Ceremonies Celebrating the Life of Loved Ones
Sad Times
Please get in touch to discuss fees.
I know that talking about death isn’t everyone’s cup of tea (speaking of tea, why don’t you grab a cuppa and some biscuits and get comfy. I find tea and biscuits help when I’m feeling sad).
Death is an inevitable part of life- the yin to its yang. Though many have tried - immortality is still out of reach to us mortals. Despite our trying to desperately ignore the fact that we will die at some point, it catches up to us all. Sometimes expectedly after a long illness or old age. Sometimes, very suddenly and unexpectedly.
Having experienced losing people via both types of death- neither is easier than the other. Death comes with lots of complicated paperwork and tasks that are often time sensitive. Unless you’ve had experience with these matters, it can come as quite a shock.
One of the things you need to organise is a funeral aka Celebration of Life. This is something I’d be honoured to help you with. Saying goodbye is a difficult, and vital, part of the grieving process and you have options.
I will create a service that is unique to you and your loved one by meeting with you and family members. We’ll discuss their life and accomplishments, their friends and work, the impact they made to people around them. I will include readings, poems or songs of your choice. We’ll also discuss how you want to say goodbye - by having some time with them alone after the service, by decorating their coffin/shroud, we can discuss ways to scatter their ashes {traditionally, or with seed balls for example}.
The options can be overwhelming but I’m here to talk you through them. Please contact me to discuss fees.
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I offer my services for the following in the Leeds and West Yorkshire area. If you live outside of this area, please contact me to see if we can work together:
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Cremation
Direct Cremation Memorial
Funeral/Celebration of Life
Graveside Service
Natural burial
Resomation
Sea Burial
Babies / Young Children
Losing a child is a truly devastating experience that I can’t even begin to imagine.
Parents aren’t supposed to survive their child. It’s not the natural order of things. Sadly this loss happens far too often and sometimes the reasons why aren’t truly understood, despite a post mortem. The sight of a tiny coffin is absolutely heart-breaking.
At the time you should be planning a Naming Ceremony and enjoying all the ‘firsts’, planning a funeral is not right.
I will find a way to guide you through this time, to create a way to say goodbye to your baby and your dreams. We will also discuss a Life Certificate if appropriate.
If you weren’t able to hold a Naming Ceremony I offer one as part of this service if you’d like one.
Every child deserves to be named and remembered, no matter how long they were with us.
Direct Cremation
A lot more people are choosing a direct cremation.
This seems like a great way to put everything in place to relieve pressure from loved ones. However, sometimes loved ones and family members might feel that they missed an opportunity to say goodbye.
A direct cremation is where someone directs a Funeral Director to arrange to collect them after death, and take them to the crematorium where they’d be cremated with no service. This greatly reduces the cost of the funeral as there no extra costs. Even if someone has made it clear that ‘they don’t want a fuss’, it doesn’t mean that you can’t still say goodbye in another way.
I can help you organise a memorial at a place of your choosing (at home, the pub, golf course, community centre etc) either before or after the cremation. This service can be up to an hour and gives you the opportunity to truly celebrate their life.
A service at the crematorium varies between 20-30mins in total- from you entering to leaving. This seems too small an amount of time to really say goodbye. It seems unfair to rush such an important moment.
