Arranging a Funeral

Thank you both very much for all your arrangements and contributions last Saturday. The whole day was a rich fulfilment of Jean's wishes, and enabled a very varied "congregation" to join in, just as Jean had envisaged. The skilful blending of symbolic candles, sung and spoken words and the chosen music was really powerful and reminiscent for so many people of their connections with Jean, and one another: and the immediate transfer of the video to Ann enabled her to bring even the distant family into the spirit of the day. The burning fire on arrival and the ceremony on the hillside emphasised the element of naturality, not forgetting the excellent refreshments to round off the day.

Thank you so much, Simon, for all the thoughtful and kind attention you, Lilah and Hannah gave us as we prepared for Dad’s funeral. I particularly appreciated: Lilah’s respectful kindness when she came to collect Dad and when we sat with him at Riverstone; The text messages from you, which felt very holding; The time you gave us to help prepare for the ceremony; The steady presence you provided as you gently steered us through the ceremony; Being given the candle afterwards which I often light; And not least, your sense of humour!

Thanks so much for everything you did to help make Pauline’s send-off really special. Everyone loved the venue, layout, and how the ceremony was conducted, and the coffin was wonderful – they were all quite amazed by it! The catering was brilliant and well worth the hassle to get it looking so professional. Everyone was hugely appreciative of the end result. I think Pauline would have greatly enjoyed the occasion. Who knows, maybe she was up there somewhere looking down on us with a twinkle in her eye!

Thank you very much for arranging and creating the space so that we could have my mother’s funeral in exactly the way that felt right for us. It was a great way to say goodbye in an intimate and family-friendly way, and for us to affirm our connection with each other and with life.