Independent Funeral Planners/Celebrants: Giving control back to families

Independent Funeral Planners/Celebrants: Giving control back to families

Independent Funeral Planners Ltd is a new association of funeral celebrants and planners who operate independently of a funeral industry which is out of touch with their community and which is controlled by a few large corporations. We are proud to announce the launch of a new funeral management project poised to revolutionise the funeral services industry. Working in conjunction with well-known and trusted funeral professionals we are now able to offer families flexible and affordable management of ‘family-led’ funeral services without the high costs and impersonal approach of traditional funeral companies.

Why We Need Change
In the past, families have always turned to funeral companies to handle all aspects of their loved one’s funeral arrangements. This has led to the perception that there are no alternatives available – a belief that, until now, has worked entirely in the favour of funeral companies, allowing them free reign to control the funeral market. The result has been extravagant rises in funeral costs, kickbacks paid to third parties and pressure put on families to purchase rigid, expensive packages, without knowing what they are paying for. Sadly most celebrants are tied to existing funeral companies who dictate how they work and pay them very little for their services. Independent Funeral Planners is determined to break down those barriers and put control of funerals back into the hands of families. The celebrant effectively works for you – not for the funeral company.

So How Does It Work?
All our independent celebrants are fully trained and accredited by The Celebrants Training College, as professional funeral planners and celebrants, who can organise any or all aspects of a funeral, from transportation of the deceased, to flowers, funeral notices, burial or cremation and the funeral service itself. Families no longer need to deal with an expensive funeral company at all. Now they will know exactly who are they are dealing with the whole time, from start to finish – a professional, caring, competent celebrant/planner who will listen to their needs and not sell them anything they don’t need or want. Families now have complete control of what services they book and pay for, and everything is transparent – including all of the costs.

Reduced Costs

Our ultimate goal is to drastically reduce the expense of traditional, high-cost funeral services. We are putting together flexible, inexpensive packages while still offering a personally designed service with complete transparency of all costs. As the planner works with a family, they will see every item listed individually, so they know exactly what they are paying for. They have options. Now a loved one can have the funeral their family desires, delivered by a professional celebrant of their choice, at a price they can afford.

How do we do it?
We aim to do this by assisting families to create a personal funeral, without the added pressure of choosing unnecessarily expensive items, and without guilt about not spending exorbitant amounts of money ‘because you will if you love them’. The last thing a grieving family needs is to be left with a massive debt to cope with, after the funeral.

Our promise
Because every one of our celebrant/planners are professionally trained and accredited, families can be assured they will receive a respectful, personalised, dignified service for their loved one. No more uncertainty as to who they will be dealing with on the day of funeral, no more feeling they have no say over the arrangements. It’s time to give back complete control of funeral arrangements to families, where it belongs, and along with this 20% of the profits will go to a charity chosen by families.