Almost ten years ago my father died very suddenly and my sisters and I found ourselves arranging his funeral.  A bit lost as to what to do for the best, one thing we were sure of was that we wanted a non-religious funeral and one that reflected his personality – his love of music, his interests in science and art – even down to the terrible dad jokes.  We found a humanist celebrant, and felt instinctively that it was the right fit for us and for our dad. And, as The Rolling Stones’ ‘Brown Sugar’ rang out over the Welsh hillside where we buried him, I knew we’d done the right thing.

Whenever I work with a family, I try and think back to how I felt at that awful, difficult time and treat people with the same compassion that my sisters and I needed then. My job as a celebrant is to help families work their way through the jumble of ideas (or, sometimes, total numbness) and help them design the ceremony that works for them. They are only going to do this once for the person they love, and they need to find a way of remembering them that reflects who that person has been.

Most of all, my job as a celebrant is to listen.

My services include:

• an initial planning meeting to discuss the funeral ceremony
• sending a draft of the eulogy/life story for your comments and any changes
• telephone/email support up to the funeral, including a check-in the day before
• liaising with other professionals such as the funeral director and venue to make sure everything runs smoothly
• a keepsake copy of the ceremony wording after the funeral by email (with printed copies on request)

I am also trained in pre-planning funerals, and have now worked with several people to help them get all their wishes organised and recorded for when the time comes.

Let’s work together to plan your farewell…

If you would like to know more or to discuss planning a ceremony, please contact me on 07587 297657, email alex@alexcolliscelebrant.co.uk or check out my socials. You can find me on Instagram and Facebook.

Five Star Reviews

”When I lost my beautiful son, I knew that I wanted his funeral to be a joyful celebration of life. Alex gave us the perfect ceremony that remembered our son as the personality that we all knew and loved. Nothing was missed out. She made us laugh and cry. Days afterwards people remarked to me that they had dreaded the funeral but it had been so uplifting that they were glad they had come. Alex made what could have been a sad day wonderful and memorable.” ~ from W’s mum

“Alex came to our family’s help as we struggled to know how to celebrate and deliver something appropriate at the end of our lovely mum’s life. Alex captured our memories and powerful feelings brilliantly, and told Mum’s life story calmly and meaningfully. We felt we were in her hands and being looked after when we needed it most.” ~ from B’s daughter

“From our first meeting with you, you took a load of stress off our shoulders. I can’t thank you enough for all you did for us.” ~ from N’s brother

“I can describe Alex in so many words: professional, helpful, thoughtful, compassionate but above all so very, very kind at a time when your world has been turned upside down. She guided me along with her caring nature. I can never thank Alex enough for making a difficult day so much easier to deal with.” ~ from  H’s mum