Testimonials
I attended the celebration of R’s life last Saturday and wanted to say thank you for such a super commemoration. It was heartfelt and moving and blessed by perfect weather. It’s funny how so often you learn things about someone – and this was no exception. I thought it was extremely real (not bypassing how difficult it must have been for R’s close friends) – so many thanks for leading us through it. It’s not an easy task!
A – July 2024
Jo worked quickly over 4 days to get the tribute and ceremony organised. She did an excellent job. She ensured that the ceremony was as we wanted it by listening, suggesting options and co ordinating the activities with the funeral directors and others. She was an unobtrusive but calm authoritative presence so that we, the family, could get on with simply being there and relating to others at the ceremony and graveside.
W family – August 2023
The service that you crafted for my brother farewell was just pitch perfect, full of warmth and of his presence. It was a full acknowledgement of the person he was as well as a loving message to him. We were all agreed that it captured his strong, creative and determined spirit beautifully and gave us immense comfort and pleasure. It was a real joy to work with you beforehand and thank you for your wisdom, kindness and practical suggestions all of which played a key part in the success of the service. I felt I did him proud and was his Big Sister to the end which he would have wanted. Thank you so very much for making that possible. It really was a pleasure working with you. How lucky the world is to have your tender loving care and cleverness.
JD February 2023
Jo conducted the service at my husband’s funeral. She spent some time prior to the event understanding what the close family wanted from the day. She shared a range of ideas to help the process and jointly constructed the text that was used at the ceremony. On the day her tone was warm but professional. She quietly led the event without dominating. To her credit as people left many commented that it had been an uplifting experience, the best they had been to and exactly what they would like when the time comes.
CW November 2022
I just wanted to say a huge THANK-YOU for the tribute for H yesterday. We are all so pleased with how it went, it felt a really fitting tribute and everything we wished for was covered. So many people complimented the way you took us through H’s life and thought the ceremony was really moving and appropriate. Some said the best funeral they had ever been to !!!
SG November 2022
Without Joanna’s input and craftsmanship D’s Celebration of Life wouldn’t have had the same energy and polish. We were incredibly lucky to be able to achieve the upbeat, positive atmosphere we thought D would have wanted whilst at the same time reflecting her gentle and generous nature. We have had so many people say what a wonderful event it was and so different from the run-of-the-mill off the shelf funerals. I’ve even had several people actually thank me for inviting them! We cannot thank Joanna enough for her hard work which brought light and positivity to our darkest day.
DS November 2022
Honestly, Joanna, I don’t know where to start in thanking you for telling mum’s story, thank you for helping us to get it across. We were so pleased. The support and guidance you gave us really did help us at this difficult time.
MB August 2022
Joanna did us proud. The time and care she took to prepare the eulogy was wonderful. The way she crafted and worded the speech was flawless. The way she captured the true essence of our son was superb meeting our expectations and beyond. Everyone we spoke to after the service was full of praise and admiration for Joanna’s sensitivity , empathy and professionalism. So pleased we had the good fortune to obtain her services.
P&J G August 2022
As a family we were incredibly grateful to Joanna on the support and guidance she provided in planning my father’s funeral. Coming together as a family to talk with Joanna about Dad was difficult, but her empathy and genuine interest to learn about his life helped us all through what was an emotional period. The tribute Joanna was able to put together fully encapsulated all we had discussed and was delivered by her on the day of the funeral with real warmth – and she was able to accommodate some last-minute changes, due to unforeseen events. It was striking that nearly all those attending the funeral remarked afterwards on how fitting a tribute it had been to dad, and this was in no small measure down to Joanna. Many thanks
DY – May 2022
Joanna was great from the first time we met her she supported us all and helped with decisions we weren’t sure on, explaining the options. We felt so in control of the funeral. Joanna did a beautiful speech that was so heart warming. The support that we all received was amazing at such a hard time we massively thankful to Joanna.
B family – May 2022
We would just like to thank you for your eulogy. From the information we gave you, your presentation was read with empathy and compassion and for that we thank you. We loved the poems. They just expressed how we all felt.
TB – February 2022
At a time when I was at my most lost, following the death of my husband D, I felt overwhelmed by the list of official /bureaucratic tasks that had to be done. When Joanna came to my house to discuss the ceremony I realised it was the first time since he’d passed away that I had talked in depth about D as a person, or my feelings of loss. It was incredibly therapeutic to be given space, amidst the grief and chaos, just to recount memories and recall the very real unique person D was. Joanna captured D’s personality perfectly during the ceremony and everyone there commented upon how the funeral had been an uplifting celebration of his life and achievements, whilst being reflective and respectful. I can not thank her enough.
LB – January 2022
Jo helped us talk through what S would want to happen at his funeral. As S has both Parkinson’s and a form of cancer, it was really relieving for him to feel that he had thought things through and made everything clearer. Although a difficult subject, Jo approached it with great sensitivity.
J – November 2021
Joanna is extremely skilled at drawing together the essence of a person in conversation with their relatives. She wove my father’s life story beautifully, and, given that we were only able to have a 20 minute funeral, it was amazing that she could fit so much in without it seeming hurried in any way. During the period of preparation she was very kind and flexible, at the same time showing absolute professionalism.
L – February 2021
Joanna was excellent. She listened very carefully to everything that was said and conveyed a wonderful picture of the life, talents and personality of my husband. She managed in the short time offered during these Covid times, to tell his story and included contributions from our three children to speak about their love and memories of their dad. Although she had clearly told us there was a cut off time to add any more, she recognised the importance of trying to say everything that needed to be said at these difficult times. Her professionalism and calmness was a comfort and we found out that she moved in familiar circles to us, that made the intimacy of the service even more special.
AS – January 2021
My Mum was a complex person and had had a very long and mostly healthy life. I knew family and friends saw different aspects of her character and it would be difficult to explain this to someone who did not know her. I sent long emails trying to explain, spoke with Joanna at length, then left her to sift through this deluge of emotion and information to illuminate Mum’s character. Joanna’s skill, kindness and compassionate insight allowed to her do this perfectly. She helped us through the dark times and with the practicalities.
It was a very hard task to ask of Joanna to try to condense Mum’s 94 years of life into the fifteen minutes allowed and for it to feel meaningful to everyone at the funeral who knew Mum. But, Joanna did it perfectly and she captured the essence of my Mum for each of us, she picked up on small amusing events and included everyone who was present. There was a balance of all the aspects of my Mum in Joanna’s speech and allowed everyone at the funeral to recognise the lovely woman that they knew. It was so beautiful and very calming. Maya Angelou once wrote that “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget who you made them feel”. Everyone present at Mum’s funeral left feeling special after Joanna’s speech and we all left with a smile. I would readily recommend Joanna to any grieving family needing help to get through the difficult and distressing time and that she would bring her insight and compassionate skills to help them through.
BE – December 2020
We both found that the funeral was a real turning point in moving from what was quite a traumatic phase to a more accepting and reflective type of grief. On behalf of Dad’s family and friends, both present and attending online, thank you so much for the wonderful service you prepared and delivered for us. We really felt it captured who Dad was. This was a tall order as he was quite a complicated character, despite having a very uncomplicated way of engaging with others. As many people close to him will have seen only certain aspects of his life, it was important to us to bring everything and everyone together to better understand and appreciate him. This helped us feel more connected to him and, through him, to each other. This provided huge consolation and comfort at such a difficult time. Up until the point where we met you, we were really struggling with the practicalities that needed to be done to say goodbye to Dad. From the outset your kindness, the way you guided us through the process, your practical suggestions and flexibility to adapt the content to get the service that was right for us was most helpful. Above all, you were keen to get to know Dad and had the patience and skill to shape the content and speakers into a coherent whole. We are very grateful for all your help and would not hesitate to recommend your services to others in need of a trusted guide through such a challenging time as the loss of a loved one.
A – October 2020
To leave a review or testimonial please email me.