As a celebrant, I listen to the stories of how people have shaped their lives, have made decisions and found meaning, and I help celebrate that. I work with families to create ceremonies rich in meaning.  

Planning a funeral can be unexpectedly stressful. There is often very little time, and the number of decisions can feel both distracting and overwhelming.

My role is to create some space within that. I ask questions, listen carefully, and help you reflect on the life of the person who has died, and how you would like to honour them, or how they wished to be remembered.

As with weddings, you have more choice than you might think. A funeral does not have to fit into a short crematorium slot. It can take place later, at home, in a village hall, a pub, or outside. If you do choose a crematorium, I work alongside funeral directors to ensure everything runs smoothly.

Some families prefer a small, private ceremony on the day of the burial or cremation, followed by a larger memorial at a later date. There is no single right way to do this. But endings do matter, and a thoughtful ceremony can be an important part of the grieving process.

I am also open to conversations about living funerals, and I welcome enquiries from parents grieving stillbirth or the loss of a child. Every life is treated with care and respect.

One piece of advice I was given during training has stayed with me: to think of the ceremony as creating a kind of presence for the person who is no longer with us. What did they sound like? What made people laugh? What was it like to be around them?

A funeral is a final moment to gather, to remember someone properly, and then to let them go.

It is a privilege to do this work.