Non-Religious funerals. In recent times, some members the public do not have the same association to the local churches as previous generations had. We are therefore finding the non-religious ceremony is becoming more and more popular.
A non-religious ceremony can be led by anyone, a relative of the deceased or a friend perhaps. Due to its increased demand though, we are finding that the service is often taken by a professional celebrant, usually a Humanist Celebrant or a Civil Celebrant. The funeral director would often arrange a celebrant for the client and include the celebrant’s fee in the disbursements.
A meeting is usually arranged between the celebrant and the family. This is when the celebrant would discuss personal anecdotes, music choices and gather all the relevant information for the service.
The celebrant would then create the service and usually allow the family to view this in advance, in order to make any necessary amendments.
The length of the service is very much dependent on the content provided by the family, but would normally be between 15 and 30 minutes, the family are welcome to take part
A non-religious funeral can be burial or cremation. The service can be in the crematorium or the cemetery, with the option to have a service in the funeral home beforehand.