Human beings all over the world — no matter their culture or religion — have always marked the rite of passage after a death with a ritual or a ceremony of some kind.
For believers, a church funeral is appropriate, beneficial and healing.
But if your loved one was a non-believer, or did not habitually frequent a church, there are two options: do nothing at all or plan a non-religious funeral with the help of a professional celebrant.
We have the training and experience to create and conduct whatever end-of-life ceremony you are looking for, be it a non-religious funeral, a graveside ceremony, a memorial service, or an ash-scattering.
“The celebrant helped us plan the event from beginning to end and gave us very useful suggestions. After a conversation with the family, they created and conducted a beautiful ceremony for my father, which was both solemn and light-hearted.”
Our task as celebrants is to create, draft and deliver a unique, personalised funeral ceremony to celebrate the life of a person dear to you.
During the family visit, we will discuss your options for the funeral service, ask about your loved one’s life and achievements, listen to your stories and anecdotes and gather together a wealth of information about their personality, temperament, passions, and relationships with others.
Your words will then be woven into a bespoke funeral ceremony script that includes a tribute or eulogy, reflections, contributions from others, a slide show or video, and your choices of readings and music.
By weaving together these different elements, the ceremony will give voice to your words and include your family, friends and wider community. We will create the atmosphere that you want, modulate the emotional impact of the service, and seamlessly manage all the participants to create a harmonious and uplifting ceremony.
A professional celebrant to help you create and conduct your funeral ceremony will be a huge relief.
“We had told our celebrant that there were no words to express what we were going through, but for my mother’s funeral they found the words, exactly the right ones, conveying our feelings and reflecting her spirit and beliefs perfectly.”
photo credit Funet
When we write your bespoke funeral ceremony, we use many elements that are common to traditional ceremonies:
A non-religious or humanist funeral does not follow a standard format and can be completely personalised. There are no rules.
However, in our experience, it is useful to have an idea of the shape your ceremony will take.
The following is a suggested order of service:
A secular funeral or memorial service can be held in a civic building or town hall; in a funeral home or funeral hall of a crematorium; in a deconsecrated church or chapel, hotel, theatre or other venue; in a private home or garden; in the mortuary or at the graveside — practically anywhere.
Provided that:
For information regarding pet funerals see
photo credit Simona Filippini
At this point, the funeral ceremony is in our hands.
We will outline your options for the ceremony and advise you on choices for music, readings, or images that best represent your loved one.
We will create a first draft of a ceremony that is unique to your loved one and send it to you for comments and corrections.
On the day of the funeral, we will be at the venue ahead of you to make sure everything is in place and will warmly welcome you and your guests.
We will then officiate the funeral ceremony with empathy, sensitivity and professionalism.
Find out more about secular funerals
“I appreciated the celebrant’s professionalism and sensitivity from the word go: his ability to listen and empathize was key to creating a fitting ceremony despite the complicated situation.”
Click here if you want to know more about the other farewell ceremonies
Click here if you would like to know more about secular and non-religious funeral
All your questions will be answered here
We would love to know whether you have attended or organised a non-religious or humanist funeral.
Tell us about your experience. You can email us, or contact us via Facebook or Instagram
Leaving arrangements for one’s own funeral means accepting with serenity that death is everyone’s final destination. In an act of love and generosity we can take care of everything when we are still able to decide every detail.
Individuals and families increasingly seek personalised celebrant-led ceremonies that capture and convey the essence of their loved one’s unique life and are in tune with their beliefs and values for funerals, memorial services, graveside burials or ash scatterings.
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