Wedding and Funeral Celebrant in South Yorkshire

My name is Heather and I am your Family, Wedding and Funeral Celebrant in South Yorkshire. I live and work in Sheffield. For over 25 years I worked in the creative industries, spending 18 years as a freelance copywriter and working for creative agencies and clients. I've been part of and chair of our city's Creative Guild and have always enjoyed contributing to the city's creative output with writing and music (feels like a previous life - I've got a few records behind me). What I’ve always enjoyed most is working with people, getting to know them and their worlds, and this has led me to celebrancy.

The work I've enjoyed most has been for charities, working on their fundraising campaigns. It's involved interviewing people, often on challenging, personal and difficult subjects. I love getting others talking, listening to their stories unfurl and retelling those tales with compassion. People say I 'get it' - I listen and get to understand them and what matters most. That is the joy of storytelling and what has kept me doing this for so long. I think of it as 'digging' - there is always more to uncover, until the full truth of something is known.

That's what I wanted to bring to celebrancy - when words ring true, they are memorable, meaningful and connect with us. That's vital to both creating wedding, couples and naming ceremonies that really belong to those involved, and funerals, that should conjure up a sense of someone lost, so everyone can say their goodbyes.

I'm a mum to one daughter - and we have a lovely little noisy dog who makes us laugh everyday. Big on sunshine, music, reading, seasides, swimming and learning something new everyday.

Like a lot of people during the pandemic, I decided on a change of professional tack recently, and retrained for celebrancy in 2021. I've always written professionally - for organisations, charities, businesses, including some experience in creative and ghost writing, and these transferable skills set me in good stead. I've always worked in communications.

As a celebrant I spend time getting to know people and their stories, to plan and deliver funeral, memorials, wedding, couples and naming ceremonies that are perfectly befitting. In funerals, it means getting to know the life, loves, and legacy of your loved one, telling their story and honouring the life they’ve lived. In weddings and couple’s ceremonies, my purpose is to shape and deliver a ceremony that is the centrepiece of a day that will be cherished forever – memorable, precious, worthy of the commitment being made. I do it all because I love the richness of our own stories – it’s a privilege to hear them, feel them and re-tell them as a civil celebrant.

It all begins with an interview – usually face to face, but online works too – and I’m well connected to creatives, performers and craftspeople, so can add other unique aspects to your ceremony – from custom-designed memorial or headstones to remember someone special, to entertainers for your wedding day. The event is yours to shape, so I’ll work with you to develop ideas so we can make the moment and the memories, perfect.

I’m happy to travel within Sheffield for funerals, and beyond for weddings - across the city region, North Derbyshire and the Peak District. I’m able to deliver and custom create elements or features for your ceremony, so that your experience is a true reflection of the person or people at its centre.