Every service that I create and conduct is unique to the people involved. I will meet with you to discuss your loved one, and to learn about their life, their impact and their legacy. We will also discuss your needs and expectations, as we create the final funeral, celebration or memorial event together. This first meeting will usually be in person, but can be online if that is what you prefer. 

​

It may be that you would like me to write a eulogy, which I would create from your information and stories, and would share with you for your input in good time to make any changes needed before the day. I can then deliver that for you, or support you in delivering it yourself. Or it may be that you would like to write the eulogy yourself, with or without any advice or input from me, and of course that is fine too, and again you can choose - right up to the very last minute - whether you would like to deliver that yourself or would like me to do so for you. 

​

You might come to this process with existing ideas for readings, music, and perhaps other activities to take place on the day. It may even be that your loved one suggested these themselves. Or you might ask me to make suggestions for suitable content, and we can make these decisions together.  

​

You might prefer a service that is completely non-religious, or you might want some element of religion to be included. Being an independent celebrant means that together we can honour any faith or religion that is important to you or your loved one. 

​

​

Funeral, celebration of life, or memorial?

​

On one level, these words are not all that important, and there is no need to categorise your event or service, to try and make it fit into one of these designs. However, as you might see these terms a lot while you navigate your way through your preparations I wanted to take the time to explain what they are commonly taken to mean.

 

A funeral will contain a eulogy, a story of the person's life and their legacy, but will also have a strong focus on their passing from one state to another, often (but not always) with a religious aspect to this. A funeral also will often follow a very familiar structure, similar to traditional religious services.

 

A celebration of life may also refer to the person's passing from one state to another, and may also contain some religion and some traditional structure, but the overall focus is, as the name suggests, much more on telling the story of their life, and celebrating their time in the world and the privilege of having known them. 

 

The key difference with a memorial, which may take the format of a traditional funeral or of a celebration of life, is that this takes place after the interment or cremation of their body. As such, no body or coffin is present at this type of service, but you might choose to have their ashes, and/or other objects that can represent their physical presences, such as photographs, flowers, and/or much loved possessions.

​​

​