A vital part of the Funeral Service is making sure I get the story of your loved one right, so I will arrange a good time to come and meet up with yourself and anyone else who wants to contribute their memories and suggestions for the service. Ideally, I like to meet families face-to-face, as I want you to feel like we have a connection, from the very start, and leave you reassured that you are in safe hands. Often this meeting happens in a family home, but I can also meet families in a coffee shop, a pub, or at the funeral directors.
During our time together I will collect all of your favourite memories and get to understand the most important elements of your loved one’s life. I will also ask you about any music choices, and why those specific pieces have been chosen. It might be that you, or other members of the family or friends, want to stand up and say something about the person, with their own fitting tribute. If needed, I can give advice and support on the best way of delivering this, and where best to place the tribute during the service. You can find more information on this in the ‘Blogs’ section of this site.
Funeral services can also be as religious or non-religious as you want. My role is to help you to best reflect the life choices and beliefs of your loved one. You can include whatever poems, prayers, readings or words of wisdom you feel appropriate. After I leave you, I’ll go home and put all the memories and achievements into a eulogy that truly reflects the kind of person your loved one was.
On the day of the funeral I am generally at the crematorium, or chapel, half an hour before the start of the service. This is so that I can reassure early attendees, putting them at ease and potentially gathering more stories that I can use to enrich the eulogy. Once everyone is seated and the service has started, I will try to put people at ease as quickly as possible and deliver the eulogy in a way that brings memories alive. By the time the service has ended, I want those present to feel like their emotional needs have been met and a proper goodbye has been said.