Funerals
The services I write are as individual as the people they honour, with each service written from details and stories provided by the family and friends of the deceased. This enables me to create and deliver a fitting and dignified tribute that remembers everything that made that person so special to those gathered to remember them. Although our time together will be brief, I will help you and provide advice for this most important of tasks, and guide you at a time when your grief is at it’s most sensitive stage.
Nowadays, many people have their own views on life, death and religion and not everyone wants a traditional religious funeral, as it would not best fit the wishes of the deceased or the family. Engaging the services of a Civil Celebrant enables you to reflect the wishes of your loved one and will be held in a setting that makes you more comfortable in celebrating the life of the person who has died.
A funeral is always going to be sad occasion, as it is a time to say your last goodbyes, but it need not be a sombre affair, the ceremonies I create are designed to be positive and uplifting, with the focus very much on life, not death, and reflecting on what made your loved one special. It will also give you a great comfort knowing you have provided exactly the memorial that the deceased would have wanted.
I will always meet with the family to gather the necessary information, and create the most fitting kind of funeral service. I welcome all ideas and suggestions from as many family and friends as possible, to build a true picture of the deceased, and therefore create a service that is just right for the individual whose funeral is to take place.
You may wish for family or friends to participate and give readings, or poems. You may also wish to add specific pieces of music that your loved one may have enjoyed. I would heartily encourage this, as it will give a last opportunity to say goodbye in a way that has significance for yourself and all those present.
The most important thing is that you let me know everything that the deceased would have wanted, and what you treasured most about them. This will give me the opportunity, with your Funeral Director, to create a service that will ensure you can say goodbye to your loved one in a way that both you, and they, would have wished.
Testimonials
Please note all surnames are removed to protect family identity, however all testimonials are direct quotes from genuine families whom I have had the honour of serving.
"We would like to send our sincere thanks to you for the service you provided for Fred on Tuesday. We appreciate very much the time and thought you put into what you said about him - everyone at the service was very uplifted. We ourselves both coped much better with the day thanks to you, and it has been a pleasure meeting you."
-Joan & Stephen
"Good morning Alan, I so appreciated all you did for us yesterday. I felt we were in very safe hands with you in control and ones have said what a lovely service it was ! Im so glad you led the singing as that could have been awkward! And also I cant believe you found my locket! Thank you so much for everything."
-Sonia
"We I would sincerely like to thank you for conducting such a wonderful service for Mom.
Your ears must have been burning afterwards as there were numerous compliments paid to you. You have the most amazing listening skills; to turn what was discussed on the 19th September into such an eloquent, heart felt tribute was brilliant. My cousin summed it up beautifully as she said that it was difficult to believe that you hadn’t known Mom for many years!
Thank you Alan. You were highly recommended to us and you will continue to be highly recommended."
-Mick, Sue and Colin
"On behalf of Lisa and myself I would like to thank you for the way in which you conducted the funeral service for my late wife. Many people who had not previously attended a civil funeral commented upon the professional way you presented the service and your attention to the smallest of details. You made many friends on the day.
May you continue to provide such a valuable service at such a sad time."
-Alan
"I just wanted to contact you on behalf of my Mum and the rest of the family to thank you for the my dad's service yesterday. I wanted to say thank you so much for it being so uplifting, I never expected to laugh as much as I cried at my Dad's funeral!! I'm certain he would've been happy with the way we sent him off, so much better than the usual religious 'claptrap' and very personal to my dad, definitely the way he would've wanted it. Having spoken to a few afterwards they found your approach refreshing and different.
Once again thank you for helping give my dad a great send off."
-Chris
"On behalf of all the family I would just like to say a huge thank you for all that you did for us at the crematorium yesterday. It would have been awful if we had had to go ahead with the service without Soren and Monica after they had travelled all the way from Sweden, but thanks to yourself and Matthew we where able to re-schedule the service and include them in the celebration of Ron's life.
The whole tone of the service was exactly what we had hoped for."
-Frances
"I wanted to email you to say a very big thank you for how last Tuesday went and for all that you did to make it run so well. Many people said to me that it was a very fitting and thoughtful service. Very Steve. That made me smile because that is exactly what I wanted to do for him because he deserved at least that. I have also had people say how much they appreciated the prayers in the service too so thank you for that too."
-Maggi
"Please except our heartfelt thanks for the way you conducted Mother's service yesterday. Your professionalism, combined with your compassion shone through the service and created a very memorable, personal and uplifting tribute. We will remember it for the rest of our lives.
Thank you on behalf of the entire family"
-David
"It was so nice of you to send me the transcript of Stan's Celebration of life service. I thought about you when I was in Cyprus & thought I would write & thank you for a most memorable service, which many commented on. All good I may add.
You have beaten me to it, but at least it reminded me to write to you to thank you again."
-Lynne
Many thanks to Independent Civil Celebrant Alan Feeney for the fitting way in which he helped celebrate Kevin’s life.”
-Worcester News Acknowledgement
“Many thanks, it was very much appreciated the way you expertly combined in detail the contents of the life of Marion. Everyone commented praises for you on the way you executed your programme. It was different and a lovely way service and we were very pleased. Although a sad occasion the whole day went very well as a celebration of her life of 90 years."
-Paul, Vilma, Marie and family.
“Richard and I wanted to thank you again for the beautiful service you put together for our mom Jane. You took traces of mom’s wit, wisdom and mischief-and somehow invited more- to create such a warm tribute to a real star of a woman.”
-Claire and Richard
“We would like to express our gratitude for the wonderful way in which you helped us to celebrate the life of Kevin. We especially liked the way that Kevin was included in his celebration as though he were actually present”
-Eileen, Roy, Ian and Julie
“We wanted to thank you for the great service you did for John. Everyone at the service has said what a great speech you made, and once again I want to say you did us proud.”
-Val, Tina and Sarah
“Just wanted to thank you for the way you conducted dad’s service on Monday. Everyone said it was a nice personal service. Thank you.”
-Sean and Karen
“Just a few lines to say thank you so much for the excellent service you did for my dad Ray yesterday. Everyone said how good it was and one of the best funerals they have ever been to. You made it very personal and we greatly appreciated you.”
-Rosemary
“Words are not enough to say thank you for the personal, uplifting tribute you gave to Keith on the day of his final journey. Your approach and words showed how much Keith loved and was loved. We have had numerous comments from those present at the service on how much they thought of your service and how you did Keith proud.”
-Julie
“Just wanted to say a HUGE thank you for mum’s service today. Everybody thought it was so appropriate and well done-and for my dad to want your contact details, believe me you cannot have higher praise!”
-Sarah
“A few weeks have passed since my Dad's funeral service. I just wanted to say thank you delivering such a respectful and meaningful service for my Dad. My husband, who was not able to be present at the service, asked if you had known him, which I think speaks to what a good job you did of capturing his essence. It is a memory that I will always carry forward and I appreciated your efforts in making it right.”
-Claire
“On behalf of my family, I would like to sincerely thank you for the service you gave at my father’s funeral. He was as you know, quite adamant about the arrangements, and I’m sure had he been there, he would have been more than satisfied!”
-Kathryn
“Alan, just a big thank you from Jamie, Emma, Rachel, Ian, Emily and Katie for the way you conducted what was the perfect service. We were all very grateful as it has helped a lot of people other than us to move forward after his death. May I add that you, as well as my daughter’s song were talked about non-stop at the wake! Truly you were there for our family".
-Ian
"I would just like to send you the biggest possible thank you for the ceremony yesterday. It's probably not pc correct but so many people told me it was "the best funeral they had ever been to"!! In a weird way that's one heck of a compliment to your total understanding of Andy's character. So many people thought you had met him so my waffling couldn't have been all bad. I also believe a couple of people wanted to book you in advance. Anyway from one of the many with a sore head this morning thank you very much."
-Kaz
"Just a few words to thank you for an outstanding job that you did last Wednesday at my fathers service.
You were very professional, clear and understanding. I had a large number of comments saying how well you seemed to get the essence of the man. The simplicity of what we did was also mentioned in a very positive light.
My cousin called yesterday and "Best funeral ever" came our of his mouth. I am not sure that funerals should be rated but if they were 10/10."
Again Alan thanks for a great job. It was very much appreciated."
-Chris
“I just wanted to thank you very much for your part in Wednesday's service for Mum. You said just the right words and it felt like you were talking about Mum and not just anybody.”
-Pamela
"Just an email to say thank you so very much, the service was beautiful, everyone commented on it. I couldn't have asked for anymore than you did, I gave you the barest of info and you made it so special. So again a big thank you."
-Gail
"Thank you so much. The words you wrote for dad were perfect, but the sensitivity with which you delivered the service was what made it so special."
-Trudie
"Janet, Judith and myself wish to thank you so much for excellent service you gave on Friday in celebration of our late Dad. We have taken comfort that we have given him a service to be proud of, we also have had great feedback from many who attended, some whom had never been to a Celebration of Life and were very pleasantly suprised at how natural the service was."
-Christine
"Thanks for a grand service. As funerals go I have to say Jan's was the best. Thank you for all the effort and time you put in to get it right."
-Heather
"Thanks very much for your help and support at the celebration of my father's life. Everyone agreed we gave the old man the best possible send-off and your role was central to that. You managed to catch the essence of an extraordinary life in your address, which hit exactly the right tone. I gave myself a 50/50 chance of delivering my few thoughts as I arrived, but the warm and pleasant atmosphere you created helped me to get past those odds - thanks."
-David
