A growing number of people want a non-religious funeral service led by an independent funeral celebrant. They are looking for a bespoke ceremony that reflects the unique life and personality of their loved one.

The funeral celebrant is there to support you through a difficult time. They work with you to create a bespoke ceremony that reflects the individual needs of the family and their loved one.

The celebrant meets with the family and listens to them so that they can help them to choose readings, poems and music to create a meaningful service.

Some families will choose religious elements such as prayers, hymns, bible and other religious readings and many independent celebrants are happy to help with this.

A celebrant led ceremony is open and inclusive and can include different beliefs.

The celebrant aims to create a unique and meaningful ceremony that meets the needs of family and friends and can help provide some healing and closure in this early stage of the grief process.

The cost for the funeral celebrant is included in the funeral costs and paid through the funeral director.

There are no set rules as to what to include in a funeral service.

The celebrant will help you to create a unique celebration of life. This can include music, songs, readings and poems that are meaningful to you and your loved one.

There may also be a eulogy detailing the person’s life as well as their personality and what they will be remembered for. Family members and close friends may give personal tributes.

Some families will choose religious elements such as prayers, hymns, bible and other religious readings.

Anyone can speak at a funeral. Close friends and family can contribute to the ceremony by choosing and reading poems and other readings, as well as giving the eulogy and personal tributes.

If you feel overwhelmed and unable to speak during the ceremony the celebrant can step in and read on your behalf.

No, you don’t need an order of service. This is a choice that family make.

Yes, a funeral service can be held anywhere. There are no legal limitations on where to hold a ceremony. This is personal preference and may be held somewhere that is personally meaningful, or that allows larger or smaller gatherings and a longer service than can be had at a crematorium.

This is usually followed by a ‘family only’ committal at the crematorium.

Once you’ve received your loved one’s ashes there are a number of things that you can do with them.

First you need to consider whether you need a place to visit with your loved one’s name somewhere?

If so, you need to look at the crematorium, local cemetery or churchyard. There will be a small cost for this.

Secondly, do you need something to mark the spot? It could be a birdbath, a sundial, a statue…

Scattering of ashes – you may want to scatter their ashes so consider places that you’ve enjoyed together: a garden, river, seaside or woodland…

Internment of ashes – the ashes can be buried in a waterproof container or they can be placed directly into the earth so that they return to nature.

You can carry out your own private ceremony or you can ask a funeral celebrant to write and lead a short service for you.

You may want to scatter the ashes somewhere meaningful: a place you’ve enjoyed together like your garden, or a river, the seaside, mountainside or woodland…

In a nutshell, the law in the UK is fairly relaxed.

You can scatter ashes on land - but you must always ask permission of the landowner. Some places do not allow the scattering of ashes.

Places that are popular don’t allow ashes to be scattered due the time taken for the ashes to absorb into the ground and disperse.

You can scatter ashes on rivers and bodies of water - but you should check with the Environment Agency first. You can do this on the government website.

You should also take into account time of day and wind direction in order to minimise the impact on people and places.

This is where the person’s body is sent to the crematorium with no service or anyone in attendance. This will cost a lot less than a funeral.

You can also have an attended direct cremation for which there will be a small extra charge. This is where close family are present for the committal but there is no service.