Terri Negus - Celebrant

17/11/2024

15/11/2024

Thrilled to receive this in the mail today 🙏🏻
for Fellowship of Professional Celebrants

12/11/2024

Today I attended a funeral, not as a celebrant, but with my ‘other’ hat on as a member of the Royal Choral Society. To celebrate the life of, and to sing in honour of our fellow choir member Peter, who died following a tragic rowing accident last month.
“He died living”
Peter, May choirs of angels sing thee to thy rest.

10/11/2024

We will remember them.

06/11/2024

Shocked, proud and delighted to be announced the winner of the ‘Funeral Industry Leadership Award’ today 🏆.
I have never considered myself to be a leader in the industry, just simply a fellow traveller on the same path, who has been fortunate to share some of my passion, knowledge and experience with others along the way.
For the past 22 years I have put my heart and soul into my work, and I will continue to do for as long as I am able - so this award and recognition truly does mean the world to me.
For the 4500 bereaved families I have had the honour of serving, and every new celebrant I have trained throughout this time….this is for YOU 🙏🏻💖🏆

01/11/2024

I was absolutely delighted and honoured a few days ago to be informed that I had been shortlisted by Business Awards UK for the 2024 Funeral Service Awards - Winners willl be announced on 6th November and I wish the very best of luck to all the other finalists in our incredible profession.

01/11/2024

Confession - I really am rather rubbish at keeping my business social media up to date!

However, as an update I have just moved house for the 3rd time in just over 3 years (the things you do when you fall in love) and have finally bought a house in the beautiful village of Midgham in West Berkshire and hope to settle here for many, many years to come.
It’s a brand new start for me and having been a celebrant for over 22 years and having conducted over 4500 ceremonies, I suddenly find myself ‘the new girl’ again, having to start my business completely from scratch. However at the same time, I am looking forward to new beginnings and working within a brand new community, new colleagues, new friends….oh, and two beautiful new kittens!

I wanted to take this opportunity to also share this lovely testimonial from Abi Pattendon, who is a Past President of the NAFD (National Association of Funeral Directors) who is also a funeral director n Sussex, and who gave me the greatest honour in conducting her own fathers funeral several years ago;…

“As someone running a funeral business myself, I understand the responsibility that we place on funeral celebrants who we contract to officiate at funerals for our bereaved families. We all know that it is very easy for someone to misstep or alienate a family and the reputational risks which comes with this should be avoided as much as possible.

It is in this spirit that I wholeheartedly recommend Terri Negus’ services to you. I have known Terri for around 17 years since I started working as Manager of Freeman Brothers, when she was one of our most well-used and reliable celebrants. We would find her suitable to work with the broadest range of families and her kind and sympathetic service was of great value to them- so much so that she was often requested again by the same family, or by people who had attended a funeral led by her and then needed someone themselves in due course. She mixes seriousness with levity when it is needed. Most importantly, she is warm, friendly, and brings a sense of ease which is very welcome at a hard time. Since Terri has relocated, we very much miss her- although we are lucky enough to have some local celebrants who she has trained through the Fellowship of Professional Celebrants, all of whom are also of a high quality.

When my late father died, there was only one person who I trusted to officiate at his funeral for us. Terri was exceptional at this difficult time and I cannot give any higher praise than to have used her myself in the face of a wide range of choices. My mother is still talking about her professionalism and compassion over 13 years later. She understood exactly what we wanted and was a steadying presence on the day of the funeral itself.

I know it is always hard to consider a new celebrant, especially if you feel well-served already, but I feel sure Terri would be a valuable addition to the pool of people you can recommend. I will always be grateful to her for the services she provided to our company’s bereaved families, as well as to my own.

Please do contact me if I can assist you further.

Abi Pattenden
BA(Hons) MA DipFD
Manager
Freeman Brothers Funeral Directors
Past President
National Association of Funeral Directors

16/10/2024

Back in my happy place, sharing my passion for ceremony and the importance of creating beautiful,personalised and meaningful funerals. What an amazing group of people to work with, and to now pass the light to them to go out into the world and shine brightly. CONGRATULATIONS and GOOD LUCK to you all 🙏🏻❤️
Thank you once again to Sam and Jo at Ascot United Football Club for superb event hospitality.

19/12/2023

A message which I recorded last week for the Fellowship of Professional Celebrants, but many of the words apply to all.
Wishing you all so much light and love this Christmas 🌟🎄❤️🌟🎄❤️

02/12/2023

I’m on holiday ✈️

Yes I know that’s nothing unusual and this year I have been very lucky to have already visited some fabulous places, I’ve had two business trips to Dubai with my husband, my son was accepted for an engineering camp in Chattanooga and my step-son is now at college in Chicago so we’ve had a trip out there to visit him too! However all of these trips have been hectic, tearing around either with work commitments, or for, and with the kids.

Combined with another year of giving my absolute all both as a celebrant and celebrant trainer, alongside a recent un-planned house move, I don’t mind admitting I was completely burnt out and quite simply needed to get away and RELAX.

I also don’t mind admitting that this time of year I struggle…within a 16 day period now I have to mark the death anniversary and birthday of my late brother who died of AIDS at the age of just 37, World AIDS day, the death of one of my closest childhood friends who died at the age of 48, four years ago yesterday, my dearest Uncles anniversary on 10th December, and on 16th December it will be 3 years since my beautiful Mum died, taking her last breath beneath the tinsel and twinkling lights we put up in her hospital room when we knew that death was nearing.

I recognise now that I can’t give the best of myself during this time - yes I can put on my ‘professional pants’ and carry on without breaking down, but in doing so then I risk causing an additional emotional burden to my own mental heath, and my golden rule as a celebrant has always been “do no harm to others, and do no harm to self”.
Why am I saying all this? Because in all my years working in the funeral profession I have come to realise that many people think if you work in the funeral industry then you instantly become immune to personal pain and grief - we don’t. We just became very good at hiding it so that we can continue to serve others.

Self care and self preservation is critical in the funeral profession, none of us can pour from an empty cup. This is why I have chosen to get away now, to switch off and re-charge.
As a celebrant I continue to learn and grow every day, and whilst I hope I have an ever increasing understanding of emotional intelligence towards others, I hope I too have a deeper level of awareness towards my own emotional and mental needs, something which as always I am happy to share with others.

Another thing I have become deeply aware of during my 20 years as a celebrant is how many unfulfilled dreams die with our loved ones. I don’t know how many times I have heard bereaved families say to me “they were planning to do…….” or “they were hoping to go to……..”. If death has taught me one thing, it is how to live fully, and this is why I have travelled as much as possible and as often as possible these past few years, striving for the best possible work/life balance for myself and my family.

So my hope for you all - Look after your mental and emotional wellbeing as much as you do your physical health. Re-charge your batteries BEFORE they go flat, but most of all - live your best lives, because tomorrow isn’t promised to anyone.

Always with love

Terri