Becoming a Funeral Celebrant

This was the next part in my journey to becoming a Master Celebrant.

WOW – what a step to take. I’m not sure I fully appreciated the breadth and depth of the learning content and information that we would cover or how much it would shape me as a funeral celebrant.

I am so pleased that I have done this and I’m now a fully certified Funeral Celebrant – how amazing is that…..

I came to this programme with quite a bit of knowledge and experience from caring for babies and children who were nearing the end of their lives with either a long term condition, or an acute and devasting illness, as well as supporting their families, at that very difficult, emotional and heartbreaking time. Compassion and a genuine desire to want to help as much as I could, and to always be considerate, respectful and caring, were already values that echoed throughout my role as a Children’s Nurse, and these will continue to be part of my role as a Funeral Celebrant going forward.

The amount of content we covered illustrated the importance of this profession and why it resonates with celebrants across the country. There are many more funeral celebrants than wedding celebrants, and we know that only around 20% of funerals will be religious or held in religious buildings. A beautiful point about an independent celebrant led funeral ceremony, is that so many different pieces of content can be woven together to create a ceremony which deeply reflects the life that the person lived, and the legacy they have left behind.

Here are the topics we covered that will support me in my role as a Funeral Celebrant;

·       An Introduction to Funeral Celebrancy

·       Working with Families & Grief

·       Values and Practical Working

·       Creating a Service to Remember

·       Designing Celebrations of Life, Memorials & Living Memorials

·       Writing an Unforgettable Ceremony

·       Officiating the Ceremony with Confidence

·       Setting up your Celebrant Business

The depth of topics covered was brilliant. I feel really well prepaired and have a much better understanding of all aspects of a funeral service now.

The assessments I undertook were also in-depth and challenged my evolving style of creating writing more and more. We were assessed throughout and I am delighted I received some great grades, but just as importantly, some wonderful feedback and guidance.

In preparation for some “practical assessments”, we were required to choose a scenario based on differently aged people who had died. I chose Jasmine, a baby who died at two days old with a hole in her heart. It’s important to tell you that these scenarios were not real. We were required to create and develop a funeral that we would deliver and record and then submit the recording for assessment. We also needed to create a focus point to represent Jasmine, and you can see in the image below, how I created a space for Jasmine, with a beautiful white wicker basket, surrounded by several cuddly toys. The other image of a child angel is really comforting, and the slide by Auntie Melody (also part of the scenario) showing what Jasmine meant to her, was shared as part of Jasmine’s funeral.

As part of my celebrant role, I would like to support and care for families at this devastating time, and I do feel that my previous role will support me in doing this. My knowledge and experience will be able to guide me in conversations around next steps, leading up to the day of the funeral, the day itself, and the days and weeks that follow. I know that I can talk with families, and these conversations, whilst they might not be easy, they are necessary. I have the strength needed to create a space to enable them to take their time, feel cared for and supported, and to recognise that they aren’t on their own. For me, it’s about seeing that the worse thing in the world has just happened to them. I can’t change what has happened, but I hope, in my own way, I can bring some peace and calm to them and their family.

I am as equally committed to meeting and supporting all families and to do whatever I can within my remit to support and guide them with care and compassion from our first meeting, up to the days after the funeral. Along with the sadness of talking with bereaved families, is the joy of hearing all about the life their loved one lived. How amazing to know that they made an impact and left a lasting impression. Being their funeral celebrant will be such a fulfilling way to be part of people’s lives, even for the shortest of times. Supporting grieving families and friends to remember and create some final memories on that very last day, is quite powerful and humbling.   

Going Forward.

I am now arranging to meet with a number of local Funeral Directors to talk about how I could work alongside them in the future. It has been brilliant meeting them, and each visit brings some new information and advice, so this is time very well spent.

Here are the funeral services I plan to deliver;

·       Funerals for babies, children, young people & adults

·       Celebrations of life for babies, children, young people & adults

·       Celebrations of living life and funerals for babies, children, young people & adults

·       Memorial ceremony’s

·       Internment or scattering of cremated remains

The content for my website pages has now been written, so watch out for that new content coming soon……….

Thank you for reading my recent blog, see you all next time.

Fiona xxxx