23/10/2024
A funeral by your Celebrant.
Unsurprisingly perhaps, following the death of a loved one most of us simply and instinctively immediately contact a Funeral Director to take care of everything, including delivering the ceremony itself.
I have been privileged to officiate at a number of funerals over the years and many, if not all funeral directors these days, engage celebrants to deliver the actual funeral service itself.
The celebrants work can include interviewing the family at home to discuss the format and content of the ceremony. Following up interviews, phone calls, emails etc, together with travel to and from the home and to and from the ceremony itself.
The celebrant typically writes the ceremony and is often asked to deliver the Eulogy as well. Additionally, and if requested, we can provide the family with a copy of the ceremony whilst at all times ensuring that the deceased's life is celebrated and remembered appropriately while supporting the family throughout this often difficult time.
For undertaking and professionally delivering on all those tasks some Funeral Directors pay the celebrant a fraction of the overall costs of their services to the family.
The best way around this is to contact your chosen celebrant directly and before you contact a funeral director informing them that you intend engaging your own celebrant and that you'll be engaging him or her directly.
As individual professionals, celebrant fees for funerals vary. As an alternative to a fixed fee, you might want to discuss an agreed hourly rate with your celebrant.
When the agreed fee has been struck, the celebrant then invoices you directly. This way, you get the celebrant you want and know rather than having the ceremony prepared and delivered by the funeral director (who you may or may not know) or having the service delivered by one of the ‘off the shelf’ celebrants on their list.
Additionally, this ensures that the celebrant who does the bulk of the work connected to the preparation and delivery of the service itself, receives a fair and professionally appropriate level of renumeration for their time and expertise.
https://www.facebook.com/Tom-Haig-Civil-Celebrant-128916723790053/
http://www.tomhaig.com.au/TomHaig/Home.html
https://www.afcc.com.au/celebrant/tom-haig/
Phone 0885 31 1726 (home) or 0439 687 529 (mobile)
Originally from Scotland, I have lived in Australia for over 40 years now. I am an experienced civil celebrant living in the Murraylands in SA. I travelled extensively throughout SA to do a range of individualised ceremonies including weddings, funerals, naming ceremonies and renewal of vows over so...
