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Buy your funeral plan today and pay in January for peace of mind this Christmas. Click here for full T&Cs.
Two Together: Save £100!
Save £100 when you purchase two funeral plans together. Call us for more details.
Buy now, pay in January
Buy your funeral plan today and pay in January for peace of mind this Christmas. Click here for full T&Cs.
9 minute read
If you are planning an attended funeral ceremony, whether in the immediate future for a loved one, or for yourself further down the line, you might be wondering, “How much does a funeral celebrant cost?”. It’s a question whose answer could determine the kind of funeral you may go on to organise. In this article, we will answer that question as well as other connected questions.
The cost of a funeral celebrant is connected to the wider question of how much a funeral costs. It could depend on a variety of different factors, such as the level of expertise the celebrant has, and where they are based or where you require their services.
A funeral celebrant is a self-employed officiator of an attended funeral ceremony. It might be helpful to think of a celebrant as the secular equivalent of a religious minister, although some celebrants may also be willing and able to officiate at religious funerals. With the decline of religion in the UK, religious funerals occur less and less, which has in turn sparked an increase in demand for the services of funeral celebrants.
The real advantage of using a celebrant to officiate a funeral service is that they are able to be far more personal than a traditional celebrant, helping the family to customise the funeral service exactly how they want to. The celebrant can help the family to select all of the most special music, poetry, readings, and anecdotes, ensuring that the designed ceremony reflects the character and personality of the person who has died as far as possible.
The average cost of a celebrant in the UK is between £180 and £300. This is roughly consistent with the fees that a religious officiant, such as a vicar, imam or rabbi would charge. It’s important to bear in mind that funeral celebrants are usually self-employed, which means they may bill their time at an hourly rate.
The amount charged by a celebrant is likely to be impacted by the type and complexity of the service which you are hiring them for, and how far they will need to travel in order to officiate.
While most funerals have fairly common elements, whether or not they are religious (songs, poetry, words, etc.), a celebrant can help the bereaved family to go into far more specificity and detail than may otherwise be possible. The level of customisation – over which the family has complete control when hiring a celebrant – will impact the final price. If the celebrant is simply helping the family to select from a series of pre-written eulogies, the price will be lower than if the celebrant is writing a eulogy which is customised for the occasion. Similarly, if the celebrant is incorporating unique elements into the service, such as short videos, or music, which have been built around a theme, this can also add cost.
The price of a celebrant’s services will vary based on the location in which the funeral is to be held, and, possibly, from where the celebrant themselves is travelling. In general, in the UK, funerals within heavily urbanised areas are more expensive than in rural areas. For instance, a cremation and a burial in Greater London would cost ~£5,000 and ~£8,800 respectively, according to Legal & General; according to the same data, however, cremation and burial in Wales cost ~£3,900 and ~£5,000 respectively. The variance between these two locations, as you can see, is rather large, and funeral expenses such as celebrant’s fees are a part of why that figure can be so different.
How much does a funeral celebrant cost when compared with a religious officiant, or a humanist officiant?
The difference in cost between a celebrant and a religious officiant is not typically too high, but, in accordance with the different beliefs on death and funerals in religion, it could vary depending on the religion. With Christianity, certain churches, like the Catholic church, don’t charge a specific fee for the time of the minister; it will instead be absorbed in the overall cost of the funeral itself. Other churches, like the Church of England, are more or less expensive depending on whether the funeral occurs graveside, in the church itself, or on the same day as the church service. The average minister’s fees are £169.
The average cost of a celebrant is between £180 and £300, depending on the location of the funeral and the level of customisation sought by the family organising the funeral. Whilst it may seem more expensive on the face of things than a religious minister, if you are arranging a funeral which focuses on the cremation process, such as a direct cremation, the operational costs will be streamlined, meaning that celebrant fees can be absorbed much more comfortably.
The difference in price between a civil celebrant and a humanist official is negligible. It’s important to bear in mind that humanists will specifically focus on non-religious funeral services. Whereas a celebrant, whilst focusing on non-traditional funerals, can incorporate aspects of the religious too, which may make them a more versatile choice depending on your intentions.
In order to decide on the right celebrant for you, you will need to think about the kind of funeral you are organising, as well as your budget.
Much like with any other funeral expenses, you will need to figure out what your budget is, and do a bit of research to see what you can get for your money. Starting a funeral checklist can be a useful way of keeping your research organised, helping you to compare costs for individual celebrants, as well as other important data, like any certifications they might have, as well as their rating on customer-review websites like Trustpilot.
Funerals, unfortunately, can be expensive, and celebrant fees are part of what can contribute to increased costs. In certain cases, it may be possible to claim funeral costs back from the UK government, which has a couple of different schemes offering support to eligible, low-income families. These schemes are the Funeral Expenses Payment and the Bereavement Support Payment. It may be possible to cover celebrant fees with these payments, or else to cover burial or cremation costs leaving you to focus on paying the celebrant.
You may also be able to raise funds for a funeral by turning to crowdfunding websites like JustGiving or GoFundMe. These websites allow you to post requests for funding for specific goals, letting you tell a story. You can easily share links to these funding requests via social media, for instance when you are announcing a death to friends and family across your social media networks.
In order to understand whether the services of a funeral celebrant are worth the cost to you, you will need to weigh up the benefits against the costs.
Today, we are more focused than ever on personalising our funerals than ever, even spending time and money thinking about end-of-life celebration ideas for after the funeral itself, and even on cremation ashes ideas for what to do with our remains. Hiring a celebrant can allow you to make sure that the ceremony being held for the person who has died truly reflects who they were, and helps those who attend to bid farewell to them properly. A customised and well-officiated funeral ceremony can last a lifetime in the memory, helping us to remember a loved one in that moment and forever thereafter on exactly the terms they would have wanted.
Consider the level of customisation that you will require and the level of experience you’d like your celebrant to have in order to meet your request. By balancing your needs against your budget, you can make an informed choice about which celebrant to select. You may also wish to interview several candidates to get a sense of how well they would work with you. Certain celebrants will prefer different kinds of ceremony (profound / musical / comical / formal), so bear that in mind too.
Aura is here to help support you during the sometimes challenging and disorientating times of loss and planning. Whether you’re looking to purchase a prepaid plan or need to begin arranging a funeral now, we’re only a phone call away.
Our people-centred, compassionate approach is what makes us truly unique. Paul Jameson founded Aura after his own personal experience confronting mortality following his motor-neurone-disease diagnosis. Understanding the challenges people face, he created Aura with genuine care and compassion at its root. We deliver quality service, as this is exactly what he would want for his own families.
Aura partners with the Association of Independent Celebrants (AOIC) – a national trade organisation for celebrants practising across the UK. They provide a support network for newly trained celebrants, as well as professional resources to help their members deliver the best possible services. We work with them in order to connect you with the best and highest quality celebrants in your area, most appropriate for your preferences.
