Celebrant for All Ages - Weddings, Funerals & Naming Ceremonies

22/06/2024

DIRECT CREMATIONS - are they the answer?
Many of you will have seen the frequent advertisements on TV for Direct Cremations. Many a loved one see this and think that it is the solution - it relieves loved ones of the burden of paying for a funeral. And it does. And while I applaud anyone who plans ahead there is one matter they may not have considered.
Funerals are for the LIVING not the dead.
As living breathing human beings we have an intrinsic need to say our goodbyes. And while they come in many forms, so many families are contacting me now to conduct a service of farewell, come celebration of life ceremony for their loved one who had a direct cremation. After the loved one has died and been cremated they felt something was “missing”. They felt they had never had the chance to have a proper goodbye, a goodbye for friends too. Not a party. But something more heart healing, a ritual, a ceremony, a soulful goodbye.
The ceremony/service can be at any venue, I have conducted them in a home, a bowling club, a hotel, a race course, a village hall to name only a few. As well as this one… a lovely family wished to say a proper goodbye to their very special husband and father who had arranged his own direct cremation. They privately hired from the council a local non-denominational cemetery chapel in beautiful grounds and we had the most beautiful well attended service.

21/06/2024

Hi all, so as you may know I’m not a big fan of updating my socials. So, rightly or wrongly I dont post on my pages. That doesnt mean I don’t keep an eye on it, nor that I dont drop in regularly to see if anyone is trying to contact me. So please dont interpret this lack of activity on my page as me not being around or being available. I recently had a couple of lovely ladies tell me that they had checked my socials and as they weren’t “up to date” they hesitated to contact me on here. They did track me down elsewhere which of course you can do too on 07889648238 but please do reach out on my socials if it’s easier for you. I always check messages regularly. Big hugs to all on this deliciously sunny Friday (well here in Northamptonshire it is! 🤩)🙏
Celebrant for All Ages - Weddings, Funerals & Naming Ceremonies

Celebrant For All Ages “a celebrant - a person who performs and officiates at ceremonies” I am Adrienne Harrison-Cottrell and I am blessed and privileged to be a Celebrant. I perform all types of Celebrant duties including weddings, funerals, vow renewals, interment of ashes services, memorial s...

12/11/2023

An “End-of-Life midwife” or “Death Doula” or the many other titles the role can be given such as “End-of-life companion” or “Soul Midwife” or “Deathwalker”, is the person who can accompany the dying person on their journey, who helps that soul move out of this world and ensures the safe transition across that threshold into their next home. Wherever that may be. Available locally to Long Buckby, Northamptonshire. For more information click the link below…

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=833456608786964&id=100063678965302

An “End-of-Life midwife” or “Death Doula” or “End-of-life companion” or “Soul Midwife” or “Deathwalker”, is the person who helps a dying person on their journey, who supports that soul as it moves out of this world and helps ensure its safe transition across that threshold. Suppo...

16/08/2022

A HIATUS
A few weeks ago I shut down the page for my one to one healing practice, the energy felt heavy around it and I shifted focus to the healing work I do every moment of every day, with the bereaved, and their families and their loved ones lost. But the energies around us are all shifting so quickly at the moment, that now another shift is upon me/us/the world(?). I originally started FB and Insta for my business, in whatever form that was at that time, to make myself known, to have a presence, to ensure a regular stream of work. It has served me well. For that I am grateful and feel blessed but confident it is not needed as much now. So, I am pairing back my postings here and on Instagram. I assure you I’m still very active as a Celebrant and conducting many funerals, weddings and other services. Reach out to me if you have any questions. Love, Light and Authenticity 🙏♥️

12/08/2022

RESPECT
Yesterday in the parched earth at a woodland burial site in Northamptonshire I was privileged to conduct the service for C. Everything was brown and burnt, the earth rock hard with very little greenery, yet, at the entrance to the site was this amazing flash of colour, in these ripe Rowan Tree berries. Bright firey red. Despite the intense conditions, something was thriving.

It was very very hot at the graveside, at least 33 degrees, no shade, this is not unusual at a woodland burial. Sadly and disappointingly there were some grumbles. “too hot”, the service “too long” (30 minutes or so was the actual time). Yet despite the singular ripples of discontent here and there, the family and myself stayed true to C’s wishes. We played the music she loved. We spoke the poems she chose. We honoured her with those berries I foraged just before the service began, along with rosemary and lavender from C’s very own garden, and Mugwort from my personal collection. And rather than our own personal comfort…

We chose to honour her memory.

We. Chose.

Respect. 🙏♥️

12/08/2022

A NATIVE NEW YORKER
Today at Nene Valley Crematorium we said goodbye to C. A woman who was born and raised in New York. She made the trip to the UK, alone, at the tender age of 23, with a babe in arms and began a new life in Wellingborough. She married, had more family but it wasnt the end of her USA days for her new husband and children in the 80’s went to live in Florida where she rekindled a love she’d had since childhood - a love of horses. She worked caring for horses for many years. The family did relocate back to the UK and in 2003 she made the bold decision to become a UK citizen but she never forgot those USA roots and so we ended her service with the American National Anthem 🇺🇸

11/08/2022

“KILLER”
Today at Rainsbrook crematorium in Rugby throngs of guest gathered to say a final goodbye to a wonderful man. A husband, a father, a grandad, and friend to so many. A man who loved to be on the go. A man who when he retired never really did! A man who would go out of his way to provide practical help to anyone who needed it. And a man who loved… football, professional or amateur, mens or womens, if there was a ball being knocked about he was interested and his particular playing style as a young man led to the nickname “Killer”! He is deeply missed by all who knew him 🙏♥️

11/08/2022

FULL MOON in Aquarius ♒️
Last night we welcomed in and worked with the powerful energy of this full super moon, for personal transformation. In the lovely local Watford Village Hall as a group of women, we used drums and rattles and welcomed in healing 🙏🏻❣️Thank you
Serenity Sound Healing & Wellbeing Therapies ♥️

09/08/2022

A beautiful card received, accompanied by a lovely gift, from such a lovely family! The service was one of those where I really wished I had met the lady in the flesh and it felt an honour to speak about her and on behalf of her gorgeous family 🙏♥️

08/08/2022

A lovely funeral this morning, one of those where you really feel The Universe aligning with all the effort, the thought, the emotion you’ve invested, gifted, as a Leader of Ceremonies, and… as a “reward” or replenishing of energy perhaps, on the way home, I’m sailing past a bus stop and spy this gorgeous haul. Screech to halt, hit reverse, and forage🙏🏻♥️

05/08/2022

Todays visit to Counties Crematorium in Northampton was an opportunity for some more foraging. Today’s goodies were these lovely elderberries!

05/08/2022

A CHEMICAL REACTION
Today’s service was for a “Professor”! A fantastically talented and ahead of his time gentleman. He was not only preaching about, but also helping countries to put in place processes and practices to streamline the use of resources years before us here in the UK caught on. He was a chemical engineer extraordinaire! He was constantly curious about the world around us and frequently took to taking things apart so he could see how they worked. His first question was always “I wonder how”? What a fabulous example for us all, most of us when faced with a challenge or something new go “ oh heck!” - and run for cover! Not him.
In any chemical equation the formulas on the left side of the arrow represent the reactants, the substances that change in the reaction. The formulas on the right side of the arrow represent the products, the substances that are formed in the reaction. And today we alchemically changed the energy of our sorrow into the manifestation of our tears. 🙏♥️