Q & A’s from Ask a Funeral Celebrant Day 2025

Paula Clements at Watts Gallery Celebration of Life

It was Funeral Celebrant Day on 21st November. This year the theme was ask a Funeral Celebrant. Here are the questions I was asked on my Facebook page @paulaclementscelebrant.

Most funerals that I've been to have been at crematoriums or in churches. Are there many other types of suitable venues?

If you don't want a religious church service, you aren't restricted to your local crematorium for the funeral service. Options in and around Surrey include hiring the service hall at natural burial grounds, and there are many lovely private venues where you can hire space for the service. Bear in mind everyone must be buried or cremated. It is possible to arrange for an unattended cremation after the service.

“lovely private venues …” Could this be a hotel, village hall or even your own house? Or does the place need a licence?

No venue needs a licence to hold a funeral. Subject to the owner’s agreement you could have a funeral service anywhere. Using your house or garden is an option and a good way to make the service personal. Barns, village halls, private clubs and hotels are all possible options (although some hotels are more open to a memorial service or celebration of life service because there won’t be a hearse in attendance.)

If I happen to know a celebrant, can I talk to my funeral director and ask to use him (or her)?

Yes, you can request your own choice of celebrant. If you don't know one, the funeral director will do their best to match the most suitable funeral celebrant they know to you.

Do you, as a Celebrant, have to wear black?

What I wear depends on the wishes of the family and type of service I am taking. If they have stipulated “no black” I wear a respectful alternative. If there is colour scheme like “wear something purple” I have a growing range of coloured shirts and scarves to accessorise with.

How long is a usual service?

In the area I cover across Surrey, North Hampshire and East Berkshire the time for a standard crematorium service is generally 30 minutes, but a few crematoria (like Woking) allow 45 minutes. It is possible to book a longer period.

What would dictate booking a longer service?

I think there are 3 main considerations for how long you book:

1. The number of people expected. Getting them in and out of the chapel is usually part of the allocated time. So, the bigger the funeral the less time there is for the actual service.

2. All the things you want to include in the funeral versus what is realistically achievable in your allocated time.

3. Booking longer comes at a price but has the benefit of taking the time pressure off, especially if you want to include many elements.

If you have a celebrant speak to him/her before you commit to booking the length of a service. The funeral director (who will book the crematorium) should discuss this issue when you meet to arrange the funeral details.

Is it worth buying a funeral plan?

Funeral directors offer a range of packages for pre-paid funeral plans. If one of them suits you, the biggest advantage is that you have made financial provision for most of your funeral so that burden will not fall on your loved ones. For the other elements like which funeral director you want, the type of service, style of coffin, flowers etc you could set these out in a plan of your funeral wishes to be kept with your important documents like your will. Either approach to pre-planning will give some certainty to your loved ones about your wishes. If you want to have the whole content of the service pre-planned in detail many funeral celebrants like me offer a pre-planning service. The detailed outline of the service can be stored with your plan of funeral wishes.

Do you know the average cost of a cremation funeral versus a burial please?

Assuming there is a standard funeral service first, in both cases the actual cost of a burial at a public cemetery versus interment of ashes there is roughly double. Even if you chose a natural burial ground a burial will be more but the price difference might not be so big.

I'm a Will writer and try to encourage my clients to think ahead and provide some instructions in/alongside their Wills for funeral wishes. What would you say is the most difficult decision about planning a service for loved ones when they haven't been left with much direction by the person who has passed?

In my experience when there has been minimal direction every decision the bereaved make about the content of the service is coloured by the question “is this what X would have wanted?”. It can make the planning process extremely stressful. It is so much easier for the bereaved when they have clear guidance about the service because they know they are honouring their loved one’s wishes.