Hello! My name is Naomi and I care very much about the work I do – helping people to mark occasions in a special, memorable and very personal way. My intention is to make your ceremony all that you want and more. Whether it is a Baby Naming, Renewal of Vows, Hand Fasting or Funeral, I am there to help you to choose and develop the content, decide on any special rituals and express what has to be said.
The video clip below gives a flavour of who I am and the work I do:
Your new baby has come into this world and that wonderful event needs to be recognised by their family and friends. Even if you just invite everyone round for tea and cake, or a few drinks, please do it!
A Baby Naming Ceremony is a bit more than that, but not much. I will lead the occasion, but like to keep things pretty informal – there are usually babies and children around so it has to be fairly relaxed anyway. The main things are to find a venue – like your home, local community centre or hire a room and have the people you love there. Your family and friends are now your baby’s community, so it is good to have their community there and to let them welcome your baby; the act of formally naming your child is a way of welcoming them.
If you would like to appoint specially chosen people to act as ‘Good parents’ or perhaps ‘Guardians’ their role is to promise to love and support your child in the best way they can, including in the event that you are no longer around. You, or they, may wish to write their vows or promises for this part or use some already written. Then there are options for symbolism in the ceremony, for example through chosen readings or lighting a candle. Whatever you decide, I want you to be comfortable that you are doing what feels right for you in order to make this a happy and memorable occasion.
After many years of a good marriage you may wish to celebrate the fact by renewing your vows. You can make your Renewal of Vows ceremony very personal, where you make your own vows to each other, choose your own music and incorporate any special rituals that you feel would add meaning and make this a special event. Any significant people – including your children! – can also take part. My aim is to make this as personal and meaningful for you as I can.
You may wish to gather close family together, or widen the invitation to include friends as well, hosting the event somewhere that has the right atmosphere or means something special to you. Wherever you choose, I will help you to select, or write, the vows you want, include the gestures and mementoes that mean something special to you and help you both to make your Renewal of Vows a memorable occasion.
Hand Fasting is an ancient form of wedding ceremony. Nowadays it is often used as a way of having both a ceremony and a celebration with friends and family, when the legal wedding has been already taken place elsewhere, like in a registry office or in another country.
The kind of ceremony I specialise in is a little less formal and more personalised than a wedding. It includes your own vows to each other and may have the symbolic action of tying your wrists together with a personally woven ribbon. Further rituals can include drinking together from a loving cup and eating special cake or jointly lighting a candle.
Whatever words, music or actions you want to take can be blended into the service in order to make something that fulfils your wishes and has significance for you and everyone else involved. Very often family or friends like to say something in the ceremony, and there are ways to include everyone if you wish – after all they are your loved ones, living alongside you!
The ceremony can be celebrated at your home or in a location that suits your needs. If you are more interested in the Pagan side of this ritual, Milton Keynes has its own stone circle known as the Medicine Wheel. Built on ‘sacred’ Green Space, the stones are aligned with the earth’s natural powerful energies making this a special place for ceremonies such as Hand Fasting; or you may know of other significant locations. Wherever you choose, together we can make sure that this is a meaningful and memorable event.
The most important thing to me, is to get a heartfelt feeling for the person you have lost. This involves listening carefully to what you say – including those funny stories and poignant moments – so that the whole ceremony reflects the person that you knew.
My role is to help with planning and delivering the funeral service, supporting you as we go. I will sit down with you and go through the important aspects of the service, ensuring that you are happy with each stage. Many people prefer not to speak at the funeral, so I capture the knowledge and fondest memories of your loved one, combining them into a eulogy for the service.
However, if family or friends do want to say something at the service that is wonderful and it can be arranged, knowing that I will be there to help them if, on the day, they find that it is more difficult or upsetting than they had expected. The whole service is designed to reflect how you wish it to be, with the music, readings and story you believe will best reflect the life of your loved one.
In times when friends and family cannot be at a funeral, it can be helpful for everyone involved if they can attend a service together at a later date, in order to say Goodbye.
This can be as formal or informal as you like, the main thing is that it reflects the person who’s life you are remembering. It can also be at any location and include what ever words, pictures or music that you think are appropriate.
As a celebrant, I would cover the ‘formal Goodbye’ part of the ceremony, making sure that the words you want are said and that everyone can share in the occasion.
Locations around north Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire.
Based in Olney, my funeral work is usually located the following locations:
“Hi Naomi, just wanted to say a massive thank you for Monday, your words made the service very special. And we all really appreciate your help, so thank you”
JW, Milton Keynes
“Thank you for yesterday’s service, everyone who spoke with me mentioned how they loved the whole service and especially liked your delivery, so thank you very much, again.”
MS, Wellingborough
“ Everyone thought your service was delivered so thoughtfully. You got Dad perfectly!
You came across to everyone so well and we are grateful to you for listening to us and getting it just right.”
B Family, Milton Keynes
“[Name Withheld for Privacy Reasons] and I would like to thank you for the lovely service to give [Name Withheld for Privacy Reasons] a great send off. Everyone was touched by the service, your speeches and the eulogy. Everything was perfect for our special husband and dad.”
S, Kettering
“ We just wanted to write to say thank you for such a lovely service yesterday. You made the whole process as easy as it could be and the day itself was everything Dad would have wanted. Everybody commented at the wake what a lovely service it was.
On behalf of Mum and me, thank you for all you did to make a difficult time more bearable.”
SH, Milton Keynes
“Naomi, I just wanted to say a B I G thank you for yesterday. Both [Name Withheld for Privacy Reasons] and I really appreciated the way you conducted [Name Withheld for Privacy Reasons]’s service and everyone said what an accurate reflection the service was of the man they knew. Thank you. ”
KC, Northampton
“Naomi please accept my heartfelt thanks for delivering such a lovely service yesterday. I know my dad would have loved it and I think we did him proud. Thank you.”
H, Milton Keynes
“I would like to thank you for a lovely service you gave for [Name Withheld for Privacy Reasons], The family won’t stop singing your praises which is absolutely lovely.”
Funeral Director
“Thank you for the service you carried out yesterday, it went really well and you did an excellent job.”
Funeral Director
As a Civil Celebrant I work from Olney, Buckinghamshire and can be contacted using the form below: