Some people take a winding road to celebrancy, and Dimal Patel’s has wound further than most. He spent ten years as a Combat Medical Technician in the British Army, then worked as a paramedic, as airline cabin crew and in hospitality. Today he’s a funeral celebrant in Lancashire, running The Light Within Ceremonies across Preston, Blackpool and the Fylde Coast.
Dimal trained with us on our self-paced funeral celebrant programme and fitted his study around shifts as a hotel duty manager. Reading his answers, I noticed how often he comes back to listening, to humility and to the privilege of being trusted with someone’s story. I’ll let him tell you in his own words.
How Grief Led Dimal to Funeral Celebrancy
What was it that made you look at celebrancy as a career?
I think my journey towards becoming a funeral celebrant began long before I actually realised it.
Throughout my life, I’ve worked in professions where people have often been at their most vulnerable. Whether that was serving in the British Army as a Combat Medical Technician, working as a paramedic or supporting people through difficult situations, I’ve always felt a responsibility to offer reassurance, compassion and dignity.
However, it was my own experiences of grief that ultimately led me towards funeral celebrancy.
I lost my mum in November 2003, and then my dad on New Year’s Eve in 2023. Losing both my parents had a profound effect on me, particularly because of the circumstances surrounding their deaths.
Those experiences taught me that grief isn’t something that can be neatly explained, organised or placed into a particular timeframe. It changes you, and sometimes it changes the way you look at everything around you.
I began to think about how important those final moments of remembrance are for families. A funeral isn’t simply a ceremony or an event in a diary. It’s an opportunity to acknowledge someone’s entire life, their relationships, their personality, their achievements and even the little things that made them who they were.
I wanted to help families create something that felt genuinely personal rather than simply following a familiar format.
That desire eventually became The Light Within Ceremonies, which I established in March 2026.
The name itself reflects something I believe very strongly: even during the darkest and most difficult moments of our lives, there can still be light in the form of love, memories, kindness and human connection.
For me, funeral celebrancy isn’t simply about speaking at a funeral. It’s about being trusted with someone’s story and helping their family say goodbye in a way that feels right for them.
I consider that an enormous privilege.
The Skills a Former Paramedic Brings to Celebrancy
What skills do you think you brought to the role?
Looking back at my career, I think I brought a combination of practical experience, emotional awareness and communication skills.
Listening is probably the most important.
Throughout my professional life I’ve learned that people don’t always need immediate answers. Sometimes they simply need somebody who will give them the time and space to speak without being interrupted or judged.
Another important skill is remaining calm under pressure.
My background in emergency medicine and the Army taught me how to remain composed, think clearly and support people during challenging circumstances. Those skills translate naturally into funeral celebrancy, where families may be overwhelmed by emotion.
Communication is another significant part of my experience.
I’ve worked with people from different backgrounds, cultures, religions and walks of life. That has taught me the importance of adapting my approach to the individual rather than expecting everybody to communicate or grieve in the same way.
My current work in hotel management has also developed my organisational skills, attention to detail and ability to coordinate with different teams.
These skills are useful when working with funeral directors, crematorium staff and families to ensure that a ceremony runs smoothly.
But perhaps the most important quality I bring is empathy.
I’ve experienced loss myself. I know what it’s like to stand on the other side of a funeral, feeling overwhelmed and trying to make sense of everything.
I would never suggest that my experience means I fully understand another person’s grief, because everyone’s experience is different.
What it does mean is that I approach every family with humility, patience and genuine compassion.
From Combat Medical Technician to Celebrant: Working With Grief
You’ve already had an exciting career, including time as a paramedic and a Combat Medical Technician in the Army. Tell us about this work and how it prepares you for working with grief.
I spent ten years serving in the British Army as a Combat Medical Technician, and I also worked as a paramedic.
Both roles had a considerable influence on the person I became.
Working in emergency medicine means encountering people during some of the most frightening and uncertain moments of their lives.
You learn very quickly that although your clinical responsibility is important, the way you communicate with somebody can be equally significant.
Sometimes reassurance comes from explaining what is happening. Sometimes it comes from simply being present and treating someone with kindness.
My time in the Army also taught me the importance of teamwork, discipline, responsibility and looking after the people around you.
There are experiences from those years that have stayed with me, and they shaped the way I understand vulnerability, loss and human resilience.
Having said that, I believe it’s important to recognise that working in emergency medicine and working as a funeral celebrant are two very different responsibilities.
In emergency medicine, your priority is often to preserve life and respond to the immediate situation.
As a funeral celebrant, the emphasis shifts towards helping people remember and honour a life that has ended.
You’re no longer responding to an emergency. Instead, you’re creating a safe and compassionate environment in which people can reflect, remember and sometimes begin to process what has happened.
I think my previous career has taught me not to be afraid of difficult conversations or uncomfortable silences.
I’ve also learned that you don’t always need to find the perfect words.
Sometimes the greatest kindness is simply being there and listening.
Those lessons have become central to the way I approach my work with bereaved families.
Fitting Self-Paced Funeral Celebrant Training Around Shift Work
You took our self-paced funeral celebrant training. What did you most enjoy about the training?
One of the things I appreciated most about the self-paced training was having the opportunity to learn at my own pace and genuinely reflect on what I was studying.
Working in hotel management means that my working hours can vary considerably, so the flexibility was particularly valuable.
However, it wasn’t simply the convenience that appealed to me.
I liked having the opportunity to revisit the learning, consider how it related to my own experiences and think about how I would apply it when supporting a real family.
What I particularly valued was the emphasis on the responsibility that comes with being a funeral celebrant.
It’s very easy to imagine that celebrancy is primarily about standing in front of a congregation and delivering a beautifully written ceremony.
But there’s so much more involved.
It’s about listening carefully, understanding family relationships, recognising different beliefs and wishes, and finding an appropriate way to tell someone’s story.
The training helped me think about the importance of preparation, sensitivity and professional boundaries.
It also encouraged me to develop my own approach rather than trying to become a copy of somebody else.
I wanted to be a celebrant who remained professional while still being approachable, warm and genuine.
The training gave me a foundation on which to build that confidence.
What Surprised Him About Writing a Personal Funeral Ceremony
Was there anything that surprised you in your training?
I think the biggest surprise was discovering just how much thought, preparation and emotional awareness goes into creating a truly personal funeral ceremony.
Before training, I understood that a celebrant would meet families, write a ceremony and conduct the service.
What I hadn’t fully appreciated was just how many small decisions contribute to making that ceremony meaningful.
The choice of words, the order in which stories are told, how family members are acknowledged, the handling of sensitive relationships and even the appropriate use of humour can all influence how a ceremony feels.
I also came to appreciate that writing a tribute isn’t simply about putting someone’s life events into chronological order.
It’s about discovering the person behind those events.
What made them laugh? What annoyed them? What did their family love about them? What were their little habits? What would people remember if they were sitting together talking about them over a cup of tea?
Very often, those smaller details tell us far more about somebody than a list of dates and achievements ever could.
Another thing that stood out was the importance of understanding what families don’t say as well as what they do.
Sometimes there are complicated relationships, unresolved emotions or subjects that people find difficult to discuss.
A celebrant has to approach those situations with sensitivity and without making assumptions.
For me, that reinforced just how much trust families place in us.
Dimal’s Top Tip for New Funeral Celebrants
What would be your top tip to anyone considering training as a funeral celebrant, or who is newly trained?
My biggest piece of advice would be to remember that the ceremony is never about you.
It’s about the person who has died and the people who loved them.
Of course, you need confidence, good communication skills and the ability to deliver a ceremony professionally.
But I think the greatest skill a celebrant can develop is the ability to listen without imposing their own expectations.
Don’t feel that you have to fill every silence during a family meeting.
Don’t assume that every family wants the same type of service.
And don’t be afraid to show your personality while remaining respectful of the occasion.
I would also encourage newly trained celebrants to keep learning, build positive relationships with funeral directors and other professionals, and take time to understand the practical responsibilities of running their own service.
Most importantly, don’t rush the process of finding your own voice.
Confidence develops with preparation, reflection and experience.
And remember that being trusted to tell somebody’s life story is a responsibility that should never become routine.
A Personal Funeral Celebrant Service in Lancashire and the Fylde Coast
What makes The Light Within Ceremonies different, and what do you want families to experience when they work with you?
When I established The Light Within Ceremonies, I didn’t want to create a service that simply offered a standard ceremony with a different name inserted into it.
I wanted every family to feel that the ceremony had been created specifically for their loved one.
For me, that starts with listening.
I want families to feel comfortable sharing memories, including stories that might be funny, emotional, complicated or seemingly insignificant.
I believe a funeral should reflect the whole person, not just an idealised version of their life.
Some families want something traditional and dignified. Others prefer a celebration with music, laughter and personal memories.
Some want religious or cultural elements included, while others prefer a completely non-religious ceremony.
My role is to understand what matters to them and help create something that feels sincere, respectful and personal.
Through The Light Within Ceremonies, I support families across Preston, Blackpool, the Fylde Coast and surrounding parts of Lancashire, including funerals, memorial services and ceremonies following direct cremation.
My hope is that families leave a ceremony feeling their loved one has been properly acknowledged, remembered and honoured.
I can’t take away their grief, and I wouldn’t pretend that I could.
But if I can make one particularly difficult part of their journey feel a little more personal, meaningful and manageable, then I believe I’ve done something worthwhile.
The Meaning Behind The Light Within
Why did you choose the name The Light Within, and what does it mean to you personally?
The name The Light Within is deeply personal to me.
Over the years, I’ve experienced periods of profound grief and some very difficult chapters in my own life.
Those experiences have taught me that even when everything seems incredibly dark, there can still be reasons to keep moving forward.
Sometimes that light comes from family. Sometimes it comes from a friend, a conversation, an unexpected act of kindness or simply someone taking the time to listen.
I wanted to create something that reflected that belief.
Within funeral celebrancy, I see the light in the memories families share and in the love that continues long after somebody has died.
It doesn’t mean ignoring grief or pretending that everything is fine.
It means recognising that love, connection and meaning can still exist alongside sadness.
The same philosophy also sits behind my memoir and my wider mental health advocacy work.
Although those are different areas of my life, they’re connected by a common belief in compassion, dignity and the importance of human connection.
Ultimately, The Light Within is about recognising that even during difficult times, something meaningful can remain.
What are your hopes for the future of The Light Within Ceremonies?
My immediate ambition is to establish The Light Within Ceremonies as a trusted, respected and recognisable funeral celebrancy service across Lancashire and the Fylde Coast.
I want to develop lasting professional relationships with local funeral directors, crematorium teams and others working within the funeral profession.
But above all, I want to earn the trust of families.
I don’t measure success purely by the number of ceremonies I conduct.
For me, success is receiving a message from a family who felt their loved one was genuinely understood, or hearing that a particular memory brought a smile to someone’s face at a very difficult time.
I also hope to contribute to wider conversations about grief, bereavement and mental health.
These are subjects that can still be difficult to discuss openly, and I believe those of us working in compassionate professions have an opportunity to encourage greater understanding.
In the longer term, I’d love The Light Within to become a name people associate with warmth, professionalism, kindness and trust.
If somebody hears the name and thinks, “There’s someone who will genuinely listen and care,” then I’ll feel that I’ve achieved something meaningful.
Five Things About Dimal, Beyond the Celebrant
1. I’m a husband and a very proud dad.
My family means absolutely everything to me. My wife, Payal, and our daughter, Tia, are a huge part of my life, and I consider myself incredibly fortunate to have them beside me. However busy life becomes, family remains at the centre of everything I do.
2. I’ve had a rather varied working life!
I’ve served in the British Army, worked in emergency medicine, been a member of airline cabin crew and worked in hospitality. I currently work as a Duty Manager at the Grand Hotel Blackpool. Looking back, there seems to be one common theme throughout my career: I’ve always enjoyed working with people.
3. I’m also an author.
In October 2026, I published my memoir, The Light Within: A True Story of Darkness, Duty and Redemption.
Writing the book was an incredibly personal experience. It explores significant moments in my life, including service, loss, mental health challenges and the journey towards finding hope again.
My hope is that sharing my experiences might help someone else feel less alone or encourage them to start a conversation they’ve been afraid to have.
4. I enjoy running, although I wouldn’t describe myself as an elite athlete!
I enjoy the challenge of running 5K and 10K distances. Running gives me an opportunity to clear my head, reflect and enjoy a little time away from the demands of everyday life. Some days feel easier than others, but I think that’s part of the appeal.
5. I believe the little things in life matter more than we sometimes realise.
I’m happiest when I’m spending time with family, having a good conversation, sharing a laugh or enjoying a decent cup of tea.
Life has taught me that we can spend an enormous amount of time worrying about what comes next and sometimes forget to appreciate what’s happening right in front of us.
I’ve learned to value kindness, humour, friendship and the people who make ordinary days special.
Find Dimal
The Light Within Ceremonies
Website: thelightwithinceremonies.co.uk
Instagram: @dimal.patel
What stays with me about Dimal’s story is that none of it was wasted. The calm he learned in the back of an ambulance, the teamwork from the Army and the organisation from running a busy hotel all feed into the way he now sits with families. Above all, his own experience of loss has taught him to listen without assuming he already knows.
If you’ve been wondering whether your own life experience could lead you towards celebrancy, I’d love to hear from you. You can find out more about our self-paced funeral celebrant training here, and if you’d like to talk it through first, just get in touch.
Warmly,
Dinah She/Her