What is a Funeral Celebrant?

A Funeral Celebrant is a independent individual who is asked to officiate a funeral which includes the planning and overseeing the funeral ceremony.

While a funeral celebrant is often instructed by a funeral director on behalf of the family this is not always the case as some families already have a clear idea of who they would like to officiate. A funeral celebrant will always work closely with the funeral director to ensure that all the arrangements reflect the families wishes. In this regard, if contacted by the funeral director to officiate, I will always contact the family within twenty-four hours to arrange a home visit.

The role of a funeral celebrant is to help create a ceremony that honours the wishes of the deceased and their family. One of the best ways to do this is to meet a family at their home or a place of their choosing in order to gather all the necessary information. As a funeral celebrant my role is to listen to your wishes rather than walk through your door with a ceremony already prepared. This means that no two ceremonies I lead are the same and each ceremony is crafted to reflect the life of the deceased.

The crafting of my ceremonies always starts in the same way, with a blank piece of paper and an open mind as we start to talk. I find that during our time talking, the ceremony starts to take shape and after thirty minutes to an hour we have an outline prepared. My role is to be there to support and guide you through the process of saying goodbye and I can write and deliver a tribute on the day or support you and the family to do this in a way that you see fitting. I also offer both religious and non-religious ceremonies and can if needed I can help you with choosing poetry, readings and songs or hymns for the day. My role as a funeral celebrant is to support you so that you can say goodbye in the way that you want to. If that means there is a particular piece of music that you would like, or for me to wear a certain colour tie or even a Hawaiian shirt, then don't be afraid to let me know.

A funeral celebrant can be considered as a guide, whose role is to help support you through the process or preparing the funeral. This is done while listening to your wishes and any instructions that may have been left so that the ceremony is a memorable and fitting 'goodbye'.