Sarah Burley Celebrant

10/06/2026

Well, this is nice!!

05/06/2026

I’ve met many bereaved parents, and cannot begin to imagine their sense of loss. Whether their children were born sleeping, or had just a few months or years; but also parents whose children grew into young adults and did not have the chance to reach their potentials. This day honours their loss. Quietly and respectfully. We can walk alongside them but there are shoes that can never be filled.

A powerful visual display of children's shoes in Parliament Square calling for better support for bereaved parents.

30/05/2026

There are so many incredible things I could tell you about how special this day was… but the first is that it didn’t feel like a funeral. It felt like a celebration of the most wonderful person.
When remembering a loved one here, the chairs don’t have to be in rows. Drinks can served during the service. Stories and laughter, tears and joy were all such an intrinsic part of the day. We still managed to film it, still heard from family and friends, set up a memory table…. And Colin Firth came too… sadly not actually ’in person’, but definitely in ‘spirit’.

29/05/2026

A truly intimate moment of farewell.
When a loved one is going to an unattended cremation, close family members can still take time to say goodbye. Here at Frederick Paine in Teddington, I lead services for up to ten family members in this quiet setting: A story told, a favourite piece of music and time to remember and say goodbye.
And yes: my photo used an AI casket, because I don’t want to show a picture of someone else’s private moment. Private time is just that. Not for me to use.

25/05/2026

My working days are filled with heightened emotions, usually as families negotiate the absence of a loved one. But there were many more tears than I expected yesterday, (including my own!)as we joyously made wedding plans and discussed ways to create uniquely personal moments within a more traditional church wedding service.
I’m so looking forward to being part of their colourful day!
Love always wins!

22/05/2026

The brief was ‘Hawaiian shirts and bikers’, for a lovely man who arrived on his final journey to the crematorium with a bikers’ guard of honour, in a motorcycle sidecar, but who had loved his sunny holidays!!

16/05/2026

Mottled skies above, but still a lovely setting to meet and plan the celebration of a life. Funerals don’t have to be at crematoriums.

15/05/2026

I have a desk-buddy today. He’s quite distracting…

14/05/2026

What an excellent idea. Funeral sprays are often quite expensive, and get left on the ground outside crematoriums, simply to be thrown away….so this is a perfect way to make the best use of lovely arrangements.