75: Should funeral celebrants be worried about direct cremations?
The Celebrant Survival Podcast
Release Date: 02/17/2025
75: Should funeral celebrants be worried about direct cremations?
The Celebrant Survival Podcast
In this very topical episode, Claire puts her funeral celebrant hat on as she tackles the subject of direct cremations. With the increase in direct cremations and the appeal to some people of having a 'no frills', easy disposal of their remains after death, it's a topic that affects the funeral industry as a whole. As worrisome as it might seem on the face of it, Claire looks at how funeral celebrants can embrace this 'new' addition to the funeral landscape and how celebrants can use it to their advantage. She looks at how celebrants can create new opportunities for ceremonies for people who...
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74: Ceremony sound: Why having your own PA system and mic is so important as a celebrant
The Celebrant Survival Podcast
In this episode, Natasha talks about the importance of ceremony sound and why as celebrants sometimes it's not enough to solo rely on our naked voices to deliver our ceremonies. Natasha shares the story of a ceremony incident which not only left her devestated but which made her vow to never have repeated again. In this episode she also talks about what voice projection actually is, as opposed to what most people think it is and why as celebrants we need to take more respoinsibility for our voice delivery, if we don't already. If you love our episodes please do consider leaving us a review. It...
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73: Claire's Camino - what Claire learnt from her 7 week sabbatical
The Celebrant Survival Podcast
Back in March 2024, Claire set off on a dream of a lifetime as she walked the whole length of the Camino de Santiago from France to Spain. As well as wanting to know what it was like, how she did it and how she found it, lots of people wanted to now how she managed to leave her celebrant work behind and pick up where she left of on her return. Well, in this episode Claire shares all of her insights from her break, her experiences on the Camino and also what it was like to take on such a massive undertaking, physically and mentally! It's fair to say that the Camino taught Claire a lot about...
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72: What should we do with children at ceremonies?
The Celebrant Survival Podcast
In this episode, Claire and Natasha try their best to not sound like horrible child-haters (they're not!), whilst they talk about the worst and the best bits about having children at ceremonies. They look at what can happen when kids are present at ceremonies and how as a celebrant you can prepare yourself, the guests and their families for a smooth service. Sometimes though, prepared or not, when children are involved plans do not always go to plan! Claire and Natasha share their experiences, and what they do to try and ensure sure that everyone is happy! If you love our episodes please do...
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71: The four elements that can make or break your ceremony
The Celebrant Survival Podcast
In this episode, Natasha looks at four ceremony elements which can really affect the success of the ceremony itself. You may have been there yourself. You've written/prepared what you think is the perfect ceremony, the best one yet, you're prepped, poised and ready but when it comes to the actual ceremony itself, it just falls flat. And sometimes it can leave you scratching your head wondering why it might be. Well, tune in to this episode to hear Natasha share the four things which she feels can radically alter the way that a ceremony lands and what, if anything you can do about it. Ps....
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70: Should I publish my price on my website and other questions?
The Celebrant Survival Podcast
Check out the latest episode where Natasha and Claire answer a series of common questions that they've come across or are asked a lot. They start off by looking at the question "Should I put my prices on my website?" Followed by "Am I too emotional to be a celebrant?" And finishing off with "I hate social media, do I really have to be on it to get work as a celebrant?" Three juicy questions, right? Tune in and hear what that have to say. On another note, they really enjoyed recording this type of episode, so if you've got a burning question that you'd love them to answer, let us know and they...
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69: Working with wedding planners: the good, the bad and the ugly
The Celebrant Survival Podcast
In this episode, Natasha talks about working with wedding planners and her experiences of working with them, and why she thinks that having a good working relationship with wedding planners can be really good for business. She looks at how wedding planners can help to push referrals your way, which can increase your overall number of bookings, as well as how helpful wedding planners can be on the wedding day itself. And because with the good, sometimes comes the bad and the ugly, she talks about the potential negative sides of working with wedding planners too.
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68: How Claire prepared for her big six week sabbatical on the Camino de Santiago
The Celebrant Survival Podcast
In this episode, Claire talks about how she has been gearing up for her trip of a lifetime, walking the 500 mile Camino de Santiago in Northern Spain. Before she left, Claire shares about what led her to want to want to do the Camino in the first place and how the idea crystallized into a solid plan. We also hear about what she's had to do in order to manifest this dream and the praciticalites of bringing a dream into a reality when you work as a full time celebrant and celebrant trainer. It's such an inspiring listen about life, about what motivates us, and about how we all can and should...
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67: Are there too many celebrants (revisited)?
The Celebrant Survival Podcast
In this revisited episode, (first recorded by Natasha in episode 12!) Claire and Natasha tackle the controversial and oft-cited statement that there are too many celebrants. They look at whether there really are too many celebrants, the accuracy in being able to make such a claim and whether actually the situation is far too nuanced for a blanket statement such as this. They also look at what celebrants can do if they feel like their work is under threat or if they are based in an area with lots of celebrants.
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66: How to have a holiday during the holidays (or any other time of year!)
The Celebrant Survival Podcast
In this latest episode, Claire challenges you to think or rethink how you plan your time off away from your business. If you're thinking, 'time off? What time off?,' then this episode is for you! Being self-employed requires us to manage so many things within our business, and one of them is our time management and also managing our time off. But many celebrants and self-employed people per se, find this a difficult thing to do. Listen to this episode for Claire's top advice on how to avoid burnout, how to protect your precious time-off and how to recognise that time away from your business is...
info_outlineIn this very topical episode, Claire puts her funeral celebrant hat on as she tackles the subject of direct cremations. With the increase in direct cremations and the appeal to some people of having a 'no frills', easy disposal of their remains after death, it's a topic that affects the funeral industry as a whole. As worrisome as it might seem on the face of it, Claire looks at how funeral celebrants can embrace this 'new' addition to the funeral landscape and how celebrants can use it to their advantage. She looks at how celebrants can create new opportunities for ceremonies for people who have chosen the direct cremations route, and in particular their families who are left behind and still want a way of closure. Listen now for some great tips and ideas around direct cremations and why Claire thinks this can be an opportunity for real positive change in the funeral sector.
Statistical sources cited by Claire:
https://www.sunlife.co.uk/funeral-costs/
https://www.goldencharter.co.uk/news-and-info/2024/direct-cremations-popular/
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