A funeral service should be very personal and authentic. Many people nowadays know what they want as death is more freely talked about and discussed than it was many years ago.a celebrant can be there with you every step of the way to plan, write and present a wonderful celebration of life. People are becoming much more conscious of having the funeral service that they want - not what someone may think you should have.

I believe there is a strong and growing need for sensitive and well trained people to become celebrants, for a diverse range of ceremonies.And, as we prepare the ceremonies’, people are often asking for something with a spiritual basis, and wish to do so without using words that come from any formal religion.’

A funeral should help family and friends express and share their sadness. It may be the last opportunity to be together to focus their thoughts on the person who has died. The ceremony should be remembered as an occasion that uniquely and affectionately honours that person’s life. It should capture the essence of his or her personality. I cannot stress enough that every single ceremony should be personalised. The ceremony is held to celebrate the life of the deceased but, just as importantly, it is there to help those who remain behind to grieve, to celebrate and for some – to let go and move on. I believe it is our responsibility to try and leave the guests feeling better than they did when they arrived at the ceremony. This might not be possible for everyone, as the individual’s level of personal grief and guilt will play a big part in this and is not something that we can change greatly within a forty-five minute ceremony. Having said that I would hope that most funeral ceremonies would have segments of light and dark, mixed with happy and sad moments.