How to Become a Funeral Celebrant: A Graduate’s Real Story
If you’re considering a career as a funeral celebrant, hearing real experiences can be invaluable. In this graduate interview, Alison shares how a deeply personal loss inspired her to train as an independent funeral celebrant. From her background in marketing and PR to launching her own celebrant business, her story offers insight, reassurance and inspiration for anyone exploring celebrant training.
Why Alison Chose to Become a Funeral Celebrant
1. What made you think about becoming a celebrant?
I was inspired to become a funeral celebrant after I lost my brother, Ian, to cancer, in July 2025. I’d arranged his funeral, liaising closely with the funeral director and the celebrant. I helped support my family through a very difficult time by being the “strong one” when my family needed to talk – or vent. At the funeral, I presented a tribute, on behalf of the family, which my brothers’ sons decided they could not face presenting after all.
After the ceremony, my husband, parents and a few friends said they thought I would make an excellent celebrant. I had not thought about it before. I asked the funeral director, and the celebrant who conducted the service, what they thought. They, too, encouraged me, agreeing that I would certainly suit the role.
Their words stayed with me, and, for the first time, I realised that perhaps I could turn this sad situation into something good. By being able to use my skills to help other families get through one of their most difficult days. I felt inspired to train as an Independent Funeral Celebrant. It felt like the right choice to make; a way to take a difficult personal experience and channel it into help other families feel supported, understood and cared for.
How Previous Career Experience Helps as a Celebrant
2. I know your work in Marketing and PR has helped with your writing. What else did your previous work experience help with when it came to your training as a celebrant?
I have run my own freelance marketing and PR company for the past 4 years. Before this I have worked in marketing and PR, within the printing and robotics industries, for many years. They are both predominantly male oriented and I did find myself in situations that required me to “just get on with it”. I had to learn about the industries, very quickly and independently, if I was to be respected in my own right. I also had to make sure I was incredibly organised and deliver my work ahead of time. Especially when planning UK and overseas events, dealing with the press and presenting at the meetings and conferences I arranged.
My career has involved a lot of writing, interviewing and storytelling. Understanding other people’s experiences and translating them into something professional, meaningful and clear.
I came into contact with people at all levels, including a Japanese CEO, German Product Managers, the Italian Marketing Director, the UK Press, suppliers and those who I needed to lead when organising events. I learned about different cultures, learned to handle different personalities. How to read people’s body language and how to show a calm exterior and an understanding of others.
The Role of Writing, Reflection and Journaling
3. You’ve shared with me that you have kept a journal since you were in your teens. Can you share a little about why you do this and the benefits you get from it?
I have always been a note-taker, list-maker and loved to write stories as a child. I’m also very nostalgic and like to keep records of everything I do. Keeping a diary has always helped me to capture my memories and refer back to them often.
As young children, my brother, younger sister and I travelled the world as my dad worked for the Foreign Office. Meaning that our parents moved around and lived in various countries. We were always meeting new people and experiencing many different cultures.
In my early teens, I was sent to boarding school, so had to become independent. I made deep-seated friendships, a few of which I still keep in contact with regularly. The diaries have helped me to process my own emotions& develop a bit of resilience. They also provide me with moments of clarity. For the past 9 years I have swapped a page-a-day journal for a “Daily Greatness Journal”. I fill in at the start of each day – laying out my thoughts, my mindset and plans. In the evenings, I review the day; always adding to a small section I call “Today I achieved…”. I write things I have achieved that day, no matter how small.
I believe keeping diaries throughout my life has enabled me to stay grounded (or at least help me to do so). And also a way to stabilise my mental and emotional health. It has definitely been a supporting factor in my approach to being an independent Celebrant.
Life Beyond Celebrancy: Music and Personal Passions
4. You’re a singer too – tell us a little about this and where we can find out about the PommyGranites?
When I was a child, my family would always tell me that I was always humming or singing (I was oblivious to this though). My brother was older than me, by 6 years, was away at boarding school, in the UK. I was at school in Kenya and Denmark, so he visited during the holidays.
He was a musician and loved all kinds of music. He would bring the latest chart songs out to Kenya and Denmark, and I would be glued to the record player. It was from him that I inherited my own passion for music. And harmonising – even now I can pick out a harmony in a new song straight away. Whenever I hear a song from the 70s and 80s, it transports me, instantly, back to living abroad or starting at boarding school and feeds my nostalgia.
My brother was in a band, when my sister (Karen) and I were in our late 20s. We asked him if we could join as backing singers. He agreed – which we didn’t expect; we thought he would just laugh at us. I was so excited about it that I took singing lessons. After a few months, started to take the lead vocals in the band while Karen preferred backing me.
When I met my husband, Terry, some years later, I started to learn to play the guitar
And he learned the bass guitar, to keep me company. I soon realised that I much preferred singing, while he continued with the bass. In 2015, decided we should set up our own band, along with two friends who played lead guitar and drums. This band was called The PommyGranites and is still going strong.
We play all around Northampton, Milton Keynes, Kettering, Rugby and as far as Peterborough. A mixture of classic rock covers & popular crowd-pleasers. We also throw in the occasional hidden gem that other bands might not play often. This makes us quite popular, and we play most weekends at pubs, clubs, parties, weddings and festivals. In the past 10 years, we have notched up around 300 gigs. I love it and am really proud of what we have achieved over the years. Being described, by venues, friends and members of the audience as “naturally engaging and charismatic” is something I’m proud of. Perhaps these are other qualities I bring to my role as a celebrant.
In terms of where you can find out more about The PommyGranites, we have a website: www.thepommygranites.co.uk .
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thepommygranites/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thepommygranites/
What to Expect from Funeral Celebrant Training
5. You took our Funeral Celebrant Training. What did you most enjoy about the training?
There were two things that really stood out for me. Firstly, I loved the one-to-one sessions. Dinah’s gentle and calm presentation made the subject easy to take in. The sessions were informative yet not over-complicated and so well-organised. Dinah had some wonderful examples of her own experiences to add real-life weight to the content of the course. The accompanying guide folder was excellent too and filled with some really helpful tips, which I still refer to now.
Funnily enough, I also really enjoyed the weekly assignments. They were laid out really well and I soon realised that completing them, was as invaluable as the time spent learning from Dinah. The assignments really encouraged further in depth research and added to the knowledge Dinah was able to present during the course.
Surprising Lessons from Celebrant Training
6. What did you learn during the training that most surprised you?
The morning I joined the course, I wrote this in my journal: “I begin my Celebrant training today. I’m feeling a bit unsettled, as I always do before I approach something that is out of my comfort zone. I’m worried that Dinah, my tutor, might ask me questions I can’t answer, or that I don’t know enough about being a celebrant (should I have prepared more?) . She might think I’m not good enough to be a celebrant”.
Instead, as the course began, and over the following 5 weeks, it surprised me that Dinah’s gentle, yet thorough, teaching methods don’t assume that her students should know everything at all. Her methods are designed to tell you what you absolutely need to know. And then encourage you to investigate the role and the industry and grow into the best celebrant you can be, with the skills you have.
I also stopped worrying that I would never remember everything Dinah told me. However, the level of detailed information she supplied covers so much, and how long had I been learning? 6 weeks. Since completing the course it has come as no surprise that I will always continue to learn. I will keep finding important resources within the course folder to cover what I need.
Starting a Career as an Independent Funeral Celebrant
7. What are you focussed on in your new celebrant business at the moment?
I officially launched my services in February, this year. I wanted to have my marketing material ready, my website published and social media up and running first.
I’ve now carried out 3 services through the funeral director I worked closely with, when organising my brother’s funeral. I am now ready to promote myself to other funeral directors and professionals in the area.
I am also working on building my profile on social media, updating my website with new information and reviews. Most importantly, continuing to learn how to truly listen to the people I meet.
Meet Alison: Five Personal Facts
8. Tell me five things about Alison, the person, not the celebrant.
1. Until I left school, I was painfully shy. I was at boarding school with the drummer in our band and he said to me recently, “Watching you on stage now, engaging with everyone, you’d never believe how much you used to blush when anyone even spoke to you at school.”
2. I love being outdoors and taking in the detail of nature. As children, we were incredibly fortunate to live in countries, such as Kenya, where we could experience wildlife, birds and beautiful landscapes up close. Now, our home backs onto an open park and, when time allows, I enjoy walking, noticing the sounds and colours around me, often taking photographs or simply pausing to take it all in.
3. At boarding school, I played tennis for Northamptonshire and was part of the boys’ team, as there wasn’t an established girls’ team at the time. I loved travelling to matches and seeing the surprise on people’s faces when I stepped off the bus. I was even asked if I was the team’s mascot on more than one occasion.
A small but special piece of minor sporting history
…is that I went on to play, for the boys’ team, in a long-standing Public Schools tournament, held at Wimbledon, and I was the first girl ever to take part. That’s something I’m still very proud of.
4. During the first lockdown, my dad turned 90. He had kept diaries all his life and written stories about his experiences in the Army and his travels around the world. They were often published in the Royal Corps of Signals Old Boy’s Newsletter. Just before lock-down, he completed notes about his childhood days and details of his life after he retired from the Foreign Office.
He and I spent hours on Zoom calls, editing and completing his life story and, as a 90th birthday gift, I arranged to have his memoirs published into a hardback book for family and friends to enjoy. The book is called “Around My World in 90 Years”.
There are now copies of his story dotted across the world, which feels very special.
5. I can recite the alphabet backwards; something I’ve been able to do since I was about five years old (according to my mum). I’m not entirely sure why I can do this, but it has proven surprisingly useful for things like crosswords, and I’ve yet to meet anyone else who can do it.
Alison’s Website: https://www.ahic.uk/
Alison on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alisonahic/
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/AlisonHaleyCelebrant/