Sue Dowell Celebrancy

Sue Dowell Celebrancy Bespoke, personalised ceremonies created by Sue Dowell, an experienced Independent Professional Celebrant, based in London and Ashbourne, Derbyshire.

Sue Dowell, an experienced Independent Professional Celebrant, has been working with families and couples since 2012 to create bespoke, personalised ceremonies to meet their specific needs. Sue specialises in wedding ceremonies that celebrate what is truly special and unique for an individual couple, and also very personal funeral services written to help families say goodbye to a loved one in a r

espectful way while celebrating very special life stories. Based in both London and the Ashbourne area of Derbyshire.

I love my job so much for so many different reasons, but I especially love it for the serendipitous moments that come al...
28/11/2024

I love my job so much for so many different reasons, but I especially love it for the serendipitous moments that come along every now and again that take me by surprise.

I’ve been working as a Celebrant for a long time now, it’ll be 12 years at the beginning January, and I regularly get booked by families who have used me before, or who have been to one of my services in the past, or - as was the case for a service I took earlier this week - I’ve been personally recommended to a family by someone they know.

As I took down the details of the family when the booking came through…I realised that I had been to junior school with one of the daughters of the gentleman who had died, and it was both lovely and a little surreal getting to see her for the first time in over 40 years!

It was a service with a difference as it was held at and it meant that we had no time constraints and were able to include lots of tributes and memories from family and friends. And there was also the most incredibly special and moving musical tribute I’ve ever experienced…

It had always been a family tradition at parties for guests to gather around the piano, listening to old war-time songs, and when it got to ‘We’ll Meet Again’…it was a case of napkins at the ready and everyone would wave them in the air as they sang along. And so, to bid Roger farewell during his service, there were tears and laughter as the 180 people there waved white linen napkins aloft as we all sang along with ‘s incredible rendition of ‘We’ll Meet Again’.

Funerals are always going to be sad and difficult when you’re saying goodbye to someone you love…but there can also be joy and gratitude as you celebrate all that they mean to you; and Roger’s family certainly celebrated him in a way that more than did him proud, and it was such an honour to be part of it.

[A big thank you too to Ellie and Laura of Benjamin A. W. Lymn The Family Funeral Service, and the team at Branston for working so hard to make it such a special service]

My trusty ceremony folder is celebrating its 11th birthday this month, and what an amazing 11 years it’s been…This folde...
02/01/2024

My trusty ceremony folder is celebrating its 11th birthday this month, and what an amazing 11 years it’s been…

This folder has held the pages that have told hundreds of life stories, celebrated dozens of couples as they’ve committed to spend the rest of their lives together, as well as welcoming new lives into families as they officially named their child ♡

It’s a little battered at the edges these days (a bit like me a decade and a bit on!), but I look forward to creating the services and ceremonies of all the future lives that will be celebrated within its covers as I celebrate the beginning of my 12th year of ‘Sue Dowell Celebrancy’.

And an enormous thank you to everyone who has trusted me to help say goodbye to someone they love, or to celebrate their marriage, or to welcome their child into the village who will raise them…it’s been a privilege working with every one of you ♡

A very happy Christmas from me…& remembering absent friends who are missing from our worlds especially at this time of y...
24/12/2023

A very happy Christmas from me…& remembering absent friends who are missing from our worlds especially at this time of year ♡

Christmas can be a really difficult time when people are missing, & we all have to find the best way to navigate it for ...
17/12/2023

Christmas can be a really difficult time when people are missing, & we all have to find the best way to navigate it for us…for me that’s trying to deal with it head on & celebrate the people who are no longer here.

So, yesterday it was time to decorate my now annual ‘memory tree’ with the little stars I have for everyone who’s no longer here (both two legged & four legged ♡). While it’s always a little bittersweet, it’s also the perfect way for me to bring missing loved ones along for the ride, & I’ll certainly be raising a toast to them over the coming week or so🥂

And we did our bit for the environment again this year & have rented the little tree from Living Christmas Tree Hire…

This is the first year that this tree has been rented out & I’ve named him ‘Clarence’ after It’s a Wonderful Life, which seemed fitting, & even have a little bell acting as the star. And I will look forward to welcoming him back (a little larger!) next year ♡

Thinking of all of you who have people missing too, & I hope you find your way through Christmas in the best way you can for you…& here’s to absent friends & all that they still mean to us even though they may not be here in person ♡

I’ve been happily re-embracing the joy of face-to-face meetings with the families & couples I’m working with post-pandem...
16/06/2023

I’ve been happily re-embracing the joy of face-to-face meetings with the families & couples I’m working with post-pandemic…but I found myself back in my Zoom room after a lengthy absence this morning!

So lovely to catch up with the fab
E L L E N & C H R I S and start plotting for their wedding ceremony next year. It’s still 15 months away, but we had a lot of fun starting to think about what they might like their ceremony to look like, and I can’t wait to get stuck in & create something very special just for them ♡

R E M E M B E R I N G J O Y C E…The pandemic felt as if it went on forever at the time, but I’m not sure where the past...
16/06/2023

R E M E M B E R I N G J O Y C E…

The pandemic felt as if it went on forever at the time, but I’m not sure where the past three years have disappeared to now...

This week in 2020, I had the privilege of helping a lovely family I know to say goodbye to their much loved Mum, Grandma, Aunt & friend at what was a very special service to celebrate her 92 years.

We were still in the thick of lockdown, but service times at the local crematorium had just gone back to 40 minutes (rather than the 20 minutes we had been working to for a while there), so we were able to include Joyce’s life story in full & all the family tributes that they wanted to be part of her service.

Numbers attending were still limited, and there was no post-service gathering allowed for family & friends…so, to get around that, Joyce’s family had invited everyone, wherever they were, to all charge their glasses & raise a toast to her at 6pm that night.

Joyce’s love of a ‘gin & it’ back in the day, came up several times when we were planning her service, a drink I hadn’t thought of in years (a close family friend when I was growing up, my ‘Auntie’ Betty, was rather partial to one too!)...so I did a bit of research into how to make one, so that I could join the 6pm toast Joyce too, & do it in style!

If you fancy giving this iconic drink of the 1930s & 40s a go, you’ll need:

60ml gin
30ml red vermouth
Dash of orange bitters (I used angostura bitters)
Twist of lemon as garnish (which I was sadly lacking for the finishing flourish!)

…& rather delicious it was too!

No ‘gin & it’ today, just a cup of coffee…but I raise that in memory of Joyce & a life well lived, & am thinking of her family who are still acclimatising to a world without her but I know still celebrate how special she was every day ♡

Did you know that most crematorium chapels had cameras in situ with the capacity to provide live broadcasts of services ...
19/05/2023

Did you know that most crematorium chapels had cameras in situ with the capacity to provide live broadcasts of services online long before the pandemic was even on the horizon?

But it’s not something that families ever really engaged with pre-covid…well, it’s just not very British, is it, the idea of having a video camera at a funeral?!

The fact that that technology was already available was a godsend though when we did suddenly find ourselves in a locked-down world back in 2020, and it enabled friends and families to ‘be there’ to say goodbye from the safety of their own homes…whether that was just a few miles away or the other side of the world.

For a while there, practically every service I took had a live video link, and I got very used to the camera being an important part of the congregation. Since the world has opened up again in the past 18 months or so, recorded services are less frequent, but families are far less reticent to request a recording if it means being able to include people who can’t get there in person for whatever reason.

One of the greatest concerns families seem to have is that they feel they’re going to be ‘on show’ themselves during the service, but that really isn’t the case. The camera is fixed at the back of the chapel, and it’s only ever the backs of people’s heads from a distance in the front couple of rows that people at home will ever see, so nothing to feel worried about.



Huge congratulations to the lovely Toni for a very well deserved win!Toni’s cakes are works of art that happen to be abs...
17/05/2023

Huge congratulations to the lovely Toni for a very well deserved win!

Toni’s cakes are works of art that happen to be absolutely delicious too (if you can bear to cut into them!) & Red Velvet Bakery is definitely worth a look-see if you’re looking for a cake to celebrate anything from a wedding to a big birthday or anniversary celebration ♡

But you will need to book her well in advance, her reputation precedes her & her diary gets booked up well in advance…

www.suedowellcelebrancy.co.uk

W E D D I N G S @Y E L D E R S L E Y H A L LIf you’re on the hunt for a stylish & intimate Derbyshire wedding venue, yo...
17/05/2023

W E D D I N G S @
Y E L D E R S L E Y H A L L

If you’re on the hunt for a stylish & intimate Derbyshire wedding venue, you must put Yeldersley Hall on your list to go and have a look-see…

Andrew, who owns and manages the venue, goes out of his way to make sure that every couple hosting their wedding at the Hall feel special, and that all his team pull out all the stops to make sure that each individual wedding is exactly what that couple dream it will be.

It was a pleasure to be part of the Open Day that Andrew put on last Sunday for the couples who already have a date booked for their big day at Yeldersley, and who wanted to see it set up wedding-ready to help them plan exactly how they want to dress the venue for their own celebrations.

It was also great to spend time with some of the other suppliers who support events at Yeldersley Hall, to catch up with old friends & meet some new ones. One thing is for sure…working with any of the team associated with Yeldersley Hall, your big day will be in very safe hands ♡

Chris the chef
Tara / Knott
Christopher Terry Photography
Three Six Seven Nine Photo & Film
Bake Ashbourne
Ivory White of Duffield
Nadiia Tymoshenko
Nadia Di Tullio Flowers
Dave Dee The Complete Disco Service LTD
Topmarquesuk toilet hire
Milly's Vintage Travelling Teapot
HBA Photography
Flowers Less Ordinary



www.suedowellcelebrancy.co.uk

A huge thank you to Yeldersley Hall for inviting me to be part of their open day yesterday ♡I got to chat to some lovely...
15/05/2023

A huge thank you to Yeldersley Hall for inviting me to be part of their open day yesterday ♡

I got to chat to some lovely couples who have their wedding dates already booked & were there to get ideas for exactly what they want their big day to look like.

And I met some of Yeldersley Hall’s other suppliers who I hadn’t met before…& what an incredible team Andrew has pulled together to help make the magic happen at Yeldersley Hall!

All in all a lovely way to spend a Sunday, thank you for having me, & I look forward to working with everyone soon x

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