Funeral Celebrant in North Hertfordshire
Hello, my name is Deni. I am a qualified independent funeral celebrant living in North Hertfordshire. I live in a small village with my husband Kevin, our crazy French bulldog Maisie and two cats Jenson and Noodle.
After leaving school I went to catering college and qualified as a chef. After a complete career change, I joined a bank in the business department. Later I moved to international banking team and then to the Institute of Export as an export specialist. After many years working as an International Trade Advisor I took voluntary redundancy and purchased a café, a return to my catering roots. A café had been my dream since being a young adult. Luckily for me I sold my café just before the start of the pandemic.
When my best friend lost her mum, she asked me to deliver her eulogy. She had wanted to do it herself but was unable to. It was a great honour and I found that I was very comfortable in the role. I then went on to do the same for two very close family members. Spurred on by family and friends I am now a qualified full time independent celebrant.
With a background is in business, finance and international trade a large part of my previous role has given me extensive experience in public speaking, so my ceremonies are always delivered confidently and with appropriate emotion, joy, happiness or sensitivity assisting families to make their loved one’s ceremony memorable, poignant and to make sure that captures everything that they want to share about the life and influence their loved one had on all whom they knew. I act as a conduit – a narrator, drawing together the threads and weaving them into a tapestry of a life lived and loved. Bringing back cherished memories, thoughts, feelings and milestones. I am based Hertfordshire and work in the Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Essex and North London areas.
It is a privilege to be asked to speak on behalf of families, in what can be a very stressful situation. In times of grief, people may find it difficult to say what they are feeling.
My role is to help them find the right words to express their feelings. Civil Funerals are becoming more commonplace in the UK, as they are an alternative to a religious or a humanist funeral ceremony, or perhaps a combination of both. I write original and sensitive funeral ceremonies and eulogies. That can incorporate poetry, lyrics, readings as per your wishes or those which may have been outlined in last requests. Together we will produce a ceremony which the family feels accurately reflects the life and character of the deceased, and which says all they want to have said. The family set the tone for the funeral with their recollections and stories about the deceased. The ceremony is a celebration of life of their loved one, and so while there may be sadness, there may also be laughter, and hopefully those present can leave feeling that the person they have lost was accurately remembered in a fitting tribute.
My role as celebrant to be a gentle guide in helping you to create a ceremony that is meaningful, warm and personal for your loved one. From the time of our initial contact to the day of the ceremony, we will work together to bring about that unique celebration which your loved one so rightly deserves. There are few boundaries; no two people are the same, and therefore no two funeral ceremonies are the same. Don’t be afraid to ask for what you want. If there are amusing stories that will help you remember your loved one with fondness. Don’t feel for a moment that these will be inappropriate. Love and respect don’t die with a person’s death; they just change but they are still there in your heart and thoughts.
