Hi, I'm Julie
I can recall arranging mum’s funeral in 2015 with my sister. We went to the funeral director, they allocated a vicar to meet us, who made note of a few names in the family they would mention, recommended a generic widely used funeral poem we could use, and then left the rest up to us. The service was then delivered by someone who had not known our family, not taken much time to try to get to know our family, and had just done their job. If it weren’t for my sister and I delivering our personal, heartfelt eulogies, sometimes through tears, sometimes through laughter, throwing knowing looks to members of our family when recollecting times spent with this darling mum, sister and nanny, the ceremony could have been about anyone…
By becoming a Funeral Celebrant, I can offer a truly personal, empathic experience. There are many choices to be made for your loved one when they die, and one important decision you can make is to ask for an individual, unique ceremony to be written. This then allows that person to become as important in death as they were in life – front and centre. Their personality and character can be explored, their achievements can be acknowledged and their distinctive, one of a kind life can be celebrated with love, with humour, maybe through the sting of sorrow, but always with the honour and respect demanded. We are all valuable. You would want the same, wouldn’t you?
Spending the time getting to know as much about your loved one as I possibly can, I can then draft a meaningful and authentic script for the ceremony, where you can be sure to have encapsulated the very essence of them within.
Please get in touch if I can help. I’ll be with you every step of the way.
Julie Sheppard
Where I work
North Norfolk and surrounding areas. Happy to travel further.
Fees from...
£250
How to contact me
julie.sheppard@humanistceremonies.org.uk
Phone
Website
HUMANIST CEREMONIES™ is the network of more than 550 celebrants, trained by national charity Humanists UK to a gold standard to provide memorable and meaningful humanist ceremonies to non-religious people. Operating throughout England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands, we deliver authentic, tailor-made and heartfelt ceremonies for life’s key moments. They are always inclusive and welcoming, regardless of the beliefs of those attending.
You can trust Humanist Ceremonies celebrants: We are DBS-checked, fully insured, and regularly peer reviewed for quality assurance. We are committed to a code of conduct, and have a transparent and robust complaints process in the rare case of a problem. We all pay a monthly fee to Humanists UK to further support the work of the charity, and are part of a regional network for like-minded celebrants for support and learning.
Humanist funerals
Humanist funerals, memorials and ash ceremonies are a fitting way to honour a unique life with warmth, sensitivity and meaning, but without reference to religion or an afterlife. They put the story of the person who has died at the heart of the ceremony, paying tribute to them and the legacy they leave, and provide an opportunity to bring people together, not just to share sadness but to celebrate a life lived.
