WHEN YOU LOSE SOMEONE it will help you to have a calm, experienced and empathetic Funeral Celebrant, or Officiant, to support you as you prepare to say goodbye. Together,we can create a service which is life affirming and consoling.
No-one wants to think about the sadness of losing a family member or a friend but inevitably, sooner or later, we all do.
My name is Elaine Searle and as a funeral celebrant, or officiant, my main focus is to provide the best possible service to the family and friends of the deceased. This is done by talking to the family and, with their guidance, writing and conducting a respectful, personal funeral ceremony. I live on Sydney's northern beaches and conduct funeral services throughout the Sydney Metropolitan Area. It is possible to have a funeral service at a place that was special to your loved one, as well as the chapels in cemeteries and crematoria or funeral directors chapels.
A personal funeral, celebration of a life, or memorial ceremony can be a fitting tribute to the one who has passed away by celebrating their life and achievements. It will also provide comfort to those who are bereaved by giving them a time and space to their grief and loss.An appropriate and personal service can be a comfort and consolation and help with the grieving process.
I can meet with you and, with your knowledge of the deceased, write and conduct a ceremony that meets your needs and reflects the attributes of the one whom you have lost. I am happy to come to your home to discuss your wishes for the funeral. I will write the eulogy based on the information you give me at this meeting. I encourage family and friends to be included in the service by reading poems, readings or tributes. I can help choose music and readings for the service and am open to accommodating special requests that honour the deceased. Many families find comfort by including personal items belonging to the deceased, the release of balloons, doves or butterflies.
Elaine Searle
B.A. Dip. Ed., J.P., C.M.C.
Funeral Celebrant ,
Celebrations of a Life, Memorials
You can contact me directly by phoning 02 9979 2315 or 0402810062, or email to esearle@optusnet.com.au or ask your funeral director to contact me.
I am a founding member and Secretary of the Funeral Celebrants Association Australia Incorp. an association which aims to ensure a high and consistent standard of funeral celebrancy in Australia.
Go to my blog,
A Personal Funeral, for more information and news A Personal Funeral blog by Elaine Searle
Elaine Searle, 5 Streamdale Grove, Warriewood 2102
Phone or fax 02 9979 2315 or 0402810062
email: esearle@optusnet.com.au
WHY DO WE HAVE FUNERALS?
Sometimes we ask ourselves, why have a funeral? The person who has passed away has gone and having a funeral cannot change that. In all societies and at all times, people have needed the opportunity to mark the passing of people who were important to them.
A funeral helps in many ways. The planning and attending a funeral service provides:
- a visible social support system for the surviving family and friends
- the service helps us to understand that death is final and that death is a part of life
- it celebrates the life and achievements of the deceased
- it is a public honouring of the deceased's life
- it allows bereaved ones to participate in the service by contributing to the planning or by speaking a tribute
- it brings family members together as they acknowledge the one they have lost
- it aids in integrating family and friends back into their normal routines
- it reaffirms the mourners' relationships with the deceased
- it provides a special time to say good-bye
- it provides a safe place for expressing grief and loss
- it is part of the transition from life with the deceased, to a new life without the loved one
To contact me:
phone 02 9979 2315, mob. 0402 810 062,
email esearle@optusnet.com.au
Copyright 2010 Elaine Searle