Celebrations of Life
For lives that were full of colour
Not a chapel slot. Not a conveyor belt goodbye.
I create personalised Celebrations of Life – including ceremonies after direct cremation and living celebrations shaped with the person at the centre.
Direct cremation removes the formal service, but it doesn’t remove the need to gather.
Families choose simplicity for all sorts of reasons – practicality, privacy, personality. But once the paperwork is done, there’s often a second feeling: We’re not finished.
Not a rushed 20-minute slot.
Not a script read by someone who didn’t know them.
Not a ceremony squeezed between other strangers.
A deliberate moment that sounds like their name in a room full of people who loved them.
That’s the difference a celebration of life can provide.
A note about funeral directors and direct cremation
When a direct cremation is chosen, the funeral director handles the practical elements – the care of the person who has died and the cremation arrangements.
That role is essential.
But once those practicalities are complete, typically there is no ceremony attached unless you choose to create one.
That’s where I can come in.
A Celebration of Life doesn’t replace what’s already happened. It gives shape to what still needs to happen – the gathering, the remembering, the laughing, the crying, the stories that only make sense in a room full of people who knew them.
Direct cremation is relatively new.
Celebration is not.
We have always gathered to mark the lives of the people we love. To speak their name out loud. To remember properly.
You don’t have to choose between simplicity and ceremony.
You can have both.
What this can look like
Once the practical side is done, you have freedom to choose. But more than this, a direct cremation can provide room to breathe.
To pause.
To wait until you feel you have the emotional space to explore what a celebration could look like.
With ashes present or without them. Soon after the death, or months later. Formal or completely informal.
You’re not tied to a chapel slot or a timetable. You can choose the place, the people and the tone.
It might be a chandeliered ballroom in a grand hotel, or a stretch tent at the edge of a field. A village hall dressed with photographs and fairy lights. A private dining room above a favourite pub. A golf club where they knew their name. A garden that’s seen every summer party for twenty years.
It’s not about impressive. It’s about intentional.
Sometimes making these decisions is utterly overwhelming. I can sit with you, steadily guiding the options until we find something that feels doable and feels right.
No chapel slot. No conveyor belt.
No borrowed words. Just a proper gathering.
What I can do
I meet with you first.
We’ll sit down properly, ideally in person, and talk about who they were. Not just the dates and milestones, but the habits, the humour, the contradictions. The things that made them them.
We can talk about the where the celebration could take place, who you want there, how it should it feel so it reflects your person.
Then I go away and write the celebration.
You’ll see the script well before the day. We can adjust it, refine it and make sure it feels right in your chest.
If family members want to speak, I can help them shape what they want to say – whether that’s building a full tribute together or steadying a few lines they’re nervous about delivering.
I can write the whole celebration. I can write a single eulogy. I can suggest venues or spaces – unusual or everyday – whatever fits.
There’s no fixed template. There’s no emotional rulebook.
The aim isn’t “closure.” It’s recognition.
When it ends, the feeling shouldn’t be “we said goodbye.” It should be: “They would have loved that.”
Living Celebrations
Some people, knowing time is short, want to shape the moment themselves.
Not after. Now.
A Living Celebration is created with the person at the centre. They choose the tone, they decide what is said, they can speak, be interviewed, or simply sit surrounded by their people.
Joy and grief can sit in the same room.
Nothing is sanitised. Nothing is exaggerated.
It’s not about pretending death isn’t coming.
It’s about marking a life while it is still being lived.
Investment
Celebrations of Life – £500
This applies to both Celebrations of Life after death and Living Celebrations shaped with the person at the centre.
The preparation, care and structure are the same.
That includes:
An initial 30-minute coffee or Zoom to see if I am right for you and your family
A planning meeting – in your home or with the person themselves – to understand who they are, how they’ve lived and what has mattered most
A fully personalised ceremony written from scratch
Script refinement and thoughtful edits
Support shaping music, readings and shared moments
Liaison with your chosen venue, hospice or setting
Me arriving at least 60 minutes before the ceremony or gathering
Professional, steady delivery on the day
A beautifully presented copy of the ceremony to keep
Travel within 50 miles of Warwick is included. Beyond that, 45p per mile.
A £200 booking fee secures your date. The remaining balance is required seven days before the celebration.
Coffee, Zoom
or a walk.
Your shout
No pressure. Just a proper conversation.