Testimonials

I’m always grateful to clients who take time to send me some feedback or a testimonial after I’ve conducted a ceremony for their loved one.

DS sent me this, after I conducted the funeral of her friend:

“I recently attended the funeral of a special and dear friend.  My friend had requested a Humanist service and had met Susannah, a celebrant, during her stay at the local Hospice.

From her opening words, I felt that Susannah was a true professional who made me relax and feel assured that my friends wishes had been fully understood. She spoke with calmness, warmth and a great understanding of who my friend had been.   She was clear, engaging and led the service with a sense of honour and respect and I could almost believe that she had known my friend for many years.

I had written a poem for my friend, which Susannah read out.  Her delivery and intonation really bought the poem to life as she managed to convey the love, humour, gratitude and celebration I had felt from having had my dear friend in my life.

 It was the perfect service, given by the perfect person, for someone who had loved life.  Thank you Susannah.  She would have loved you.” November ’23

FR kindly wrote these words for me:

“On the day that our 90 year old mother died, I searched for a humanist funeral celebrant, and thankfully found Susannah. Talking to her, I had an immediate sense of her calm, professional, caring manner, and in our one to one call a few days later, she listened carefully and thoughtfully before guiding me through what the process would entail. She took care of all the details, working seamlessly with the funeral director. Over the ensuing couple of weeks, my siblings and I worked with her to craft a beautiful funeral service which was a perfect and  very fitting goodbye to our mother. Susannah conducted the service with a truly lovely blend of reverence, respect and humour, and we are so grateful that she was part of our day.” April ’23

NT said “Susannah was introduced by Weston Hospicecare, where my partner was being cared for. We found Susannah to be helpful, polite, courteous and compassionate. She guided us through the proceedings and told us what to expect. On the day she conducted herself and the service professionally, and I received several comments afterwards on how nice the service was and how well it went.” May ’22

HB sent me this: “This was our first time working with a humanist celebrant and Susannah guided us through the process calmly and considerately. We wanted a service to mark mum’s death and celebrate her life and Susannah balanced this beautifully, taking little patches of memories and making them into a beautiful quilt of a tribute. On the day of the funeral, she was a reassuring presence, and she gave the service a real warmth. Mum would have approved.” July ’22

CM was unable to attend in person, so watched the live-stream the following day. She said “I just found a peaceful time on my own to visit J’s funeral. Very sad of course with a few blubs from me. But also very interesting. I loved the humanist celebrant, she was so calm and spoke very clearly with feeling.” July ’22

LS commented: “The service you did for us was absolutely amazing, we loved every word you said about A. It was a very lovely day, thank you so much.” July ’22

JB said “Thank you so much for your part in J’s celebration. It was beautifully judged and many people, whilst speaking enthusiastically of the readings and the music, were touched by the way you guided them towards contemplation at the appropriate moments. It was as close anyone could get to what J wanted and I think that was an achievement. It was lovely.” August ’22

FB wrote to me and said: “We all thought the ceremony was perfect and had lots of lovely feedback that it was such an emotional, contemplative and  fitting tribute to mum. Lots of people said how fantastic you were and I think the narrative of your words and the music, birdsong and readings worked as we had hoped. Both my daughters loved the ceremony and felt that it gave them space to think about their own memories of their Grandma.” August ’22

JB said “Susannah led the memorial service for my brother in law and I really appreciated how the presentation was gentle, clear and unhurried. I received many tributes to her warmth and empathy from friends and relatives who attended.” September ’22

A’s sister-in-law wrote the following: “Susannah provided a brilliant service as the celebrant for my brother-in-law’s funeral. From the very first contact she put us at ease and gave us the time and space to discuss and think about how we would like the service to go. She provided excellent suggestions and did some amazing research to find just the right poem to fit the bill! She helped us pull together what was quite a complicated process, at all times remaining supportive and professional. She sorted things out with the funeral home directly, taking off some of the pressure for us. We never felt rushed which I feel is so important. On the day she handled everything so well, much better than any of us, (including mourners bursting in late!) – she didn’t miss a beat. If you would like a non-denomination service which is tailored beautifully to the person you have lost, Susannah is certainly the person to help you.” Nov ’22

OH wrote to me about his mother’s memorial ceremony: “Organising Mum’s funeral wasn’t easy because we were all experiencing so much stress and emotion at the time, but Susannah helped us to plan a service which captured her spirit and enabled us to celebrate her life in the way she would have wanted.” December ’22

LB kindly sent me these words after her husband’s funeral: “I would like to thank you very much for a excellent service delivered with knowledge compassion with a touch of humour. Everyone who was present was very impressed and commented, knowing M he would have enjoyed every minute and the words hit just the right note.” December ’22

M’s daughter made these comments: “Susannah was just perfect. She was so personable, kind and spent time with myself and my mum taking to us about my dad that when it came to the funeral she conducted the service exactly how we wished. I know my dad would have been thankful. Many of those who attended commented on what an excellent service she conducted. Susannah made the whole process easier for us, I knew we were in good hands. Could not recommend highly enough. Thank you Susannah.” December ’22

ET wrote the following to me: “Thank you for your letter which arrived today together with the script for the funeral which is an excellent document. I would like to thank you for the lovely service and for your presentation which I found very enlightening.” April ’23