Philip Greentree a funeral celebrant helping you plan your funeral ceremony

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Philip Greentree CMC

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Funeral Ceremonies

Prepare your farewell

"Death provides some with inescapable loss. Professionalism on the part of the celebrant can take much weight off your mind and assist greatly at a time of immense personal need" As a funeral celebrant, I see first hand how grief can be the most terrible thing

There are situations where families are so wracked with grief, they sometimes remember very little about their loved ones' life.

Planning your funeral is an opportunity to set the record straight about your life and have it recorded as you would want.

What should a Funeral Ceremony contain?
My funeral ceremonies include the following:

Introduction and Condolences - Attendees are welcomed and the family is recognised.
Eulogy - can be read either by myself, or someone nominated by yourself.
Music - most times, there will be three peices; the entry, reflection, and commital & exit from the chapel. The music will reflect your loved one's tastes in music.
Reflection - during which a favourite piece of music is played.
Additional readers - these could be children, friends, business acquaintances.
Poetry - a piece, or pieces of poetry that represents the deceased as a person is often appropriate.
Committal - the moment when we say farewell to the deceased.

Planning ahead can give
you peace of mind
Can I have religion with a Civil Celebrant?
I offer all my clients the option of having some form of religious moment during the ceremony. This is entirely your decision as to whether yo do or don't.

I am no longer surprised at the number of families who state their mother or father totally rejected the institutionalised churches, yet retained a definite belief in an after life and God.

I have also realised that while the older Australian generation regards religious discussion as a taboo, their children, or grandchildren are not frightened to talk of their own spirituality.

What is Funeral Planning?
Very simply, it is assisting you plan your funeral for when that time comes.

The primary aspect of this is to collect information on your life and put it together in, say, booklet format for your family to keep.

For many children, this is the first they may have realised many things about what their parent did in their earlier life.

Grief can be the most terrible thing, especially when unexpected! Planing now can greatly assist your family
Advice is also provided on what happens in the various ceremonies, whether that occurs in a funeral director's chapel, at the graveside, or in a crematorium chapel.

The one thing I DON'T do, is recommend any one funeral director. It is quite unethical for me to do so.

Initial Visit
It visit you in your home and explain the need for correctly recording your life story. A potential number of visits are agreed on, the fee also agreed on. The recording of your life's story may require several visits.

History Taking
As I collect the details of your life, your story starts developing. I never cease to be amazed at the numerous things some one has done in their life, which their children know very little of.

Your story can develop as an "evolving life" in which your story is told in chronological format, or, if there is a large amount of information, the story can be broken into chapters dealing with specific topics, such as "my rugby days", my business career etc.

The Result
The result is a small book, or booklet that you can pass on to your children and grandchildren for the sake of family history.

The Eulogy
Of course, given that I have been able to collect your life's details, I can write an appropriate eulogy (life story) for your funeral ceremony. After all, every one is entitled to a fitting final farewell.