"Everyone at the ceremony will have felt your compassion and sympathy for our loss. We could not have achieved what we did without your warmth and steady hand. It was a difficult but extraordinarily beautiful day."
- JK
My Approach
If you are looking for a personal, meaningful funeral which both honours and celebrates the person who has died, I can help. As a non-religious funeral celebrant I aim to guide families to create an occasion that truly reflects the personality and interests of their loved one.
I do this by listening, by weaving stories from memories, and by talking to families about the unique legacy that the person has left behind. I consider it a great compliment when guests remark that they felt as if I had known the person whom we were commemorating.
"Your talk on Mum’s life prompted many people to ask me how long you had known her. You displayed such genuine empathy to all of us that it was almost as if you were part of the family."
- JB
What makes a good funeral
Discover & Remember
Friends and family will hear things not only that they recognise and remember, but that they perhaps didn’t know already
Comfort
Guests will feel happier when they leave than when they arrived
Celebration
The person would love to have been there!
"I have worked with Shoonagh many times and always found her highly professional, organised, responsive to needs and adaptable. Our bereaved families always appreciate her kindness and beautifully prepared services"
- Iain Steel, MD, Richard Steel & Partners
Photo by Tiddy Photography
How I can help
Planning the funeral
You may be facing a number of decisions about the kind of ceremony you would like to arrange. These can include choosing a location—such as a crematorium or a woodland burial site—deciding whether to have a direct cremation followed by a memorial at a venue of your choice, or arranging an ashes interment. If you would find it helpful, I can guide you through all of these options.
Support with the Ceremony
Alternatively, you may already have everything in place and simply need someone to help you create and deliver a meaningful and fitting ceremony.
"Shoonagh has a unique gift: her ability to ensure that every detail of the occasion was purposeful, and appropriate and specific to the person we had lost."
- ZH
Professional Qualifications
I am accredited by Humanists UK and fully subscribe to their ethos of empathy, community and mutual respect, backed by reason. You can read more about Humanists UK here.
At the same time, I believe that ceremonies should feel inclusive and meaningful for everyone involved. I am therefore very happy to work with families who wish to incorporate religious or spiritual elements into their ceremony.