There is a choice.
There is a choice of non-traditional, modern, alternative and traditional funeral ceremonies available to everybody.
You can choose the funeral officiant, location, venue and the approach to the ceremony.
As a funeral celebrant, I can help you with choosing your preferences for a funeral ceremony for your loved one.
"Louisa acted as the Celebrant for our Mum‘s funeral and she did an excellent job.
She came to our mum‘s house a few days before the funeral to ask questions about Mum in preparation for the service. She was so kind and considerate and interested in what we had to say. We were a large group including my Dad, my two sisters, my niece and auntie. We all had our individual memories to share so it was a lively conversation but Louisa was so patient and let everybody have a voice. It felt like a joyous celebration just talking about our mum whilst Louisa took note of everything that we said. What was so comforting was when she sent us the first draft of the eulogy there was not one thing that she missed out about our Mum. We were so impressed that she captured our mum’s essence to the fullest, from her childhood to her last days, how much she was loved by her family and how much she loved us. She also included the crazy things our Mum got up to in her youth. After the funeral service at Lawnswood Crematorium, Leeds, everybody kept asking if Louisa was a family member because the way she spoke about our Mum was with such genuine concern. We didn’t want any religious connotations throughout the service because that didn’t reflect who our Mum was. We were lucky to have Louisa who created a real celebration of our Mum’s life. Telling stories about our Mum’s escapades, playing some of her favourite soul and reggae music and letting my dad and my sister say a few words too. At the end of the service we played Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds” one of the many favourites of our Mum's. Louisa asked the congregation to get up and dance because that is what mum loved to do. It was a real celebration of our mum‘s life and as devastating as it was to be saying goodbye to her, Louisa gave her a beautiful and fitting send off. I would highly recommend her services. She’s professional, kind, considerate and caring. She listens and takes everything that you say and puts the eulogy together so beautifully. The service was very busy with lots of people to engage with but with Louisa’s professionalism everything went smoothly. Thank you so much Louisa from all of us Jean Charlton‘s family. "
Celebrations of Life Ceremonies are life-centred ceremonies that focus on the life of the person being remembered. These ceremonies often include tributes, stories and readings from family and friends.
Celebrating the life of a loved one needs to beunique. Even the little things that seem small are often the most memorableparts of a person’s character can be celebrated.
• Were they obsessed with a particular singer orband?
• What would they order every time at a restaurant?
• Did they have a famous catchphrase?
• What was their character like?
• Were they a funny or serious person?
• What will they be remembered for?
• How would they have liked their funeral ceremony to be?
Let’s celebrate a person’s life, a character, apersonality!
Traditional elements can be included to respect a person’s belief, but the primary focus is to talk about the person.
Nowadays, there are many options for Green Funerals. Coffins and vehicles can be sourced from sustainable resources and funeral directors can help with the arrangements.
Natural burial grounds may allow the planting of shrubs, and some may permit the planting of trees. Eco-friendly vehicles are also available from funeral directors.
There are many options to support lowering environmental impact.
Full Circle specialise in offering greener, natural and eco-friendly funerals. Please click HERE for further information.
Celebrating the life of a loved one needs to be unique. Even the little things that seem small are often the most memorable parts of a person’s character that can be celebrated.
Traditional religious services held in churches and places of religious worship will be conducted by a religious minister. Celebrants are not members of the clergy but can be flexible with including and honouring religious beliefs. A Humanist Celebrant may not include religious content as Humanists do not believe in religion or afterlife. As an Independent Celebrant, I honour, respect and follow all beliefs be they religious, non-religious, spiritual, Humanist, agnostic or atheist. I will honour and deliver traditions such as prayers, hymns and religious readings in ceremonies if the family/friends request them to honour their own beliefs and those of the person being remembered.
A Celebrant led ceremony can be held in any approved chosen venue. All the official and legal administration will have been arranged by the funeral director and the ceremony can beheld in a place of choice. Crematorium services must adhere to the specific times given and must keep to the length of time allowed. Cemetery services follow this same principle but often provide a lengthier service time depending on the cemetery plus allow time needed for a burial service. Alternative venues can be chosen, and they can be any venue that has agreed to allow a funeral ceremony to be held there. Time allowance is generally more generous and flexible at these venues, but it is best to confirm that the funeral director is content with the arrangement. (See alternative venues)
A Living Funeral is a ceremony for somebody that has a terminal illness and wants to celebrate their life with family and friends before they say farewell. This can be held in any venue on any day and at any time. The person can arrange everything according to suit them so that it reflects their character, personality and life truly and so that they can celebrate the years with those special to them. I am always honoured to help arrange and be part of such a special ceremony.
I believe that music is a fundamental part of a funeral or memorial ceremony. Music can indeed stir many emotions in a ceremony, but it can help celebrate a life and bring a sense of joy to a sad occasion. Due to time restrictions in crematoriums, the number of songs and the length of them will be limited.
Having everybody singalong and join in with a song in a ceremony is truly up lifting! As I love singing as a hobby, I will happily lead a singalong and a dance too!
An Open Mic in a funeral ceremony is a wonderful way of letting people that knew the person share their own memories and tell stories that may be unknown. An open mic can be spoken word or can include musicians playing live music which brings a sense of comfort and celebration to the ceremony. Open mics can take time depending on participants. They are best included in ceremonies in alternative venues where there are no time restrictions. Open mics can be held after the ceremony at the venue where the after-party/wake is held where people may be more relaxed and open to talk and share memories. I have hosted and led many open mics at funerals and memorial ceremonies in the past.
Yes. You can choose the celebrant or officiant that you think is more suitable for the type of ceremony you would like. Funeral Directors will suggest and offer advice on suitable celebrants that they are familiar with, but you can choose which celebrant you would like. You can contact me directly or via the funeral director. I work closely with funeral directors and communicate constantly to ensure all your requirements are followed and respected.
As everybody is different, every single funeral ceremony is different! I will meet with family and friends and spend as much time as we need talking and finding out about the person as much as possible. Meeting people directly is the best way to get to know family and friends and to find out about the person being remembered. If direct meetings cannot be arranged, the marvel of technology means that Zoom/FaceTime/Whats App meetings can be arranged. After the meetings, I will start writing the ceremony. Every ceremony starts from scratch and no templates of copy and paste methods are used. I guarantee 100% that every ceremony is unique, and each ceremony starts and finishes with a unique reference to the person and the whole ceremony is centred on the person being remembered. I will always send a draft of the ceremony to the person that is the main contact so it can be read and checked thoroughly to ensure everything is correct so that they are satisfied with what will be said in the ceremony. To help save the planet and paper, I will usually email a final copy of the ceremony to family/friends to keep. If a printed copy is required, I will happily and easily provide one.
I have received training in bereavement, I do not claim to be a bereavement counsellor. I understand how important it is to connect with people and as I have always had the gift of talking (as my husband will vouch for!) I know that communication is essential. I have always loved finding out about personalities and characters of people and as somebody that loves singing for people to listen to, I know how engaging with people is fundamental with aspects such as trust, compassion and interaction. I have learnt a great deal from being a celebrant which is a ‘people person’ job indeed and this is the main ethos of my practice as a celebrant. People are real hence funeral ceremonies need to be authentic – real ceremonies for real people!
I will always ask if there is a preference of dress code for a funeral service. I personally tend to avoid wearing the tradition of black but will of course do so if it is the requested colour. I always like to find out if there is a preferred colour or theme to the funeral and will try my best to wear clothing in accordance. If there is a theme such as football shirts, leather jackets, fancy dress, hats or anything particularly associated with the person being remembered, I will do my best to find and wear suitable clothing.
Crematoriums usually provide the music for services held in the venue and use a system called Obitus (link) that the funeral director will arrange the music through directly. For ceremonies in alternative venues that do not have sound systems, I can provide a PA system that includes a system for playing music through. I will provide the music source as well as any microphones if they are required. I also can provide AV equipment for visual tributes.
