simply inform the funeral director who it is you are working with. Either way the celebrant and the funeral director will liaise independently to ensure everything runs smoothly.
All celebrants work in different ways. My personal preference would always be to meet the family face to face – I believe this is the best way to build a relationship and to gain understanding.
I can also work with someone who is terminally ill, taking the time to listen and understand their wishes on what they would like from their funeral or memorial service.
Timings are different depending on the stipulations of the venue, but typically around 40 minutes. If this seems too restrictive it is possible to book a double slot. If you are choosing to have a memorial service or Celebration of Life, time restrictions are not so much of a factor. You can choose to create an event that lasts many hours, with breaks for food, drink and even dancing if you so wish.
The fee will be dependent on what you want the celebrant to do for you and how far they may need to travel, but as a general rule you can expect a cost of between £150 and £300.
