Kent Celebrant – who travels the world for you!

“My humble beginnings stem from the Middle East, where I grew up, mainly outdoors on the beach or in the sea.  I was lucky that my fathers job took us overseas and attending international schools, my love of all cultures started very young. 

Fast forward a few decades and I live in the countryside in Kent with my family, which includes the dog!  We are lucky enough to live in an area surrounded by orchards which helps us really step away from the humdrum of “normal” life and think things through with very clear heads.  

I love being outdoors in the fresh air (quite ideal with many of our celebrancy ceremonies being held outside) and I adore being in or near water, whether in the UK or abroad.  Our family has a small home in Spain which we escape to when we can to “reset” and work on our next year’s goals.  The celebrancy goal came up on one of these breaks a few years ago, granted after a few cocktails, and we haven’t looked back!

I’ve always had a passion for helping and supporting people, with a skill for listening, stepping back and offering advice and support.  To hold your hand (physically or metaphorically) through some of life’s milestones really gives me the satisfaction of knowing that I have helped families and made some of their personal events that little bit slicker and smoother.

Being an Event Director and with a history in wedding management means I’m always the one that organises the family and friend shindigs, but I don’t mind, I love a good spreadsheet!  I got married amongst the Orchards at home, and with my planning head on and support of some fantastic friends our day was amazing (we even turned a blind eye to our then 7 year old sneaking a sip of champagne!)

I have had too much personal experience of grief and death for my liking, but these experiences have led me to understand how important goodbyes are, and led me to undertake grief and bereavement training so I am able to support emotions as well as the practical logistics of such sad days. 

Our lovely Luna, a german wirehaired pointer, is an integral part of the family, and when we nearly lost her when she was 2 years old, I experienced a very new emotion and quickly realised that pets are so much more than animals.  You will often find her at my side whether out in the fields, in town or at home and she gives me the appreciation that she is her own individual and should be celebrated and also makes me know that we sometimes need to say a proper goodbye to our furbabies too (this is especially helpful for children).

Writing an About Me is hard so I asked some friends to describe me.  They used words such as  kind, friendly, fun, quirky and accepting, and said that they know that working with people closely and using my attention to detail, this was the right life goal to follow. 

For full transparency, they also said I’m known for drinking fizz or rum (occasionally both), have a very loud laugh, confuse them with my musical tastes (incredibly eclectic, the Beatles to the Beastie Boys to Beethoven), am too interested in pirates, I don’t “do” kisses on texts and need to accept I am not one of the X-Men gang…

My main aim as we work together is to be a part of your life for a short while to ensure that together we create a customised ceremony that reflects you and your wishes.   I get my hands dirty, or keep them clean to hold yours – you become the most important person in my world.”