"If you are visiting our website following a loss,
may we extend our condolences to you and your family".
A Civil Funeral is defined as:
A funeral, which is driven by the wishes, beliefs and values of the deceased and their family, not by the opinions or ideology of the person conducting the funeral.
Civil Funerals have been available in most of the UK for many years now, delivered by a professional Civil Funeral Celebrant. The funeral outline will be discussed and settled upon when the celebrant visits the family, and should involve deep and thorough communication with the bereaved
What makes a Civil Funeral different?
Many people are not affiliated with a traditional religion and do not have a clergy person to call upon. Some people are simply not comfortable with a traditional religious funeral ceremony.
Others are finding that today's typical funerals fail to reflect the life of the deceased or express the depth of meaning they seek. They wish to take a more active role in planning the funeral ceremony by reasserting the importance of personal involvement over tradition or social pressures.
Celebrants are also available to families who, through cross cultural marriage may wish to integrate each others customs into the service.
You may wish to choose a Celebrant if you or a loved one is terminally ill and you would like to participate in your own funeral arrangements.
This means that the professional Celebrant is happy to include religious material as well as carrying out non-religious ceremonies. In this way Civil Funerals are somewhat different to humanist ceremonies, where religion will not be included.
The Celebrant will spend time talking with family members and friends and will then write and deliver a full ceremony that will reflect the wishes of the family and those of the deceased.
The Celebrant also discusses and arranges family or friends participation in the ceremony, the music and the readings.
