BABIES, WEDDINGS AND FUNERALS
– a day in the life of a Celebrant By Dorothy Cooper, Red Rose Ceremonies “What is a Celebrant?” “What do you do all day?” “All you do is talk; it can’t be hard.”
A
Celebrant is a person who is trained to create a custom-made personal ceremony for any life event. Sounds simple?
Here’s a glimpse into my week:
the future they had planned, and we use the baby’s name frequently. At times, my job is to just listen, and make notes so that I can create the best possible goodbye. We decide we are going to include a naming ceremony along with the farewell burial. I spend the afternoon wrapped in a duvet on the sofa – sometimes this job is incredibly difficult. FRIDAY
MONDAY Three requests from funeral directors with details of services. I contact families, arrange a time to meet and have a chat. Everything that I do is family led; the most important part of my job is making that initial connection and establishing trust. Although my job involves a lot of talking (something I’m really good at), it also needs sensitivity to quickly pick up on emotions and feelings and to reassure a grieving or bewildered family. In the car, for a very quiet and traditional service at the crematorium, making sure that I’m always there at least an hour early, to check that there are no issues.
I write the baby service while it’s still fresh in my mind, and spend the afternoon packing for the wedding the day after. The details are really important – planning and covering every possible eventuality is key – have I got the ribbons for the handfasting? SATURDAY Wedding day! I arrive two hours early, make sure that everything is set up and ready, then sit and go over the service. The sun is out, it’s a beautiful setting and we have a great day – I love my job!
Back home, cup of tea and on to the computer, to research and write another service. Most 30-minute services take about 6-8 hours to write from scratch – no “insert name here” templates. TUESDAY Up very early to finish a draft service and send to the family. Every service I write is sent to the family in full, so they can approve every word, and make changes if they need to. I spend the morning talking to another family – they want a lively service, motor bike escort and dancing as their loved one was a real rocker…but can we dance in a crematorium? Of course we can. WEDNESDAY I spent time finishing the wedding ceremony that I am going to be leading on Saturday (we’ve been planning this for 2 months now). It’s going to be a lovely outdoor service (hope it doesn’t rain) with a book theme, a hand fasting, blessing stones and a lot of literary quotes which I loved researching. THURSDAY Networking, then a difficult call; a family who have lost their baby. They talk for a long time about their grief, 146
LANCASHIRE & NORTH WEST MAGAZINE
Still think it’s easy, or all we do is talk? Please contact me if you would like to know more on 07970 058 548 or email enquiry@redroseceremonies.co.uk or visit www. redroseceremonies.co.uk www.lancmag.com
