As a family we’ve always treasured fun, laughter and love. That’s why, when my mum died, after a long sickness, we wanted to celebrate her extraordinary life and the deep connections she had with her friends and family. Our objective was to create a day that Clarice would have loved and one that felt like she was there with us but we didn’t have a clear idea about how to achieve that, in terms of either the big vision or the logistics of making it work.

And that’s where Bethan came to our rescue. Throughout the process, she was thoughtful, creative and made us feel like we were in safe hands. The starting point was talking about mum, with Bethan actively listening and asking astute questions. From there she got a good picture of what was important to us, what we wanted, and just as crucially, what we didn’t want.

From there, the next stage was ideation and planning. Bethan had incredibly inventive ideas for bringing our celebration to life, all of which were grounded in the picture she had painted of Clarice. We loved her recommendation on a way to involve all the guests in celebrating Clarice and on the day – plot spoiler – it came off in a way that was far more beautiful than we could ever have expected, as something we will remember always.

The third stage was Bethan’s sublime event management on the day. She was – quite literally – there to hold our hands, plus offer cuddles and tissues from start to finish, travelling with us to the venue and checking every detail of the production plan. Bethan acted as a master of ceremonies, choreographing the different elements of the day, from introducing the music act to leading us all in the placing of individual flowers, from each of the guests, in a central vase (her fantastic idea and something that befitted Clarice perfectly). She also delivered a very moving speech, on which we had worked with her, in advance of the day, and which felt extremely personal to our lovely mum.

We would recommend Bethan’s celebrant services to anyone who is looking for a personal touch – whether that is for funerals, marriages or any other reason to come together with the people you love. She brings compassion, professionalism, dynamism and creativity, plus the feeling that this is her vocation and that there’s nothing more important than supporting you in achieving your perfect day.

It’s really important for me to write something about my very recent need to have a celebrant conduct the service for my dearly departed Uncle.

You know when someone says, ‘You get what it says on the tin’ well when you contact B of ‘B Celebrated’ you really do get a bespoke service from beginning to end, exactly as she says on her website.  In actual fact you get more!

All I knew when my uncle died was that he wanted to be cremated.  He hadn’t left any written details about wanting a religious service and although he had sometimes gone in to churches and cathedrals, I knew in my heart that a religious service wasn’t for him, or me!   I did however want something that was dignified and respectful but which honoured his character and his significant contribution to the life of the family.  How I was going to achieve that seemed overwhelming and I was already exhausted and floundering. 

I rang B and from the first conversation I knew I had chosen well.   B listened, and listened with her ability and clarity to reflect back to me what I would have missed had she not been so alert to my mood.  

During the many phone and video calls we had B was calm, patient and so very thoughtful.  Throughout the different stages of the planning of the service B’s consistency provided me with the foundations to work from my chaotic thoughts to a calm and considered outcome.  We worked well together and that sense of being part of the final service was without doubt really important to me.  Although I didn’t know how important it was to be so involved with what was said about my uncle when we started, intuitively B understood and calmly organised all my meanderings and offerings in to a beautiful, rounded service.  When it came to discussing the type of coffin that could be chosen B offered straightforward observations from her experience and enabled me to be bold in choosing the wool material for the coffin which rightly reflected my uncle’s flair for elegance.  B’s unique skills and apparent unruffled professionalism is hard to come by and I will always be truly grateful for B’s involvement in that final service for someone I loved so very much. 

If you are looking for someone to guide you, support you and be creative, compassionate and confident in the midst of your confusion after the death of a loved one then you need look no further than the safe hands of B Celebrated.