Crazy Diamonds Celebrations of Life Pricing

How much do

Celebrations of Life & other services with Jess May Cost?

I offer three brilliant, dazzling Celebration of Life Packages & lots of options for budget friendly glittering Celebrations packages.

My fee ranges from £250-£1250.

Something for everybody!

As uncomfortable as it is for an English woman, I’m going to tell you.

I am a fully accredited highly skilled Celebrant with 12 years of experience, and a hard earned excellent national and international reputation. Known for my empathic approach, intuitive knowledge of human relationships and poetic, erudite, funny storytelling. I am used to handling complex family dynamics and families impacted by intense trauma.

I am the ‘go to’ Celebrant for the family of a world renowned MP, have created ceremonies for High Court Judges, highly acclaimed medical and mental health professionals and people from all walks of life and cultures. People trust me at their most vulnerable times to keep them safe.

My ceremonies have been streamed as far away as Australia and I have even done a ceremony with a fair smattering of French.

I LOVE my work which I consider an art form. Celebrants come in all shapes and sizes to fit every budget and we charge according to our experience, skill and sense of our own value. If you know very little about our work in can be hard to know why we are valuable.

What you are paying for is not something you can tangibly see until you start to work with me but once you do you will see it, and thats a promise. 

WHAT IS A LEGACY KEEPSAKE BOOK?

You don’t want to lose all those stories, all those memories! Let’s sit down in your garden or at your kitchen table and look at all those photo albums. These are great presents for significant milestones and birthdays and can be combined with my Celebrations of Life for the living or can stand alone.

Let’s share stories of holidays and Christmas, lets laugh and raise a toast.

Then let me go home and create a 10 page keepsake book with photos, written poetically to capture the essence of you or your loved one.

This is a gift that you could have made for a significant occasion as a keepsake or for a person who is dying or who has already died as a way of remembering.

If a Direct Cremation is what you or your loved one is having then you can use the book as something tangible with which to remember.

WHAT IS A DIY CELEBRATION OF LIFE?

If you are on a budget, have other financial priorities or just consider funerals a waste of money you may be looking to celebrate a life without fuss or expense.

DIY funerals, also known as Family-Led funerals and No Fuss funerals are very popular and can cut costs significantly. You may choose not to employ a Celebrant like me and decide to lead and write the ceremony yourself. You may be having a Direct Cremation. But you may lack experience and could benefit from a helping hand.

Doing it yourself shouldn’t mean doing it alone and I highly recommend letting me hold your hand and share my knowledge and skills in supporting the bereaved.

Perhaps you are happy to create the ceremony itself but would like an experienced professional to write the eulogy for you, I also offer this service.

HOW I ONE TO ONE SUPPORT HELPFUL?

One to one support is invaluable if you are doing a DIY funeral. Doing such a responsible and new thing by yourself whilst managing family dynamics and your own grief is A LOT.

By all means ‘do it yourself’ but DON’T DO IT ALONE. I offer 3 hours of my time over zoom and offer you all my skills, experience and resources. You can use those hours however you like and you will feel supported and emotionally by a skilled professional at a difficult time.

HERE’S WHY!

Celebrants love our work, most of us identify as or have been raised as women.

Unfortunately both of these things mean that we usually end up charging way too little and giving way too much and that the few male Celebrants get the lion’s share in male-dominated industry. I have been treating my work like a charity for far too long and feel it is time to make a stand for all of us.

My clients want to pay me what I’m worth and I have decided that it is time to trust their judgement.

Celebrants mostly charge the same now as they did in 2013 when I first started out, 12 years later and they are consequently now earning way less than the minimum wage spending at least 20 hours on a ceremony, being available 24 hours and paying for their own fuel!

Furthermore we do it all whilst taking the emotional toll without professional supervision because we can’t afford to pay for it.  There are no industry standards or unions advocating for our well being as we are sole traders. A few years ago I decided to work independently of Funeral Directors because the majority of them will not work with Celebrants who charge more than £200-250.

I charge a higher fee and I’m going to tell you why. So many of my clients have begged me to put up my prices even when 5 years ago I charged £450 for a funeral people were saying that I was undercharging. 

Many clients have paid me £800 to £1000 for my services without flinching because they feel that I am worth it. On one occasion I heard a knock on my door and found one of my clients with a large brown envelope bulging with cash. They had decided that they had paid way too little for my endeavours and had a ‘whip round’ to make up the difference.

This is because my work changed a bleak, traumatic and overwhelming experience that they dreaded, where they felt they had no agency into a joyous, vibrant, colourful and uplifting occasion truly reflective of the person they loved.​

I reached the conclusion that it wasn’t my place to argue with them and also that I deserved a good quality of life just like anyone else.

If you see funeral Celebrants charging £190 for their amazing skills and experience I promise you that they are not earning any money for the hours they are so willingly putting in, nobody wants this for anybody.

But I understand that for those who have very low budgets Funeral Poverty is real and I have created my tiered options to meet that need as best I can whilst still earning a living.

Funeral celebrancy is a labour of love, costly emotionally and a huge responsiblity and the chances are that you didn’t know that …until now.

I offer monthly payment plans and am looking at ways to collaborate with other Celebrants to set up a Funeral Poverty trust so that we can share the load of offering discounted funerals for people who can’t afford them. I hope this helps you to see why my fee is higher than the ‘industry norm’.

IF YOU NEED SOMETHING THAT ISN’T ON THIS LIST OR REQUIRE A QUOTE FOR A BESPOKE OCCASION GET IN TOUCH !

Understanding Celebration of Life Pricing

Cost comparison to a Funeral Director

Our blog explains the cost differences and services when working with me as your Funeral Celebrant compared to engaging a Funeral Director. Click the button below to find out more. ⤵

Find out more here about the Sunlife Cost of Dying report!